Russia attacked Ukraine in the early morning hours on February 24, 2022. Putin’s invasion began Europe’s first major war in decades. The military offensive in Ukraine has caused destruction of civilian infrastructure and civilian casualties and has forced people to flee their homes seeking safety, protection and assistance. In the first week, more than a million refugees from Ukraine crossed borders into neighbouring countries, including my home country, Slovakia. Many more are on the move. As the situation continues to unfold, an estimated 4 million people may flee Ukraine according to the UNHCR. Its data shows, that 7,832,493 people already left the country (last update on December 6, 2022), most of them women with children. 887,555 have arrived to Slovakia.
Those are just numbers. They are terrifying, but they are still only numbers. The aim of the documentary project EXODUS.REPORT is to give these numbers face and voice. I am a documentary photographer collecting individual stories of the witnesses of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine.
I am using my camera as a tool of exploration, passport to inner worlds, instrument for change. The project consists of two parts - portraits of those who found refuge in Slovakia, and a transcript of interviews with them. Every story is different, but every story told can cause change.
Please help me to share these stories, thank you!
PS: Russias’ President, V. V. Putin signed a law that effectively criminalizes any public opposition to or independent news reporting about the war against Ukraine. The law, which came into effect on March 5, 2022, introduces up to 15-year prison sentences for deliberately disseminating "false information" about a "military action" in Ukraine. According to the law, it is also a criminal offense to label war simply as "war" - the Kremlin says it is a "special military operation" - on social media or in a news article or broadcast. The EXODUS.REPORT project therefore only lists the first names of the respondents, their age and the name of the city they come from.