Ukraine in
three parts
Photography by Justyna Mielnikiwicz, 2015; Joseph Sywenkyj, 2022; Mateusz Sarello, 2023
Cover image by Joseph Sywenkyj “Ukraine in three parts” Lesson Plan
Resources for this lesson:
The Full Projects:
A Ukraine Runs Through It, Justyna Mielnikiwicz, 2015
Wounds, Joseph Sywenkyj, 2022
Warscapes, Mateusz Sarello, 2023
Using this Lesson
This lesson was developed to keep the Russo-Ukranian War in the present. In the three documentary photography essays mentioned above that cover three different years of this war and its aftermath—2015, 2022, and 2023—we feel an intimacy and immediacy that other sources of information cannot offer. The global magnitude and repercussions of this conflict continue to rise with the use of nuclear weapons being threatened and the escalation of this regional war spreading. As we navigate these very troubled times, we invite you to bring these three Aftermath projects to your students, colleagues, faith groups, professional circles, and family as an act of compassion and solidarity for Ukrainians everywhere and and as an act of defiance against the inhumanity of war.
This lesson provides three complementary exercises, or Frames, for educators and moderators to access and adapt to best meet the needs of their classroom or community gathering. They are intended to stand as models for engaging learners of any age with the power of a single image to tell a complex and nuanced story. While the sequence of Frame I, II, and III were designed to be used in this order, each can stand alone or be used interchangeably to introduce or strengthen visual literacy through discussion, reflection, and analysis using these extraordinary Aftermath projects:
A Ukraine Runs Through It, Justyna Mielnikiwicz, 2015
Wounds, Joseph Sywenkyj, 2022
Warscapes, Mateusz Sarello, 2023
A Ukraine Runs Through It, Justyna Mielnikiwicz, 2015
April 2014 , Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Two Roma Sisters Ruslana (16) and Milana (19) taking the evening stroll along the Dnieper River. In April the war was just starting . Slavaynsk was already under full control of armed rebels. In Donetsk two administrative building were taken by them but otherwise the city of over a million residents lived normally.
July 2014 , Mykolaiv/ Kherson. Billboard with a picture of Putin as Hitler and the words “ Get out from Ukraine,” on the road from Mykolaiv to Kherson, July 2014.
July 2014, Kherson. World War II Boat commemorates a battle which took place on the Dnieper River. The boat is located at the entrance to the Kalipso Beach Complex. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry.
July 2015, Dniepropetrovsk. Artificial flower vendor on the boulevard by Dnieper river.
May 1, Celebrations in Donetsk, 2015. School children from Donetsk dressed as clowns getting ready to perform for the public.
July 2015, Mariupol. Alexander Mahaykov works in the factory for 19 years. His parents worked here as well. Illich Iron & Steel Works is the second largest metallurgical enterprise in Ukraine, owned by Ukraine's richest man, R. Akhmetov.
Ukraine October, 2014 : Yaroslava (5) is often playing or hiding in a suitcase her mother and grandmother brought with them while leaving Donetsk. Yarolslava's father, Stanislav, divorced her mother but to help his daughter he set them up in a private hotel. The owner of the hotel on the outskirts of Lvov helps IDPs free of charge.
July 2014, Dniepropetrovsk. Wedding of Alexey and Elena. They came from a small town nearby to take wedding pictures by the Dnieper River and Dnipropetrovsk.
April 2015, Slavyansk. Bus stop in Semonovka on the entrance to Slavyansk. The heaviest fights took place here when in July 2014 the Ukrainian Army took control of the city from Armed Pro-Russian Rebels. War in Donbas started in the city in spring 2014 when armed rebels took over administrative buildings in the city.
April 2014, Dneipropetrovsk. Patriotic Youth Exercise in Dneipropetrovsk. School kids took part in a surviving skills competition, organized by local pro-Ukrainian Cossacks. Many of these Cossacks took an active part in the Euromaidan protest. Later they helped police guard administrative offices agains possible attacks by pro-Russian separatists and than go to war. The first person shot and killed during the Kiev Euromaidan protest was a man from the Dniepropetrovsk region. City with strong pro-Russian sentiments eventually become a stronghold of pro- Ukrainian movements. First volunteer battalions were formed there and most of fallen soldiers fighting on Ukraine side came from Dniepropetrovsk region in Central Ukraine.
July 2015, Cherkasy. Captain Kasyanenko Nikolay Vasilevich holds his daughter after arriving from the front line back home, where he was for a year. When the war started he was retired from the army but immediately went to sign up as a volunteer to fight.
April 2014, Dniepropetrovsk. Soviet-era cable car used to over the Dnieper River. Some people start calling Dniepropetrovsk a "war capitol of Ukraine." The city is in central Ukraine and is the fourth largest city (1.1 million inhabitants) and the main industrial centre of the country. It was one of the Soviet “closed cities” for its nuclear and space industries.
July 2014 , Mariupol. Cement Wave Breakers block the road from Novoazovsk as city Mariupol which expect separatist to push further on on any day. Before the war that road was loaded with cars traveling between Russia and Ukraine. At the end of August Separatists backed by Russia took control over the nearby port of Novoazovsk, opening up a new front.
Wounds, Joseph Sywenkyj, 2022
Artur Haltzov, 31, sits for a portrait with his caretaker Inna in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Artur served as a volunteer soldier and attempted suicide due to severe PTSD in 2015 by leaping from a hospital window, which left him with a devastating head trauma. For several years he could not walk, talk or feed himself.
Artur Haltsov, 24, is strapped into a vertical position to help rehabilitate his feeling of space and balance. Artur attempted suicide due to severe PTSD shortly after witnessing his friend be torn to pieces in front of his own eyes near the front line.
Volodymyr Honcharovsky looks out the window from his bed in the morning after another sleepless night due to overwhelming amounts pain from nerve damage he sustained almost nine years ago when he was shot three times by security forces during the Euromaidan Revolution. He can go up to a week without sleep due to debilitating pain.
Volodymyr Honcharovsky, 31, married with 4 children, kisses his wife in their home in Teofipol. Honcharovsky was severely wounded during the Euro Maidan Revolution when he was shot three times while attempting to reach wounded demonstrators who had been shot by security forces in central Kyiv.
Volodymyr Honcharovsky is pushed in his wheelchair by his brother Roman while Volodymyr’s son Nazar sits on his lap. Volodymyr cannot walk due overwhelming amounts pain from nerve damage he sustained almost nine years ago when he was shot three times by security forces during the Euromaidan Revolution.
Vasyl Pelish, 19, lies in his hospital bed at the Lviv Military Hospital. He took part in the Euromaidan Revolution and afterward joined a volunteer battalion to fight Russian supported separatists in the Donbas. Separatists took Vasyl captive and hacked off his right arm with a hatchet because he had Слава Україні (Glory to Ukraine) tattooed on his arm.
Family and friends walk in the funeral procession for Vasyl Pelish. Previously injured in the Donbas, Vasyl left his home in western Ukraine to volunteer at the frontline shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He was killed by Russian forces at the age of 27.
Tanya Vichysta-Pelish, embraces her daughter-in-law Albina at her son’s, Vasyl Pelish's, funeral in the western Ukrainian city of Stariy Sambir.
Wounded Ukrainian soldiers Nazar (right) and Yura (center) learn to walk on prosthetic legs during a physical therapy session at a rehabilitation center in western Ukraine. The center, which currently has over 140 patients, works specifically with Ukrainian soldiers who underwent amputations due to the war. Ukraine, October 29, 2022.
A Ukrainian soldier undergoes mirror therapy at Nodus, a state of the art neurosurgical and neurological rehabilitation center in Brovary, located just east of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. He was wounded in combat in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region several months before Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
A Russian artillery shell explodes and destroys a house on the outskirts of Soledar in territory controlled by Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region during a large artillery battle between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
“This war brought Ukrainians together. For some reason sorrow brings people together more than joy,” said Iryna Nalyvaiko, as she went on to describe how well she was treated by her fellow citizens after she escaped Russian occupation in Hostomel, a suburb of Kyiv.
Pallbearers carry the coffin of Viacheslav Nalyvaiko at Saint Michael’s Monastery in central Kyiv. Mr. Nalyvaiko was a husband, father and grandfather, who never got to meet his young granddaughter. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February prompted him to leave his job and join the Ukrainian military. He was killed in combat in southern Ukraine.
Oleksiy, 50 years old, digs a grave for a Ukrainian soldier from Kharkiv killed in the war in cemetery #18 on the southern edge of Kharkiv. Approximately 600 Ukrainian military personnel from Kharkiv have been buried here since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Warscapes, Mateusz Sarello, 2023
The landscape after the battle. The war leaves its mark not only on the inhabitants of Ukraine, the country's infrastructure, but also on its nature. Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine, May 2022
Tactical training for civilians at the city shooting range. Every weekend, the inhabitants of Lviv train their shooting skills here, wanting to be ready for a possible attack of Russian troops on Lviv. Lviv, Ukraine, March 2022
A housing estate and a playground destroyed as a result of battle in March 2022. Borodyanka is a town near Kyiv, which, next to Bucha, suffered the most as a result of the land offensive of the Russian army at the beginning of the war. Borodyanka, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, April 2022
Russian missile attack on railway infrastructure. Having suffered heavy losses on the Eastern Front, Russia is focusing on destroying Ukraine's transport and energy infrastructure, which mainly affects civilians. Lviv, April 2022
Landscape after the battle. The effect of an ambush attack by Ukrainian troops on a Russian armored vehicles column. Kiev Oblast, Ukraine, April 2022
Residents of Lviv resting after leaving the shelter, right after the rocket alarm. Despite regular rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities, most residents got used to living in a sense of danger and only a few hid in shelters during rocket alerts. Lviv, Ukraine, March 2022
Private houses and properties damaged as a result of fighting. Several tanks and vehicles of the troops of the Russian Federation were stationed in the yard of a private house. They were all destroyed as a result of an attack by Ukrainian troops using, among others, Javelin anti-tank weapons. Velika Dymerka, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, April 2022
Consequences of fights in Borodyanka. The fire brigade is using heavy equipment to demolish fragments of residential buildings that are at risk of collapsing. The damage was caused by a Russian missile attack in March 2022. Borodyanka, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, April 2022
Young Ukrainians watching a destroyed Russian tank a month after the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv. Destroyed Russian tanks were left on the battlefields as "living monuments" and material evidence of the victory of Ukrainian troops. Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, May 2022
Bomb crater. Kharkiv, Ukraine, May 2022
A rural primary school in Cherkaska Lozova destroyed during fights. Schools and kindergartens are buildings that suffered in a special way as a result of the war. Usually the largest and most solid buildings in small towns, Russian soldiers were stationed in schools. The damage was usually caused by fighting for positions.
Consequences of the Russian missile attack on the city center. As a result of the attack, 24 people were killed and more than 200 were injured. 55 buildings and private houses, 40 cars and two trams were destroyed. Vinnytsia, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine, September 2022
Related Resources
Sadly, source material and where we are getting information about the Russo-Ukranian War continues to be teachable moments. Misinformation (without intent to mislead) and disinformation (intended to misinform) remain omnipresent. Helping learners discern what is a credible source and how to evaluate the information must live in parallel with viewing and discussing any of these images. As images are increasingly being doctored for nefarious purposes, it is essential to affirm the integrity of these photographs and discuss what makes them a primary source of information. Before engaging with these photographs, here are some other suggested credible materials to share.
Tracking the Russo-Ukranian War with maps from trusted media outlets.
Reuters: Mapping Ukraine’s Counteroffensive
The New York Times: Maps: Tracking the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Context from current news sources from trusted media outlets, think tanks, and educational institutions.
Council on Foreign Relations: Ukraine’s Struggle for Independence in Russia’s Shadow and War in Ukraine. General historical background and timeline
NPR: “Russia’s at war with Ukraine: Here’s how we got here.” General overview.
The New York Times: Russia—Ukraine and Teaching Resources to Help Students Make Sense of the Russian war against Ukraine. This is a collection of articles, maps, and editorials. A subscription is required.
History from leading scholars with accessible links to accessing the publications, podcasts, and video series.
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, Timothy Snyder, Yale historian
Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine, Anne Applebaum, historian and journalist
The Gates of Europe, Serhii Plokhy, Harvard historian
“The Making of Modern Ukraine” is a tremendous video series (23 classes) by Timothy Snyder
The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History, Serhii Plokhy, Harvard historian