Kharkiv stands as a symbol of resilience against the waves of Russian orcs. In the winter of 2022, the city became a civilizational frontier between the worlds of good and evil, as countless hordes of two-legged beasts from the northern territories flooded Ukraine’s first capital like locusts, leaving destruction in their wake—women, children, cats, dogs, the elderly… no one was spared.

The choice of Kharkiv for the first photoshoot of this global project was inevitable, as was the decision to make its central figure an outstanding Ukrainian.

In the battle between good and evil, compassion finds its embodiment in the life-giver—the one who does not seek refuge far from the places where bombs fall from the sky, who disregards the hours at the operating table, and who never names a price for a saved life. In such an understanding of goodness lies absolute wisdom.

On January 23, 2023, on the eve of Christmas, a Russian S-300 ballistic missile struck residential buildings in the city’s “Zhuky” district. The homes that families had built brick by brick over a lifetime were swept away in a single, monstrous explosion—along with those who lived in them. Many perished without even realizing the moment of their passing. Others survived, left to endure life without the ability to walk, see, or hear.

Amid the blackened ruins of one of these houses, a solemn ceremony took place. Twelve-year-old volunteer Eva Shamadova, of The Soul of Ukraine, an international charitable foundation, together with photographer Sergey Melnikoff, pinned the Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to the white coat of a frontline doctor. This award, bestowed by His Holiness Patriarch Filaret, honored the selfless service of Mikola Posokhov—a true servant of Hippocrates—to the ideals of humanity.