Give it when ours come: Volodymyr Vakulenko Occupation Diary

Photo story by Mykhaylo Palinchak, editor Nadiia Dryzytska
November, 2024

After the liberation of the Kharkiv region in the fall of 2022, a diary was discovered buried under a cherry tree in the yard of the Vakulenko family in the Kapytolivka village. This diary was kept by Volodymyr Vakulenko — a Ukrainian children’s author, public figure, journalist, and translator — who began writing it at the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, capturing his reflections and experiences. Living at that time with his father and his teenage son with autism, Volodymyr was actively involved from the first days of the invasion in volunteering to support the Ukrainian military and recording the destruction caused by Russian shelling in his region. On March 7, 2022, Russian forces entered the village of Kapytolivka. Fully aware of the potential risks, even under occupation, Volodymyr continued to write and keep his personal diary, which ultimately became his final work.

Ukrainian photographer Mykhaylo Palinchak visited Volodymyr Vakulenko’s family and Kharkiv region in September 2023.

In September 2022, when the Ukrainian forces regained control of the Kharkiv region, investigators in Izium discovered a mass grave marked with wooden crosses in the middle of a pine forest. Instead of names, the crosses bore numbers. After months, following the exhumation of more than 400 bodies, DNA testing revealed that the remains under number 319 belonged to Volodymyr Vakulenko, Ukrainian children’s writer. Additional analysis showed that Volodymyr’s body contained two 9-mm bullets.

On March 23, 2022, Russian soldiers searched Volodymyr Vakulenko’s home, confiscating books, and documents, and taking both Volodymyr and his teenage son. That day, Volodymyr was severely beaten in Kapytolivka’s torture chamber and, after three hours of interrogation, released home. The next day, on March 24, the same soldiers came for the writer again. According to family testimonies, Volodymyr was forcibly taken and put into a vehicle marked with the letter “Z”. Since then, no one has seen him.

“I never thought my village would become the center of the Rashists* occupation. With my patriotic, pro-Ukrainian views, it would have been extremely dangerous to find myself trapped in a hostile circle, but I had no choice. Beside me was my child — on top of everything, a child with a unique perception of the world, who stopped communicating with the outside world entirely in the early days of March”, — wrote Volodymyr Vakulenko in the diary.

*The term “rashists” — is a portmanteau of “Russian” and “fascists”. This term has gained widespread use in Ukraine to describe the Russian military and leadership responsible for aggression, war crimes, and occupation. It reflects a perception of Russia’s actions as embodying elements of fascism, such as authoritarianism, militarism, and the suppression of fundamental rights.

On May 12, 2022, the writer’s body was found on the roadside between Izium and Kapytolivka. Due to severe deformation, it was impossible to identify the body then. However, ritual workers burying the bodies in Izium recorded the documents and military ID found near it.

The investigation into Volodymyr Vakulenko’s murder was conducted by Ukrainian writer and documentarian for the Truth Hounds organization (a human rights organization documenting war crimes in Ukraine since 2014), Viktoria Amelina. She had never met Volodymyr personally and learned about Volodymyr’s diary from his father. After his first abduction, Volodymyr, fully aware of the potential consequences, hid it in his father’s garden, under a cherry tree, instructing that the records should be handed over “when ours come back”.

From the onset of the full-scale invasion, Volodymyr kept an occupation diary, recording his feelings and thoughts. He wrote about what life under occupation was like and his faith in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He often mentioned how he was experiencing all these challenging events with his son and how the child was adjusting to life under explosions and bombings.

“You get used to everything; what matters most is who you remain throughout it all. The explosions of “Grads”* didn’t bother me at all. I’m not afraid of dying instantly like that, but I don’t have that privilege. I’m not alone, so I have to survive”, — quote from Volodymyr Vakulenko diary.

*BM-21 “Grad” — is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple Russian rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union.

After it was recovered, a team from the Kharkiv Literary Museum worked on the manuscript and its digitization. In 2023, the diary was published as a standalone book in Ukraine, titled “I Am Transforming… A Diary of Occupation”.

Volodymyr Vakulenko was buried on December 6, 2022, in a cemetery in Kharkiv. He is survived by his son, who is now 16 years old. Today, the boy lives with Volodymyr’s parents. After a year, Russian terror claimed the life of Victoria Amelina as well. On June 27, 2023, Viktoria Amelina was in Kramatorsk with Colombian journalists when a missile strike hit the city center in the evening. Amelina sustained severe injuries and died on July 1, Volodymyr Vakulenko’s birthday.

Mykhaylo Palinchak is a Ukrainian street and documentary photographer residing and working in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since 2012 member of Ukrainian Photographic Alternative (UPHA) and member of Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers (UAPF) since 2014. Founder of Untitled magazine and co-founder of Ukrainian Street Photography group. Author of the photo book “Anamnesis” (2020) and art book “Maidan Faces” (2020). His works are stored in private collections and permanent collections of photography museums.