Shadows of Battles
Shadows of Battles
Embedded Files
The photo series about the consequences of the war on my husband's life was based on an interview with him.
The photo series about the consequences of the war on my husband's life was based on an interview with him.
The war that entered our lives has changed us forever. It has become an invisible yet palpable backdrop for everything that happens around us. This photo series is a personal story of my husband, an active-duty serviceman. Through the lens of a camera, I aim to convey the emotions, experiences and changes that the war has brought into our lives.
These are not just photographs; they are a visual chronicle of his thoughts, fears, dreams, and the reality he faces every day. Each frame tells the story of how war transforms the human soul, forcing one to reevaluate the familiar and find new meanings in life.
Shall we go on a picnic?
I don't want to be in nature, do you know how long I was there? I will return to that nightmare again...
What did you dream of becoming as a child?
What did you dream of becoming as a child?
I was born into the family of an engineer and a seamstress, I studied, went to music school, and went swimming. I wanted to study music and become a famous musician, but I entered an art school and then studied to become a wood painting artist. Subsequently, I became a sculptor-decorator, music was more like a hobby, and I released several songs with a friend. Before the full-scale war, I was finishing up a large order for the city, but, unfortunately, I never finished it. On February 24, 2022, Kharkiv started shelled and there was an arrival at the depot where we placed the order. I wanted to serve and protect my city from the Russians, but at that time there was a queue of people in Kharkiv who tried to defend their homes, there were not enough weapons, and they only took people with combat experience, which I did not have. I moved with my wife to a safer city, Chernivtsi, and the next day I went to the military registration and enlistment office, in the end, I became a military, and of course, this is far from how I imagined my years, our life. Currently, I do not have the opportunity to realize myself as a creator...
I was born into the family of an engineer and a seamstress, I studied, went to music school, and went swimming. I wanted to study music and become a famous musician, but I entered an art school and then studied to become a wood painting artist. Subsequently, I became a sculptor-decorator, music was more like a hobby, and I released several songs with a friend. Before the full-scale war, I was finishing up a large order for the city, but, unfortunately, I never finished it. On February 24, 2022, Kharkiv started shelled and there was an arrival at the depot where we placed the order. I wanted to serve and protect my city from the Russians, but at that time there was a queue of people in Kharkiv who tried to defend their homes, there were not enough weapons, and they only took people with combat experience, which I did not have. I moved with my wife to a safer city, Chernivtsi, and the next day I went to the military registration and enlistment office, in the end, I became a military, and of course, this is far from how I imagined my years, our life. Currently, I do not have the opportunity to realize myself as a creator...
Tell me about the happiest moment?
We were going on a combat mission in Bilogorivka (Luhansk region, Ukraine), and we were told that we would be there for less than a day, so as not to take food with us. But we were there for 4 days. On the way to it, they started shelling us, and there were wounded among us. One bar in his pocket, almost without water, under relentless fire from the 120th mortar by the Wagnerites. They crawled like cockroaches from all sides, only killed, new ones appeared more and more. The building of the water pump was collapsing, my commander was killed by a slab that fell after another explosion. We understood that this building could become a mass grave for us, because with each explosion it collapsed more and more, and everything fell on us. There were windows everywhere, if you were seen in a window, you were a corpse. There was a small room without windows, and we slept there, but not for long, on the first day I fell asleep for 40 minutes, and then for two days I did not sleep at all. We were hungry, and freezing. I had the idea that I would die on my birthday, which fell on these days, and it would be such a bad joke. I had no strength left, I was so frozen that I was shaken. They removed the blanket from the dead Vitalik and covered me. Then my fellow soldier made me tea, it was the most valuable gift.
We were going on a combat mission in Bilogorivka (Luhansk region, Ukraine), and we were told that we would be there for less than a day, so as not to take food with us. But we were there for 4 days. On the way to it, they started shelling us, and there were wounded among us. One bar in his pocket, almost without water, under relentless fire from the 120th mortar by the Wagnerites. They crawled like cockroaches from all sides, only killed, new ones appeared more and more. The building of the water pump was collapsing, my commander was killed by a slab that fell after another explosion. We understood that this building could become a mass grave for us, because with each explosion it collapsed more and more, and everything fell on us. There were windows everywhere, if you were seen in a window, you were a corpse. There was a small room without windows, and we slept there, but not for long, on the first day I fell asleep for 40 minutes, and then for two days I did not sleep at all. We were hungry, and freezing. I had the idea that I would die on my birthday, which fell on these days, and it would be such a bad joke. I had no strength left, I was so frozen that I was shaken. They removed the blanket from the dead Vitalik and covered me. Then my fellow soldier made me tea, it was the most valuable gift.
Did you have a sense of peace in the war?
We were to go to a position in Novoselivka (Donetsk region, Ukraine), and I looked around: the sun was shining and butterflies were flying. I thought: "Nature lives, everything is fine..., - and in the background, I heard the sounds of artillery mines, - and everything around is fine, only people are killing each other."
We were to go to a position in Novoselivka (Donetsk region, Ukraine), and I looked around: the sun was shining and butterflies were flying. I thought: "Nature lives, everything is fine..., - and in the background, I heard the sounds of artillery mines, - and everything around is fine, only people are killing each other."
Why don't you like rain?
It starts to rain, you get soaked to your underpants, and you have no way to change clothes, dry off, or warm up. You are freezing so that you are shaking so much that you cannot sleep, and there is not much time to sleep, you have to go "back and forth" again. And even if you get sick, it will not be an excuse not to perform combat tasks. And after the rain, there is mud everywhere, feet sink into it all, and it becomes more difficult to fight.
It starts to rain, you get soaked to your underpants, and you have no way to change clothes, dry off, or warm up. You are freezing so that you are shaking so much that you cannot sleep, and there is not much time to sleep, you have to go "back and forth" again. And even if you get sick, it will not be an excuse not to perform combat tasks. And after the rain, there is mud everywhere, feet sink into it all, and it becomes more difficult to fight.
What do you think about the river?
We arrived in Sviatohirsk (Donetsk region, Ukraine) and a downpour started just as we needed to carry our things across the river to the other bank—supplies from the command post, rations, and our personal belongings. Once again, we were all soaked, freezing, and exhausted, yet we had to wade through the river, which, as it turned out, had bodies floating in it. We reached the shore, and the shelling began. We took shelter in a restaurant by the river.
We arrived in Sviatohirsk (Donetsk region, Ukraine) and a downpour started just as we needed to carry our things across the river to the other bank—supplies from the command post, rations, and our personal belongings. Once again, we were all soaked, freezing, and exhausted, yet we had to wade through the river, which, as it turned out, had bodies floating in it. We reached the shore, and the shelling began. We took shelter in a restaurant by the river.
How do you feel?
How do you feel?
Hopelessness. On one side, there’s the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where there's always the threat of ending up on the front line again—constantly hungry, exhausted, and seeing nothing in the midst of some mess. On the other side, there are civilians for whom a soldier is a hero when there's a counteroffensive and he’s on the front line, but an enemy when they face mobilization.
Hopelessness. On one side, there’s the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where there's always the threat of ending up on the front line again—constantly hungry, exhausted, and seeing nothing in the midst of some mess. On the other side, there are civilians for whom a soldier is a hero when there's a counteroffensive and he’s on the front line, but an enemy when they face mobilization.
What is your biggest fear?
What is your biggest fear?
My biggest fear is ending up in a clearing where you’re "exposed like on a palm." The East is steppes, and plantings are often the only place to hide from the enemy, but these plantings don’t offer protection, and for many soldiers, they become their last refuge.
My biggest fear is ending up in a clearing where you’re "exposed like on a palm." The East is steppes, and plantings are often the only place to hide from the enemy, but these plantings don’t offer protection, and for many soldiers, they become their last refuge.
I hope that this project will give you the opportunity to better understand your loved ones and accept the changes that have happened to them. It's a chance not only to see them as they are now, but to walk alongside them on this journey of adaptation, healing and rediscovering themselves in a world forever changed by what they've been through.
I hope that this project will give you the opportunity to better understand your loved ones and accept the changes that have happened to them. It's a chance not only to see them as they are now, but to walk alongside them on this journey of adaptation, healing and rediscovering themselves in a world forever changed by what they've been through.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse