Illuminations Ukrainian photographer Mykhaylo Palinchak documents the devastation that remains after Russia’s retreat from occupied parts of Ukraine
Illuminations Ukrainian photographer Mykhaylo Palinchak documents the devastation that remains after Russia’s retreat from occupied parts of Ukraine
A year ago, the Ukrainian army succeeded in liberating most of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region from Russian occupation, and by November they had also recaptured the southern city of Kherson. The retreating Russian military left behind a mass of evidence testifying to the crimes it had committed in the occupied region. Civilian buildings reduced to rubble, torture chambers, and mass graves throughout the once-thriving area appear to be haunted by the suffering that took place there. Ukrainian photographer Mykhaylo Palinchak traveled to Kherson and other parts of Ukraine that survived the occupation, chronicling what he saw in the wake of the invading army’s retreat. The title of this photographic series is “Illuminate”: by pointing a flash into the void left behind by the occupying army, the photographer bears witness to what took place there before.