The famous photo of the Associated Press photographer Andriy Andriyenko, which captures the touching moment of the border guard Vitaly saying goodbye to his beloved Albina at the Kramatorsk railway station, continues to inspire creativity.
On the third day of the full-scale war, Vitaly said goodbye to Albina on the platform near the evacuation train heading west. Then everyone in the train and on the platform was full of excitement, what will happen next and whether they will meet again…
The successful photo spread in the mass media and social networks, later its plot was taken as a basis by the authors of the mural that appeared on the wall of the Lithuanian Military Academy in Vilnius. It was painted by local artist Linas Kazulenis. And with the light hand of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Lithuania, Arvydas Anushauskas, who published an image of the mural on his Twitter page, this image in support of Ukraine once again gained enormous popularity.
Nowadays, there is also a mural from this photo in Lviv. It was created by Parisian street artist Christian Gamy, known as C215, who used to come to Ukraine. It is also known that he created a lot of graffiti in Bucha, Gostomel and Kyiv.
And even now, anyone who wishes can draw such a picture himself, even without being an artist. After all, a set for painting “Heroic Love” was created based on the photo.
And what happened to the fate of the border guard Vitaly and his then-fiancée, Albina, after the touching farewell at the Kramatorsk station?
Vitaly continues his service in the Kramatorsk detachment and this service during the war is non-stop. And Albina was taken to Lviv by an evacuation train. Then she continued her journey to the west and stopped in Poland, in the village of Nova Wies, not far from Ostrovets, where Ukrainians were sheltered by a Polish family – Karol and Karolina. Despite the fact that they have three children of their own, the hosts provided Ukrainian guests with maximum care and comfort. Karol’s parents also provided shelter to evacuated women and children from Ukraine.
Subsequently, Vitaly and Albina communicated only online. In April, the lovers got married with the help of the Internet. Their marriage was certified online by the head of the Kramatorsk border detachment, who received such a right during the war. The married couple could not tolerate a long separation. After living with a Polish family, Albina decided to return to Ukraine. First, she settled in Ivano-Frankivsk region, and then, closer to her husband, in Dnipropetrovsk region, where the couple finally managed to exchange wedding rings. Now, Vitaly says, the fact that his wife is next to him, on the one hand, makes him more concerned about her safety, and on the other hand, motivates the soldier to fulfill his duties more selflessly and bring our Victory closer. And Ukraine and love will definitely win, Vitaly and Albina are sure.
This was reported to the DPSU.