Water Wears Away

Incoming Editorial Team·Verified October 27, 2026

Time and water slowly wear away the stone of Kateryna’s faith in the future. Living as an emigrant in Prague, she returns to memories of a place where she felt at home: the years spent with her Ukrainian friends at the Sea of Azov. But the full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues to wash away everything she holds dear. Her hometown, Zaporizhzhia, lies close to the frontline, the family house by the sea of Azov is occupied, and the friends she grew up with have dispersed. These memories remain alive through hours of recordings from Kateryna’s personal video archive. Now, together with her friends in Prague, she tries to make sense of the unbearable weight of grief and loss one has to carry in the present. As she revisits her past, she also questions what to expect from the future, and how to keep the growing societal polarisation from occupying the space of friendship.