Childhood shaped by war for two Ukrainian brothers

Brothers Andrii Tupkalenko (left), 8, and Maksym Tupkalenko, 6, two of the last children left in their frontline village, pose for a photo with toy guns, their favorite toys, in Kalynove, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, April 11, 2025. Instead of scampering across playgrounds, the brothers climb through abandoned trenches and charred shells of armoured vehicles that sit on the outskirts of the village, playing soldiers and setting up make-believe checkpoints to vet fellow villagers. "They're kids afflicted by war," said their mother Varvara Tupkalenko, 30. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura

KALYNOVE, Ukraine (Reuters) -Before Russia invaded Ukraine, Varvara Tupkalenko's two sons played at home with miniature cars, like many boys their age.

Today, plastic guns are the favoured toys in their living room in the village of Kalynove, just 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the Russian border in the northeastern Kharkiv region.