The well-manicured, lacquered nails of a bright red. Perfect manicure. A lively detail, of fervor, like the stylized heart that can be recognized on the ring finger of the hand lying on the asphalt, with a half closed fist, the fingers covered with earth. A sign of life that death seems not to have erased. It is this detail, of care and color, that has made it possible to give a name to one of the many bodies of the victims of the Bucha massacre, a town of 36,000 inhabitants 37 kilometers northwest of Kiev, one of the many discovered for the streets, houses, basements, after the Russian retreat last April 1st.
Bucha’s hand lying on the earth is Iryna’s hand. So says the Ukrainian make-up artist, Anastasia Subacheva, quoted by the UNIAN news agency. Iryna is said to be one of her clients of the make-up courses, which she last saw for a lesson on February 23, on the eve of the outbreak of the war. She had gone to the salon just for a make-up lesson. “She told me how her make-up was appreciated and how well she felt – says Anastasia in an outburst entrusted to her social profile – her desire for life, her strength, her kindness, her energy they had conquered me. “
The now helpless hand comes out of a blue jacket, also in a bright shade. The red enamel on the nails was a sign, for those who knew Iryna, of the desire of this Ukrainian woman killed in the street to devote time to herself: “You have to love, especially yourself, appreciate life and enjoy every moment because life is one. “, as Anastasia recalls that she often advised her the pupil who also became a friend during the make-up teachings.
Iryna with short platinum blonde hair, smiling as she brushes the blush on her cheekbones, looking at herself in a purse mirror. In the last meeting, on the eve of the war, the two women chatted, a bit as always. “She was going to the concert of Olya Polyakova, a Ukrainian pop singer renamed” Super blonde “by her audience and also passionate about make-up – recalls the teacher, who left Bucha a few weeks ago for fear – she opened an account on Instagram and shared all his fantastic events and moments of joy. ” Then, the greeting, and the words that today sound so full of meaning: “He held my hand and said to me: ‘Donya, in my old age I finally understood the most important thing: you must love yourself and live for yourself. !. And finally – said Yrina – I will live as I want “.