Photographer Maxim Dondyuk has been doing essential work documenting the conflict since the first events in 2014. Today his photographs are still widely recognized as keys to understanding the violence of the fighting and its disastrous consequences on civilians. We are proud to support his work and help enable him to continue capturing the reality of war, a war for freedom.
Maxim Dondyuk:
"UKRAINE 2014/22 is a chronicle of a long-lasting battle of Ukraine for its true independence, national identity, and freedom, which has always been a fragile issue. In the winter of 2013-14, the Ukrainians declared their complete refusal to be a part of the former Soviet empire, which is crumbling to pieces and trying to restore itself through force, blackmail, and political games. Those events become the beginning of the end. For nearly a decade, I’ve documented many aspects of the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, photographing the conflict from both sides - the Ukrainian Revolution, the annexation of Crimea, beginning of the war in the east of Ukraine.
On February 24, Russia started a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Dozens of cities and villages have been destroyed, thousands of people were killed, and millions fled. What we are witnessing today is a final epic battle for freedom and democracy, the outcome of which is immensely important not just for the people of Ukraine, but also for a united Europe and the whole civilized world.
As a Ukrainian and a documentary photographer, I can't stay apart from such an important historical period for the country, so I continue chronicling Ukraine in its period of self-affirmation as an independent country, concentrating on the aftermath and the outcome of this battle between Soviet and European values."
February 21, 2023