2023 Feature Story

Choppa Community gun range has become a place for African American gun owners and others to assemble to learn gun safety, self-defense and have a place to target practice. Many are from nearby Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD and have been affected by gun violence. The rates of gun related crimes in large metropolitan cities across the United States has been on the rise. This has caused many people to obtain guns as a means of personal protection.
Torrell Jasper prepares to fire a M60 machine gun during Choppa Community gun range’s Choppa Day on Saturday October 22, 2022 in Woodford, VA. Originally scheduled for September in Welcome, MD, Choppa Day was moved to the Virginia location due to permit issues.The event included target practicing, a shooting competition among other attractions.

A firearm gives off smoke as a visitor at Choppa Community gun range target practices on Sunday July 10, 2022 in Welcome, MD. The gun range has become a place for African American gun owners and others to assemble to learn gun safety, self-defense and have a place to target practice.

Ty Evans, right, is congratulated for winning a handgun shooting competition during Choppa Community gun range’s Choppa Day on Saturday October 22, 2022 in Woodford, VA. The event included target practicing, a shooting competition among other attractions.

Jordan Williams watches others fire handguns during Choppa Community gun range’s Choppa Day on Saturday October 22, 2022 in Woodford, VA. The organizers have had trouble finding a permanent location for the group. They faced zoning issues for their gun range while operating in rural Maryland. Neighbors were afraid that stray bullets could cause bodily injury and property damage.

Mark “Choppa” Manley, left center to right, Paul Lewis, and Alonzo “Zo Choppa” Stokes laugh together as they work on recording a video at Choppa Community gun range on Sunday July 10, 2022 in Welcome, MD. Manley has a large social media following.

Aliyana Stokes, 10, and her brother, Bryson Stokes, 5, right, take part in a gun safety class for children using replica firearms as people gather at Choppa Community gun range on Sunday July 10, 2022 in Welcome, MD.

People target practice as bullet casing are swept up at Choppa Community gun range on Sunday July 10, 2022 in Welcome, MD. Neighbors near the range have expressed concerns that they hear bullets whizzing by.

Patrice Parker holds a firearm before practicing her shooting skills at Choppa Community gun range on Sunday July 10, 2022 in Welcome, MD. Her son, Markelle Morrow was shot and killed earlier this year.

Mark “Choppa” Manley, second from left, and others talk to Caroline County Sheriff Department personnel during Choppa Community gun range’s Choppa Day on Saturday October 22, 2022 in Woodford, VA. A neighbor had called the police because they were worried about fired rounds coming onto their property. Event organizers were told that they would have to suspend long gun rounds, but could proceed with handguns. They were also told for future events they would have to increase their backstop berm.

Tina Ajayi gathers with others near a bonfire during Choppa Community gun range’s Choppa Day on Saturday October 22, 2022 in Woodford, VA. The group’s founders are considering their options for a future permanent location.

A resident is woken by the sounds of sirens and explosions at dawn in downtown Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, February 26, 2022.

Story Summary: In early 2022, Russia invaded its neighboring country Ukraine and upended millions of lives this year. Civilians and soldiers were killed, whole cities were destroyed and went dark, families were separated as men stayed behind to fight, fathers and mothers turned to soldiers overnight, children celebrated their birthdays in bomb shelters, and parents buried their children after they were killed on the battlefield defending their countries and millions of people were made refugees. As the fighting rages on, its grinding length and scale risk blotting out or blurring together the passing moments of trauma, resilience, mourning, exhaustion, and camaraderie that punctuate the lives of a people under invasion.

Hundreds of people, including many women and children take shelter inside a metro station as explosions are heard in downtown Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, February 24, 2022.

Ukrainian soldiers salute as the national anthem is played during a military service for 5 Ukrainian soldiers in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Four of the soldiers were killed on March 18th during a Russian airstrike that hit the 36th Ukrainian Naval Infantry Brigade killing more than 40 Ukrainian soldiers in the city of Mykolaiv.

Georgy Keburia says goodbye to his wife Maya and children as they board a train to Lviv at a train station in Odesa, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022. As the fight in Eastern Ukraine intensify, hundreds of Ukrainian women and children who escaped cities like Mariupol, Kherson, and Mykolaiv, were trying desperately to board a train and leave before the violence of the war reaches the city. Men, like Georgy, went with their families to say their final goodbye because they have to stay and fight the Russians. As of December of 2022, Georgy is still in Odesa, part of the army reserve, and his family took refuge in France after leaving Ukraine.

Anna Churilyana, 90, is photographed at her apartment in Odesa, Ukraine, Sunday, March 6, 2022. Churilyana is blind and has difficulty walking so has scarcely left her apt in the past five years. She listens to the news every day and is worried about what’s happening to her niece’s children in Kharkiv. In Odesa, some older residents cannot flee war. Across Ukraine, people are on the move seeking safety outside the country or in areas to the west, farther from Russian forces. Evacuation can be too taxing emotionally and physically for many. Others insist on staying out of loyalty and love for their home, stubbornly resisting evacuation despite appeals from family members. That is especially true in Odesa, where there is a saying - "Odesa Mama" - that residents use to lovingly refer to their city as a matriarch who will protect them.

Katya, center, joins other Ukrainians as they attend a training on how to use weapons in the event of the Russians attacking the city of Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022.

Diana, 5, with her dad Vitaly inside a basement, that is being used by residents as a shelter in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 14, 2022. Diana celebrated her 5th birthday inside the shelter with her parents and relatives. The apartment building complex which is in the southeastern part of the city is in the firing range of Russia’s multiple-launch rocket systems located in nearby Kherson, the first major city Moscow’s military captured since its invasion of Ukraine started nearly three weeks ago.

Volunteers put sandbags around the Monument to the Duke de Richelieu for protection from a possible Russian attack on the city of Odesa, Ukraine, Thursday, March 10, 2022.

A Ukrainian soldier stands in front of a building that was hit by a Russian rocket in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022.

A Ukrainian soldier who is on patrol on the beach looks through his binoculars in Odesa, Ukraine, Thursday, March 24, 2022.

Family of Ukrainian soldier Ivan Lipskiy grieving at his casket during a military service of 5 Ukrainian soldiers in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Lipskiy was killed on March 18th during a Russian airstrike that hit the 36th Ukrainian Naval Infantry Brigade killing more than 40 Ukrainian soldiers in the city of Mykolaiv.

A cloud of smoke from a fire is rising at the cemetery due to the Russian shelling in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. The near-constant booming thuds in the distance have scared some people away from coming to the graveyard, sacrificing saying goodbye for safety. In the past month, Malashuk, a grave digger, has dug graves for whole families who had to be buried by their neighbors. He’s also dug solitary plots for men — left behind after their family members evacuated.

Sgt. Misha Varvarych, 28, an 80th Assault Brigade commander and his fiancé Ira Botvynska, 19, hold hands as they awake to a new day at their hospital in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 12, 2022. They navigate an altered destiny after he lost both legs fighting during the Russian invasion amid a growing number of war wounded amputees.

They live in a tiny room at Truskavets City Hospital in western Ukraine. In an age-old adage, love transcends adversity. Their unflinching romance speaks not of life interrupted but rather adapted and embraced.

At a tender age, Ira was forced to mature quickly. She plays footsie with his prosthetic leg and stands by her man, even when he can’t. ‘I was in love with his legs, especially his tattoos,’ says Ira wistfully. They said: Face your fear. Accept your war.

In a country with a shattered economy, it’s a challenge for hospitals, also under attack and understaffed, to provide adequate care.

Misha displays not an ounce of self-pity. His ammunition is humor. When asked his weight and height he quips, ‘With or without legs?’

He faces a new profound battle - to walk again.
But freed from the confines of a wheelchair they swim together fluidly as one body.

They both believe marriage itself is more important than a big wedding, but someday will get that piece of paper. For all intents and purposes, they feel married, even wearing the rings after a mutual decision to spend their lives together rather than a proposal. ‘It’s a good thing,’ jokes Misha. ‘I can’t get down on one knee now.

They explain how most couples would get on each other’s nerves while living in such a small space for over 6 months, 24/7. ‘You should see us fight. Like cats and dogs,’ laughs Misha. Then Ira clarifies, ‘I love everything about him but sometimes I want to choke him.’

Conversation turns serious when Putin’s name comes up. Misha, the warrior, talks with benevolence. His demure bride says she wants to murder the Russian leader.

He will receive state-of-the-art prosthetics in the US.

‘God has plans for me’, states Misha confidently. ‘I need bionic legs to be able to lift my child off the ground in the future.’

Misha’s prosthetic legs await his new profound battle - to walk again. He and Ira begin the daily routine at the hospital where they live in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 11, 2022.

‘I was in love with his legs especially his tattoos,’ says Ira wistfully. The tattoos above his knees once said: Face your fear. Accept your war.

On May 29 Misha was on patrol during a combat mission in Bilohorivka when the lethal blast of an anti-personnel mine savagely ripped apart both his legs. He immediately realized he would lose them. The grueling evacuation took over four hours and one of his comrades did not survive. He was carried by six people 2.5 km to the hospital during which he was resuscitated three times. Russians shot at the road the entire trek. The tourniquets that saved him from bleeding out, also starved his legs which were amputated at the hospital.

With assistance from a fundraiser, they plan travel to the U.S. where he will receive state-of-the-art bionic legs.

Ira carries Misha’s legs to rehab at their hospital in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 11, 2022.

At a tender age, Ira was forced to mature quickly, offering unconditional love and support to her man. In an age-old adage, love indeed transcends adversity.

He lost track of the number of surgeries he has had – 18? Maybe 19. As cartilage keeps growing, so will that amount. But Misha treats the amputation as an ordinary disease that can be cured and is temporary.

In a country with a shattered economy, it is a challenge for Ukrainian hospitals, also under attack and understaffed, to provide adequate care for the increasing demand. There is no concise count of amputees, but the surge is growing daily.

Shrapnel pierced the contents of Misha’s pockets when the anti-personnel mine blew up and Ira shows his ID card with an eerie hole where his eye should be that they keep in a drawer in their room at a hospital in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 30, 2022.

It took both his legs and a fellow soldier but Misha misses the excitement – the life & death adrenaline of war. He felt a purpose fighting for his country. Misha embodies a common refrain with most soldiers - given the choice he would return to fight. Even if he had at least one leg or a knee he insists he would definitely go back. Ira, on the other hand exclaims, ‘No, no, no, no! I already told him I would break his arms (since he has no more legs to break) to not let him go again.’

An avid bodybuilder, Misha still works out every day at the hospital in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 9, 2022. He displays not an ounce of self-pity or self-consciousness. His ammunition is humor (at times the self-deprecating dark kind popular with military).

When asked his weight and height he quips, ‘With or without legs?’

He still proudly shows off his physique. ‘We should be happy and live with ourselves and not care about anyone else’s opinion.’ But some amputees risk falling into depression and issues of emotional trauma are also addressed at Truskavets.

His jokes are nonstop, but not so funny was the chilling premonition he had last year that the war started, soldiers in his battalion died in shelling and he lost his legs. Yet he has no regrets and would do it again even knowing the dire outcome.

Nurse Diana Prysiazhna and Ira assist Misha with rehab in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 11, 2022.

They explain how most couples would get on each other’s nerves while living in such a small space for over 6 months, 24/7. ‘You should see us fight. Like cats and dogs,’ laughs Misha. Then Ira clarifies, ‘I love everything about him but sometimes I want to choke him.’ When she is visibly angry and distant some days, he has learned to grovel as a good spouse does. And she forgives.

Ira plays footsie with Misha’s prosthetic leg during rehab in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 14, 2022.

They transverse obstacles and navigate a new terrain in this altered reality while still savoring joy with playful affectionate abandon. She wipes his brow, endures his relentless passion for video games and endlessly kisses his lips. She stands by her man, even when he can’t.

Misha and Ira take part in therapeutic swimming activity with other wounded warriors in a growing legion of amputees at Sanatorium Carpathians, a pool in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 27, 2022.

Conversation turns serious when Putin’s name comes up. Misha, the warrior, talks with benevolence. His demure bride says she wants to murder the Russian leader.

Misha and Ira embrace during a therapeutic swimming activity at Moldova pool in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 16, 2022. Freed from the confines of a wheelchair, they swim together fluidly as one body. Their unflinching romance speaks not of life interrupted but rather adapted and embraced.

At their first meeting in person, his jaw was wired shut after being involved in a fight in Odesa. ‘If she can accept me with all my scars then she will accept me in every way.’ A prophesy that proved accurate.

Their first kiss? ‘Marvelous.’ Even though he had two seams holding his mouth together.

Is she proud of him? Yes
What do they like to do? Sex
Future plans: Build a house to live. Make children. Maybe work with others that lost limbs.

They are grateful for every moment they spend together. He made it back from the frontline to her arms. With no legs, but alive.

Misha plays volleyball with other wounded warriors at a local gym in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 10, 2022.

Misha and Ira are not merely existing, they are living their lives. They attend volleyball games, weekend mountain trips and dinners made more romantic as they tenderly feed each other by the candlelight necessary during blackouts from recent shelling.

Misha believes Russian citizens are lost sheep. ‘They sit home drinking vodka and listening to propaganda on TV and think Russia is best and all others are evil. They live in a barrel of shit but believe it’s a better barrel.’

With a little help from his friends, Misha and Ira attend a fundraiser event with other wounded warriors in in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 12, 2022. In a poignant moment recently, members of Misha’s military unit met to award him a medal for courage.

Misha has no fear of death and believes destiny decides. He feels life still has plans for him since he could have died a hundred times already. He still has some mission.

His thoughts on the alleged war crimes and atrocities committed by Russian soldiers: ‘Everyone has a conscience and knows exactly what they are doing. They will receive their due punishment.’

In Misha’s opinion, what could end the war? ‘Definitely no negotiations - no steps back because people died and made so many sacrifices. Even if there is a pause now, Russians will attack again. Only victory to the end.’

Misha and Ira go for strolls during frequent blackouts from Russian shelling across the country in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 29, 2022.

Their daily life before war? Ira is nostalgic for their promenades in Rivne. Now ‘walks’ consist of her pushing a wheelchair and occasionally resting on his lap. They didn’t drink or go to nightclubs before, preferring quiet moments. They never danced together. But Misha chuckles, saying they never really got out of bed.

They feel the war changed them in some ways for the better with new priorities and a realization that the only thing that matters is human life.

For now, they kiss and cuddle and hold onto hope.

In sickness and in health…

‘God has plans for me’, states Misha confidently. ‘I need bionic legs to be able to lift my child off the ground in the future.’

Kryslyn Stanley is learning how to be a single mother after leaving her partner, and father of her youngest daughter, Nyx due to domestic violence. Their relationship had become toxic and emotionally abusive, but when she was given a black eye in August, Stanley decided she was finished. She found the strength to leave him and get a protective order for her and her two daughters. Stanley and her daughters, Nyx and Sylyn, were able to stay at a Motel 6 with city money earmarked for residents of her apartment complex who didn’t have working air-conditioning in record Texas heat. This gave Kryslyn time and space to recover while her ex moved his things out of her place.
Stanley has had to put off dealing with her trauma from the relationship while she helps her daughters heal. Her ex, who has been tracking her locations through her I-phone, will show up at random places out of the blue, further traumatizing their daughter, Nyx. Nyx has been acting out with violent tantrums while Kryslyn patiently explains to her that it is OK for her to feel big things but she must control her actions. Stanley is worried about the long term impacts of this experience on her daughters, but is working hard to ensure her daughters both feel safe and have the space to work through their emotions.

Kryslyn Stanley tells her daughters, Sylyn and Nyx, to be patient while she tries to open the door to their room at the Motel 6 on July 13, 2022. The girls were cold and wet after swimming and looking forward to a “spa night” Kryslyn had planned. The family was staying at the Motel 6 with money District 7 Councilwoman Ana Sandoval had donated to residents of the apartment complex where Kryslyn lives in due to lack of safe conditions.

Kryslyn Stanley puts her earrings in, unable to avoid seeing her black eye in the mirror on August 2. Her daughter, Nyx, angrily pouts saying she wants to go to the pool at the Motel 6 where they are staying. Stanley was trying to get out the door to file a police report on her ex, Nyx’s father, for the black eye he gave her the day before. Nyx has been picking up on her mom’s stress and has been acting out and throwing tantrums. The trauma of the abuse has been taking its toll on both mother and daughter as Stanley tries to hold everything together for her children.

On August 12, less than two weeks after her ex gave her a black eye, Kryslyn Stanley changes the lock on her apartment door, so her ex can no longer use a key to get in. Stanley had to break in from the balcony because her ex had bolted the door shut from the inside and then climbed out a window. Something he had been doing since she left him. Stanley was already staying at a Motel 6 because of conditions at her apartment. In her absence her ex had stolen her things, and brought multiple people to her apartment to do drugs.
Stanley had to work extra hours doing delivery driving to have enough money to buy the new lock and a screwdriver to change it.

Kryslyn Stanley sits outside her Motel 6 room talking to a San Antonio Police Department detective about the police report she filed on her ex, while her daughter, Nyx, pokes her head out the door listening in, on August 4. Stanley was already situated at the Motel 6, she and other tenants at her apartment complex were given funding to stay there by the city of San Antonio because their air conditioning was not working while temperatures topped out in the triple digits.
Staying at the Motel had been a huge blessing for Stanley, allowing her to escape deplorable conditions in her apartment at Seven Oaks, but also giving her space from her ex while he moved his stuff from her apartment. It did limit privacy and made it harder to have sensitive conversations with her young daughters overhearing.

Kryslyn Stanley laughs as her daughter, Nyx, pushes back on her as she playfully wakes her up sining “Wake up Nyx-Optomus,” August 5, 2021. Nyx has never been a morning person and getting her out of bed is difficult on normal days. But these have not been normal days for Stanley and her daughter. Days before she left Nyx’s father after he gave her a black eye. Both mother and daughter have been dealing with the trauma in different ways. Nyx has been throwing tantrums and aggressively head butting her mother when she doesn’t get her way. Stanley has been patiently working with her daughter, trying to be fun and silly to keep her happy even though she is struggling with the aftermath of the abuse herself.

A tear falls down Sylyn Murphy's cheek as she and her mom reminisce while staying at the Motel 6 in July. The room was paid for by the city because their air-conditioning in their apartment wasn't working and San Antonio was facing record hot summer. Moving to the motel wasn't the only difficult thing for Murphy over the summer. Sylyn had been witnessing her mom begin to fight back while in a toxic relationship with her younger sister's father.

Kryslyn Stanley is good a making chores fun for her daughters. Stanley who has been washing her clothes in her Motel 6 bathtub to save money has her daughter, Nyx step on the clothes with her to help get the soap to bubble, August 6, 2022. The distraction worked for a few minutes, and Nyx was able to laugh with her mom. The pair were just days after Stanley was given a black eye from Nyx’s father. Nyx has not been handling the abuse and absence of her father well, forcing Stanley to put her trauma to the side to care for her daughter.

Kryslyn Stanley watches her 9 year old daughter, Sylyn play in the swimming pool at a Motel 6. Sylyn was with her father when Kryslyn received a black eye from her partner, but she had been witnessing the emotional abuse he inflicted on her mom for years. Stanley had Sylyn stay with her father for an extra week in hopes she would not have to see the results of the abuse. The black eye lasted longer than the extra week apart.

With her black eye still very visible, Kryslyn Stanley drops her youngest daughter, Nyx off for her first day of school, August 15. What should have been a fun day was instead filled with stress. Since Stanley received the black eye from Nyx’s father, Nyx has been acting out, throwing tantrums and head butting her mom. After dropping Nyx off in her classroom, Stanley had to go to the office to alert the front desk to the Protective Order she took out on Nyx’s father to ensure he could not pick Nyx up from school. Her older daughter, Sylyn patiently waited, always staying close to her mom.

Kryslyn Stanley, watches over her daughter, Nyx, while they ride the bus home from school and the grocery store, September 20. Stanley was forced to use the bus system after her car was repossessed. This meant she was unable to earn money doing delivery driving, putting her further behind in getting back on her feet after leaving her ex, Nyx’s father. Nyx, who is 4, has been missing her father and not fully understanding why he isn’t in her life anymore. Kryslyn has had to put her own healing on hold while she cares for her daughters.

Nyx Statton begins to calm down after throwing a tantrum on the floor before going to a Trunk-or-Treat event with her mom and sister on October 29. Her mom, Kryslyn Stanley, calm extends her hands to help Nyx up. Nyx has been on a hair trigger since her mom ended her relationship with her father due to domestic violence. Nyx is having a hard time understanding why her dad is gone, and as soon as she starts to improve, he randomly shows up at the house, traumatizing her all over again. Earlier that morning he had left things on their front porch that Nyx saw before her mom could clear it out. Her mom is trying her best to walk the line of letting Nyx get her feelings out while keeping her behavior in check. After her tantrum, Kryslyn led her to the bedroom where she laid her daughter down, rubbing her back until the crying stopped completely. It is Kryslyn’s belief Nyx is worried of losing her and her sister the way she lost her dad, causing her to act out.

Kryslyn Stanley laughs and hugs her youngest daughter, Nyx, trying to get her to lay down next her older daughter, Sylyn and go to sleep. Both girls have been extra clingy with their mom since she left Nyx’s father and put the abusive relationship behind her. The girls have been sleeping in bed with Stanley since they moved back to the apartment. Stanley doesn’t let them sleep in their bedroom out of fear that her ex could break in through the sliding door that leads to their room. On the headboard of her bed Stanley wrote “Unless Kryslyn personally invited you to this bed, you are not welcome. Children play and sleep here.” This was written during the last months of her toxic relationship and Kryslyn plans on painting over it to help her heal.