Brotherland: War in Ukraine • Brendan Hoffman
Since protests in Kyiv drove President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February 2014, Eastern Ukraine has been convulsed by a rebel insurgency, inflamed by Russia, that has evolved into a full-fledged war centered in the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk – an industrial region known as Donbas.
At heart is a desire among the rebels for greater autonomy, out of widespread fear—justified or not—that Russian-speaking Ukrainians are at risk of political repression by the government in Kyiv. Russian propaganda has carried this storyline further, implying that the Ukrainian government is comprised of fascists and neo-Nazi Ukrainian nationalists. Russia itself has been widely accused of backing the rebels with weapons, cash, training, and fighters, prompting the deepest divide between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.
Ukraine’s economy has taken a massive blow. Huge expenditures on the war effort, combined with the loss of Crimea and much of the industrial output of Donbass, mean that international bailouts intended to stave off default may yet prove insufficient. Political reforms are inching along, corruption remains rampant, and the overall atmosphere of instability has kept away foreign investment.
Meanwhile, as always, civilians are falling victim to the indiscriminate effects of uncaring weapons. According to the United Nations, nearly 10,000 people have died in the conflict as of March 2017.
Residents of the Ploshchadka neighborhood, which has been heavily bombarded, await an escort from Russian-led forces to leave the neighborhood on Wednesday, July 30, 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Members of the Donbass Battalion, a pro-Ukraine militia, after taking cover from gunfire in a field near a Ukrainian military checkpoint on May 21, 2014 in Dobropillya, Ukraine.
Members of the pro-Russia Vostok Battalion stand over the body of Oleksiy Muyroshnichenko, a member of the pro-Ukrainian Donbass Battalion militia who was killed in an early-morning firefight on May 23, 2014 in Pisky, Ukraine. At least eight people between the two sides, including one civilian, were killed in an early morning firefight when the Donbass Battalion, a pro-Ukraine militia, attacked a Vostok Battalion checkpoint in the nearby town of Karlivka.
A couple kiss outside the occupied regional administration building, which serves as headquarters for Russian-led forces, on May 11, 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
People attend a Communist May Day march and rally on May 1, 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Nadezda Panasyk, 75, walks in the stairwell of her apartment building in the Kievsky district where she lives on Friday, October 17, 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine. Her building is used by fighters for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic to coordinate efforts to gain control of the Donetsk airport, one of the most heavily contested ongoing battles of the war in eastern Ukraine.
Local residents gather to watch as the bodies of victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 are removed from the scene of the crash on July 21, 2014 in Grabovo, Ukraine. The plane, traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over eastern Ukraine by Russian-supported forces, killing all 298 people aboard.
A Ukrainian military checkpoint on November 17, 2014 near Pisky, Ukraine.
New recruits of the St. Mary's Battalion undergo training on the beach at their base on the Sea of Azov on February 4, 2015 in Mariupol, Ukraine. The pro-Ukraine battalion is one of a few tasked with defending the port city, which was hit late last month by an artillery barrage that killed at least 30 people, from Russian-led forces.
A soldier for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic at a front-line position in an abandoned school on Wednesday, March 23, 2016 in Zaitseve, Ukraine.
Hot soup is served to people in need of a free meal on Thursday, October 16, 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine. Many older residents have not received pension payments in months and no longer have enough money to buy food.
Two Ukrainian soldiers walk back to their positions from a trip to the store during a snowstorm on Saturday, March 19, 2016 in Pavlopil, Ukraine.
New recruits of the St. Mary's Battalion undergo training on the beach at their base on the Sea of Azov on February 4, 2015 in Mariupol, Ukraine. The pro-Ukraine battalion is one of a few tasked with defending the port city, which was hit late last month by an artillery barrage that killed at least 30 people, from pro-Russia rebels.
Relatives grieve at the funeral of Yulia Izotova, a 21-year-old nurse who was killed in fighting between Russian-led forces and the Ukrainian military, on May 5, 2014 in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.
Students at School 68 take part in a drill in which they pratice what to do in case of shelling on February 6, 2015 in Mariupol, Ukraine. On January 24, shelling just nearby killed 31 people and injured over 100, prompting the school to increase the frequency of the drills to daily instead of weekly.
A woman in a hospital covers her face as poll workers bring a ballot box to allow patients to vote in a referendum on greater autonomy for eastern Ukraine on May 11, 2014 in Mariupol, Ukraine. The referendum, held under armed occupation, was not recognized by Ukraine or internationally.
A woman walks past the body of a man killed on the sidewalk when a rocket or mortar struck the road on January 30, 2015 in Donetsk, Ukraine. At least five people were killed in a separate attack nearby when a rocket struck the parking lot outside a center for the distribution of humanitarian aid.
Sunbathers relax on Peschanka Beach, part of which has been fenced off and studded with tank traps and concertina wire to guard against an invasion from sea, on August 30, 2015 in Mariupol, Ukraine. The beach is located on the western side of the city, away from the direction of the front lines. The sign on the fence warns of land mines.
Mourners fill in the grave of Elena Ott, 42, on May 16, 2014 in Starovarvarovka, Ukraine. Ott was killed two days prior when the car she was riding in was fired on by forces her family believes to be the Ukrainian military.
Local residents ride the tram on Friday, April 21, 2017 in Donetsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine. Donetsk, the capital of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, had some one million residents before the war began, and while a significant number have fled or been otherwise displaced, it is still a busy metropolis. The front line is just on the edge of the city, and shelling can sometimes be heard from the city center.
A pair of swans swim in a pool of water pumped out to keep the mine from flooding at the Shcheglovskaya Coal Mine on Friday, March 25, 2016 in Makiivka, Ukraine.
Ukrainian prisoners of war are loaded onto a truck by Russian-led forces for transport to a prisoner exchange on February 21, 2015 in Novotoshkivske, Ukraine.
Vika (L) kisses her friend Kolya (C) as fellow soldier Sergei drinks a beer at a local pizza restaurant after their unit withdrew from Debaltseve on February 19, 2015 in Artemivsk, Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have begun withdrawing from the strategic and hard-fought town of Debaltseve after being effectively surrounded by Russian-led forces.
Ukrainian soldiers and tanks outside a building used as a base on February 2, 2017 in Avdiivka, Ukraine. The conflict in the front-line town with Russian-led forces has intensified dramatically over the past several days, leaving many residents without heat, electricity, or water, though some reported that heat had been restored.
Clothing from the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is strewn in the grass at the crash site on July 20, 2014 in Grabovo, Ukraine. The flight was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by Russian-supported forces, killing all 298 on board including 80 children.
A girl stares out the window of a bus evacuating women and children away from fighting to the town of Sviatohirsk on February 3, 2017 in Avdiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine. The conflict with Russia-backed rebels has intensified dramatically in the front-line town since the weekend, leaving the town without water or electricity.
A miner works at the coal face 1300 meters underground at the Shcheglovskaya Coal Mine on Friday, March 25, 2016 in Makiivka, Ukraine.
A wounded Ukrainian soldier is loaded onto a medevac helicopter on a sports field, which will take him and others to Dnipropetrovsk for treatment on February 8, 2015 in Artemivsk, Ukraine. Fighting between pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian forces has dealt steady casualties to Ukrainian fighters and civilians.
Domestic items are spread around a living area for Russian-led forces stationed in a parking garage with a view of the destroyed terminal of the Donetsk Airport on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Olesya Hadarina takes her horse Syoma out for some exercise near the Azovstal steel factory, seen in the background, on Wednesday, December 5, 2018 in Mariupol, Ukraine. Azovstal has been negatively impacted by tensions between Russia and Ukraine on the Sea of Azov and in the Kerch Straight, which has limited access for ships to the Port of Mariupol, the largest in the region, from which Azovstal ships much of its product.
A girl sits in a shop that builds caskets on February 3, 2015 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Ludmila Anatolievna Polyakova, whose son Misha Poliakov is missing, poses for a portrait in her home, where she raised him as one of nine children, on Saturday, July 16, 2016 in Ilovaisk, Ukraine.
Burned flowers inside the destroyed City Hall building, which was until recently occupied by pro-Russian activists, on May 18, 2014 in Mariupol, Ukraine. A week before presidential elections are scheduled, questions remain whether the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk are stable enough to administer the vote.
Lt. Valeriia Sikal, an active-duty soldier in the Ukrainian army, poses for a portrait at her home on Saturday, March 23, 2019 in Tomashpil, Ukraine. Sikal filed a sexual harassment complaint with military prosecutors and the national police authorities against her commanding officer, though he retains his command while the investigation unfolds.
Circus performer Aleksei Medianikov rides a horse with Pegasus wings back stage at the Donetsk "Cosmos" Circus on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 in Donetsk, Ukraine. The circus has suffered as much of the former talent in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic left town with the start of the war, but it has enlisted amateurs to develop acts, such as Medianikov and some colleagues from a local riding club, and provides an entertainment outlet for families.
PROJECTS
Brotherland: War in Ukraine
By Brendan Hoffman
Since protests in Kyiv drove President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February 2014, eastern Ukraine has been convulsed by a Russian-led separatist insurgency that evolved into a full-fledged war centered in the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, an industrial region known as Donbas.
I’ve been photographing the war, and civilian life surrounding it, since its early days in April 2014, one of very few photographers to have continually worked on both sides.
Now, after six years, the war grinds on, stuck in an uneasy stalemate while delivering a steady stream of death and injury. For civilians living near the demarcation line, conflict is like the weather, an uncontrollable condition of the environment with which one must contend daily. Everyone continues their business as best they can with a practiced sense of normalcy, revealing the remarkable human ability to adapt and carry on.
For soldiers, enthusiasm for the cause, whether fueled by propaganda or patriotism, is tempered by the toil and terror of survival.
My portrayal takes a humanistic perspective to consider that the vast majority of people touched by this war, civilians and soldiers alike, on all sides, are victims whose lives have been irreversibly altered by forces beyond their control – forces that, as in all wars, originate with a deliberate choice to kill. My pictures also emphasize the inherent absurdity of armed conflict: the shock of the unimaginable juxtaposed with the utterly mundane.
The difficult truth is that if war can happen in Donbas, it can happen anywhere.
Related Content
Exhibitions
2019 “Brotherland: War in Ukraine” Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL, USA
2019 “Brotherland: War in Ukraine” Chech Art Gallery, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
2019 “Brotherland: War in Ukraine” Zaporizhzhia National University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
2019 “Brotherland: War in Ukraine” Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University, Cherkasy, Ukraine
2019 “MISSING” Géopolis, Brussels, Belgium
2019 Benefit Auction, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, Nebraska, USA (group)
2018 “Brotherland: War in Ukraine” Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
2018 “Brotherland: War in Ukraine” Sumy City Gallery, Sumy, Ukraine
2018 “Brotherland: War in Ukraine” Platforma TU, Mariupol, Ukraine
2017 “Uncertainty” Outdoor exhibition commissioned by ICRC, Vienna and various cities in Ukraine
2016 “Uncertainty” Outdoor exhibition commissioned by ICRC, Kyiv and Severodonetsk, Ukraine
2016 Visa pour l'Image, Perpignan, France (projection)
Publications
Battered Ukrainian City of Mariupol Braces for Worst as Rebels Close In, The New York Times