The Life of a Fighter’s Wife

This is a couple who were a part of a huge group that went into Groznyy early on. The wife has been by her husband’s side since the beginning of the war. She could have waited for him in a safer place, but she decided to share his life as a fighter. He won’t stop fighting because it’s a question of honor, so she stayed with him and went with us through the Russian lines. It was a march of seventy-two hours; I found myself falling asleep walking in the mud, but she just wanted to stay with her man. Their life will be like this until the end. Here they are together in the basement, preparing him for an operation somewhere in the middle of the night.

Sometimes I get afraid when I’m leaving for a place like Grozny, not knowing where I’m going or if it’s going to be a nightmare. But if the people I photograph are still alive, and if they are able to survive, then I will, too. I’m healthier than they are. I come from a country where we eat and sleep every day. I’m going to leave when my work is finished. I’m lucky compared to them, so if they’re alive, I’m going to be alive.