Life interrupted: A photo essay about one girl's battle with cancer

Russian photographer Yulia Skorobogatova created a photo series about a small girl undergoing cancer treatment. This emotional topic was the hardest that Yulia has ever covered.

Yulia shares Dasha's story: ‘When I saw Dasha for the first time, she was wearing her best clothes. She looked at the camera and smiled clumsily. It was hard to find a common language with her. She seemed to think I would hurt her.

The last time I saw Dasha was when I accompanied her to the train station. They were heading to children's hospice in St. Petersburg, the only one of its kind in 2014.

Katya decided to tell her daughter that the operation was successful and that everything would be fine.

To begin with, she blatantly avoided me and always snuggled up to her mother. I made an effort not to scare her, and soon Dasha got used to me.

She died on 15th March 2014. Several days later she was buried near her grandfather.'

She started feeling better and better, even though she was going through another course of chemotherapy. After the treatement, an operation to remove the tumor was scheduled.

Based on good test results, her doctors' prognosis was positive.

All her organs were covered with tiny metastases, which could not been removed.

Then Katya, Dasha’s mother, was given the verdict: "Nothing can save your daughter."

There are just two children's hospices, one palliative care center and about 20 palliative wards in Russia's more than 80 regions.