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Late in the afternoon, while walking around a heavily damaged neighborhood in Irpin, the local young man I was with spotted a carton of Molotov cocktails on the side of the street. They were covered in dust, and a couple bottles were broken. I wondered what their story was, what they were doing seemingly abandoned on a debris-strewn street.

The guy picked one up so I could better take a picture. I noticed the word "Ukraine" on the repurposed beer bottle, followed by, "We brew Chernigivske with belief in ourselves and passion for what we do." I asked him to turn it so that the text was facing the camera. It seemed remarkably apt for the current situation.

After I took the picture, he shook the bottle for a few seconds and then put it back into the container. Then he sniffed his hand and looked for something to wipe it with.

"Smells like petrol?" I asked

"Smells like freedom," he replied.

(Irpin, Ukraine - April 16, 2022)
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JOEL CARILLET
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Contained in galleries
Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022) archive, Russian invasion of Ukraine (February-April 2022)
Late in the afternoon, while walking around a heavily damaged neighborhood in Irpin, the local young man I was with spotted a carton of Molotov cocktails on the side of the street. They were covered in dust, and a couple bottles were broken. I wondered what their story was, what they were doing seemingly abandoned on a debris-strewn street.<br /> <br /> The guy picked one up so I could better take a picture. I noticed the word "Ukraine" on the repurposed beer bottle, followed by, "We brew Chernigivske with belief in ourselves and passion for what we do." I asked him to turn it so that the text was facing the camera. It seemed remarkably apt for the current situation.<br /> <br /> After I took the picture, he shook the bottle for a few seconds and then put it back into the container. Then he sniffed his hand and looked for something to wipe it with.<br /> <br /> "Smells like petrol?" I asked<br /> <br /> "Smells like freedom," he replied.<br /> <br /> (Irpin, Ukraine - April 16, 2022)