stories
At the beginning of the war, Moscow seemed frozen. A year and a half later, it’s not the same city it was before February 24, 2022. This is the continuation of Alexander Gronsky’s photo project
Source: Meduza
A year ago, Meduza published a series of photographs by one of Russia’s most famous landscape photographers, Alexander Gronsky, about how Moscow had changed a few months into the war. Then, it was almost impossible to see the changes, but behind his photos you could feel that something had happened: February 24, Bucha, the bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theater and maternity hospital. A year later, Gronsky has shot a sequel to the project which he has shared with Bereg, a cooperative of independent journalists. With Bereg’s permission, Meduza is publishing the series.
The main building of the Russian Defense Ministry. In January, a Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air and anti-aircraft system was put on the roof of the building.
Preparations for the all-Russia half-marathon “ZaBeg” on Red Square, which was held on June 4
“Happy Russia Day!”
“Defending the motherland is our profession”
A one-person protest outside the American Embassy. The sign says “A Sarmat ICBM on the decision-making center in Washington.”
The Ostankino TV tower
“For the smart and the free”
The Lubyanka
The field dress jacket of Lieutenant General N.G. Sadovnikov, Chief of the Main Directorate of Trade and the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. 1991.
“The battle for Moscow”
On one side, a soldier’s portrait with the words “hero of the great country.” On the other, an advertisement for a sketch-comedy show.
An army recruiter stands beside a strawberry kiosk
One year ago, there was a McDonalds on this square near Metro Station Elektrozavodskaya. Now, Delicious, Full Stop, the McDonalds’s copy, stands unopened.
“Make people’s lives in our country better!”
A prisoner transport vehicle drives into the courtyard of the Zamoskvoretsky Court on May 5. It contains either director Zhenya Berkovich or playwright Svetlana Petriychuk, arrested because of the play “Finist the Bright Falcon.” They have been accused of justifying terrorism.
“No to war”
Photos by Alexander Gronsky for Bereg. Edited by Evgeny Feldman
English version by Ned Garvey