KYIV, Ukraine – The body pulled from a pit in Izium was in a state of severe decomposition, the skin peeling from the bones and discolored. But one thing stood out: the blue and gold bracelet around the dead man’s wrist.
The colors of the Ukrainian flag are hardly faded.
The corpse, one of hundreds unearthed after Ukraine recaptured Izium from the Russians this month, is another reminder of the barbaric damage of war. But the bracelet conveys something different: resilience and personality amid a grim scene of mass death. And it seems to send an almost defiant message: Ukraine is alive, even if some of its people don’t.
The image quickly captured the nation’s imagination.
It has been widely shared on Facebook and messaging app Telegram. Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, wore a similar bracelet on his wrist while speaking at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday as proof of Russia’s atrocities.
“I wear one too,” he said, referring to the bracelet. “And Russia should know one thing,” Mr. Kuleba said. “It will never be able to kill us all.”
When Oksana Sova saw the image, she noticed something else. The necklace looks like the one her children gave her husband, Serhiy. She looked at the full picture of the body, examined the tattoos, and instantly knew it was him.
