Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Photo by Maciek Nabrdalik / VII for The New York Times. Olha Zapotochna, with her three-year-old son Arthur head, toward Zielona Gora, Poland after crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border in Medyka on February 25, 2022. Her parents-in-law take her to Zielona Gora, where they live. Mrs. Zapotochna’s husband had to stay in Ukraine because of the mobilization.
Photo by Maciek Nabrdalik / VII for The New York Times. Migrants leave Medyka on a private minibus on February 25, 2022. The bus takes people from the border to the Przemysl train station after crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border. According to Polish Border Patrol, 29000 people crossed Polish-Ukrainian yesterday.
Photo by Espen Rasmussen / VII for VG. Ukrainian refugees seek shelter at a school gym in Przmysl, close to the Ukrainian border, on February 26, 2022. Many of the refugees have family and friends in Poland, while others are given shelter by Polish people.
Photo by Espen Rasmussen / VII for VG. Ivanka hugs her 10-year-old daughter Alina at the Medyka border crossing on February 26, 2022. Alina and her cousins Lisa, 21, and Daniel, 12, had to walk 36 km to get to the border crossing. Ivanka was working in Poland when the war broke out and had not seen her daughter for two weeks.
Photo by Mary Gelman / VII. A young woman is arrested at an anti-war protest in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on February 27, 2022.
Photo by Byron Smith, VII Academy Fellow. February 28, 2022. Ukrainian youth contribute to the war effort by working on a camouflage net for the army in Lviv, Ukraine.
Photo by Maciek Nabrdalik / VII for The New York Times. Refugees from Ukraine wait for the further journey after crossing the border in Medyka, Poland, early in the morning on March 1, 2022.
Photo by Espen Rasmussen / VII. Nadia (on the left), Irina, and Marina cry when they reunite outside the reception center in Korczowa, Poland, on March 1, 2022. Marina is Ukrainian but lives in Poland, and she met her family at the border after they fled Kyiv.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. People wait, hoping to get on a train going anywhere away from Kyiv, Ukraine, March 2, 2022.
Photo by Espen Rasmussen / VII. A woman, her husband, and baby try to board a bus to take them from the Korczowa reception center at the border between Poland and Ukraine on March 2, 2022.
Photo by John Stanmeyer / VII. A specific gaze occurs when we become forced to leave our homeland. The commonality that knows no border is spoken quietly in all languages. These weeks of war upon Ukraine have caused nearly 3 million people, primarily women and children, to leave everything behind. Their fathers and sons remain to fight against the Russians' war against a neighbor. At the railway station in Lviv, Ukraine, a poem of wars pain through the windows of railway cars. Each more haunting than the next: "I don't know where we will go, or when we will return…" The unknown when seated in the train, leaving Ukraine, leaving war. A poem of wars pain through the windows of railway cars, at the railway station in Lviv, Ukraine, heading to Chop, then to Hungary, to flee the war with Russia. Nearly 3 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have fled Ukraine since Russia began the war in late February 2022
Photo by Anonymous / VII.Nina at home in Moscow, March 2, 2022. I have two grandmothers who live in Poltava, 90 miles from Kharkiv. During our phone calls, I hear gunshots. One grandmother goes into the corridor or the bath during warning signals; the other keeps on watching TV in her bed. They do not want to leave. They say that they already had their time and ask not to worry about them. I feel guilty and angry. I have Russian, Ukrainian and Polish roots. It is impossible to turn such close nations against each other, it is inhuman. All this is a big homeland, part of our DNA. My biggest hope right now is the end of this war. Living in uncertainty is not easy.
Photo by Anonymous / VII. Michael at home in Moscow, March 3, 2022. My grandmother, uncle and cousin live in Ukraine. My cousin’s wife recently left for Poland with their children. The day before the war, my uncle and cousin left Kyiv for the Zhytomyr region, where my grandmother lives. I’m keeping in touch with them constantly. They will definitely stay in Ukraine and will not go anywhere. I do not exclude the possibility of their participation in hostilities, as both of them are from the military. Most of all, I am afraid of great human losses and a split in society. I really hope that this war will come to an end soon and we live in peace.
Photo by Maciek Nabrdalik / VII for The New York Times. Alina and one of her dogs, Indi, are from Kyiv, Ukraine. They started their travel toward Wroclaw, Poland, after getting some rest at the reception center organized at a shopping mall in Radymno, on March 3, 2022. The center is set up for refugees getting into Poland through the Korczowa border crossing. Most of the people in the center come from Central Asia.
Photo by Ali Arkady / VII. A family arrives in Przemysl after traveling from Medyka, the Polish border town. Przemysl, Poland, March 4, 2022.
Photo by John Stanmeyer / VII For UNICEF. Long queues of refugees from Ukraine wait to take a bus from Medyka, Poland, hoping to find somewhere to live in Poland or further across Europe, on March 4, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. The railway station of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 5, 2022, where people are leaving for the west, like Lviv and Poland.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Civilians flee the fighting in Irpin, Ukraine, March 7, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Civilians flee the fighting in Irpin, Ukraine, March 7, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Civilians flee the fighting in Irpin, Ukraine, March 7, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Civilians flee the fighting in Irpin, Ukraine, March 7, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Irpin Bridge, Ukraine, March 7, 2022. Civilians attempt to flee the fighting in the Ukrainian city of Irpin.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. A dead body is seen in Irpin, Ukraine, March 7, 2022.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII Alona says goodbye to her husband Nikoli as she flees westward with her child on March 7, 2022.
Photo by Ali Arkady / VII. A family wears warming blankets at a reception center in Medyka, Poland, on March 7, 2022.
Photo by Maciek Nabrdalik / VII for The New York Times. Refugees from Ukraine wait for a bus to continue their journeys after crossing the Polish border to Medyka, on March 7, 2022.
Photo by Maciek Nabrdalik / VII for The New York Times. Refugees from Ukraine wait for a bus to continue their journeys after crossing the Polish border to Medyka, on March 7, 2022.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. Scenes from the road leading to the broken bridge that allowed people to escape from the Irpin, suburb of Kyiv to safety, March 7, 2022. Footsteps and tracks made by wheelchairs and strollers lead up to the makeshift crossing to semi safety. People left their cars and extra belongings as they crossed the bridge by foot to be sent to Kyiv and beyond, often to begin their lives as displaced or a refugee.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. People flee Russian forces advancing in the town of Irpin on March 8, 2022. They were forced to cross a bridge, destroyed by Ukrainians, and pass through areas that had been attacked by artillery.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Civilians, including patients from a hospice for the elderly, attempt to flee the fighting in the city of Irpin, Ukraine, on March 8, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Civilians attempt to flee the fighting in the city of Irpin, Ukraine, on March 8, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Civilians attempt to flee the fighting in the city of Irpin, Ukraine, on March 8, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Civilians, including patients from a hospice for the elderly, attempt to flee the fighting in the city of Irpin, Ukraine, on March 8, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Civilians attempt to flee the fighting in the city of Irpin, Ukraine, on March 9, 2022.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. Ukrainians flee as the Russians advance into Irpin, Ukraine, March 10, 2022.
Photo by John Stanmeyer / VII. Alina and Victor (left), and Victoria and Yuri, give their partners a last goodbye on March 9, 2022, as they prepare to leave Lviv by train to fight against the Russians on the frontlines in Sumy.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Macha, nine years old, her sister, their parents and grandmother remain in their home in Irpin, Ukraine, near the front line, with nowhere to go, on March 12, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Irpin Bridge, Ukraine, March 12, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Suspected looters are under arrest by the Ukrainian Army, in Irpin, Ukraine, on March 12, 2022.
Photo by Espen Rasmussen / VII. The main train station in Krakow, Poland, is seen on March 12, 2022. Thousands of Ukrainian refugees travel through the station every day, traveling to other cities in Poland and abroad. Volunteers are at the station offer transport with cars or buses to countries such as Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Dacha (10) remains in Irpin with her parents and sister near the front line, March 13, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. People from Velika Demirka flee from the fights and bombing on March 14, 2022.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. The aftermath of damage of a Russian airstrike in Kyiv, March 15, 2022.
Photo by Joachim Ladefoged / VII. A refugee center in Hala Kijowska, Poland, on March 17, 2022. 24-year-old Angelika from Okhtyrka in eastern Ukraine holds her 10-month-old daughter Darina. They are getting a ride in the car of Polish volunteer Sandra, an insurance broker from Krakow, who has been driving to the border as often as she can to help transport refugees.
Photo by Joachim Ladefoged / VII. Medyka, Poland on March 17, 2022. When Ukrainian refugees arrive at the border in Poland, they have to walk 150 meters on a small narrow footpad along this narrow street where various NGOs are handing out aid, like pet food, clothes, food, coffee, toys, and free sim cards. At the end of the walk, they wait for a few minutes until a bus arrives to take them to a refugee center where they can sleep for the night and then move on to their end destination.
Photo by Joachim Ladefoged / VII. Medyka, Poland on March 17, 2022. When Ukrainian refugees arrive at the border in Poland, they have to walk 150 meters on a small narrow footpad along this narrow street where various NGOs are handing out aid, like pet food, clothes, food, coffee, toys, and free sim cards. At the end of the walk, they wait for a few minutes until a bus arrives to take them to a refugee center where they can sleep for the night and then move on to their end destination.
Photo by Ilvy Njiokiktjien / VII. Lubmila Vasilyvna, 83 years old, stays as a refugee at the Bronx Fitness Club in Lviv, Ukraine on March 19, 2022. She walks next to dog Raveyl. The gym turned its space into a make-shift refugee center on the second day of the war. Lubmila states, "I travel with my sister and her mother-in-law. The situation in the country is awful. I left my city of Kharkov, and I had to leave my cat Kotya behind. It is hard for me to do this. To stay here at the fitness center has been ok, but it is not my home. I miss my house. I miss my city, it is so beautiful, but now it is all destroyed. The city is ruined, I don't know if my house is still there, we just had to abandon it. I cannot compare this to anything I have ever experienced. It feels like a bad dream; it is not reality." The gym has ten volunteers working there, most of them employees of the gym. There are 70 beds, but the children are not counted; they stay in the bed with the mothers. There are many dogs and cats, and in the first days there was even a turtle. Many schools, theaters, sports clubs, and restaurants opened their doors to the refugees and distributed humanitarian help.
Photo by Ilvy Njiokiktjien / VII. Denys Kratt (48, he/him, blue hoody), works as a marketing director of a Czech brewery and is a drag queen) and Dima (34, he/him, grey shirt), works as a candy maker. They lie on their temporary bed in Stargorod restaurant in Lviv, Ukraine, on March, 18, 2022. They have been together for 11 years and are currently staying in the brewery where Denys works in Lviv. They are now volunteering in this restaurant, which provides humanitarian help to refugees. His house in Kharkiv was destroyed during the first days of the war. The apartment of his parents was also destroyed.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. The destroyed Retroville shopping mall is seen in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 21, 2022. At least six people were killed due to the Russian shelling of the shopping mall that occurred overnight.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, is interviewed by Economist editors Arkady Ostrovsky, Zanny Minton Beddoes, and writer Ollie Carroll, on March 25, 2022.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. American made Javelin containers in a trench that was once occupied by both Ukrainian forces and then by Russian forces and now again by Ukrainian forces in the village of Moshchun. March 30, 2022. Moshchun is a key village to defending the capital, Kyiv, and was being held by Russian paratroopers before their defeat.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. Destruction seen in Byshiv, Ukraine on April 1, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. The liberty road with Ukrainian army on April 1, 2022.
Photo by Eric Bouvet / VII. The liberty road with Ukrainian army on April 1, 2022.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. Ukrainian forces look at destroyed Russian equipment on April 3, 2022, after advancing on their positions after the Russians left the area.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. Ukrainian forces look at destroyed Russian equipment on April 3, 2022, after advancing on their positions after the Russians left the area.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. Volunteers remove the bodies of eight Ukrainians that were said to be executed by Russians and found in the back of a building after the Russians left the area, on April 3, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine. Two of them were found with their hands tied behind their back.
Photo by Ron Haviv / VII. Destruction and remains of Russian vehicles as they are inspected by Ukrainian forces on April 3, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine.
AwardsRon Haviv

Ron Haviv Named 2022 Px3 Photographer of the Year
NewsAli Arkady

“You Shoot, I Print”
NewsMaciek Nabrdalik

In Warsaw Park, Ukraine’s Teen Refugees Hang Out and Hang On
NewsFranco Pagetti

“Our son wants to be a soldier”: An interview with Ukraine’s First Lady
NewsGary KnightRon Haviv

From Bosnia to Ukraine, Exhibition Documents Struggle for Peace
Interview

“She broke down crying as the train doors closed”
PublicationsMary Gelman

“Hope Gives You the Strength to Act.”
PublicationsMaciek Nabrdalik

Missouri Mom Travels Half a World Away to Help 31 Orphans Escape from Ukraine

In April 2022, Eric Bouvet documented the war in Ukraine with not just his camera but also his voice. This is how the “sonoramas,” imagined and produced by Amaury Mestre de Laroque, were born.

PublicationsAli Arkady

On the Border Between Poland and Ukraine
PublicationsRon Haviv

The Exodus From Ukraine

https://vimeo.com/694546283/d56708b465

When 15-year-old Dasha fled the war in Ukraine, her Polish best friend Maya was there to take her whole family in. Watch a touching tale of friendship during troubling times of war in this video story shot by John Stanmeyer for UNICEF.

https://vimeo.com/694550145

A short film by John Stanmeyer on the emotions of war through the perspective of train windows. Filmed & photographed in March 2022 at the railway station, Lviv, Ukraine.

Tearsheets

The Economist 1843 Magazine, March 27, 2022 issue
PublicationsIlvy Njiokiktjien

LGBTQi Community in Ukraine

Dispatch from Ukraine no. 2 – Ron Haviv

PublicationsRon Haviv

In the War Room with Volodymyr Zelenskyy

https://vimeo.com/691966455/760a710913

When bomb sirens began, police asked everyone to move inside the railway station. Alex (@alexpian_official on Instagram) wouldn’t stop, playing his piano louder against the air raid warning. His friend joined with the most calming pink nails. A simple, overwhelming one-minute passion against fear, against war…

NewsEspen Rasmussen

Espen Rasmussen’s Stories from Ukraine – Poland Border for VG

Follow VII on Instagram
Status update: 22 March 2022
Eric Bouvet, Ron Haviv, and Ilvy Njiokiktjien's audio dispatch from Ukraine are now available on the VII Insider blog.
Interview

In Ukraine, Veteran War Photographers Are Back
TearsheetsRon Haviv

The Economist 1843 Magazine, March 17, 2022.

What it’s like being a reporter in Ukraine right now?

On this week's Audacious with Chion Wolf, hear from VII Photo Agency co-founder Ron Haviv on what it's like reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine right now.
PublicationsEspen Rasmussen

The Foreign Warriors

Waiting for the Great Battle of Kyiv

The question is always do you think that photography does anything? Is it worth it? What’s the point of it? I think these are always good questions. I think that for myself, at least the hope is, and the realistic hope is that no, photography is not going to stop a war. Photography cannot do that on its own.

— Ron Haviv
Interview

Dispatch from Ukraine No. 2 – Ron Haviv
gallery

The Economist 1843 Magazine, March 11, 2022
PublicationsVII Photo Agency

“It is impossible to turn such close nations against each other, it is inhuman”
VII StoriesEric Bouvet

Kyiv’s Railway Station
TearsheetsRon Haviv

The Economist 1843 Magazine, March 4, 2022
gallery

The Economist 1843 Magazine, March 4, 2022
Tearsheets

The Economist 1843 Magazine, March 3, 2022
NewsRon Haviv

The Economist 1843 Magazine, March 2, 2022
PublicationsEspen Rasmussen

Separated by War
PublicationsMaciek Nabrdalik

At the Polish Border, Tens of Thousands of Ukrainian Refugees
PublicationsRon Haviv

Kyiv Under Siege
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