"I haven’t seen a single person in Ukraine that is not touched by the war in any way"
"Everyone, all 40 or 42 million Ukrainians are affected by the war. Some in a more ferocious way, some less so."
Victoria Ivleva is a journalist and photographer, winner of the World Press Photo Award (1992). At the very beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion she decided to move to Ukraine. Since she started living in Kyiv, Victoria has been providing a lot of volunteer support to Ukrainians, and as a photographer captures the terrible consequences of war: the devastation of lives, the destruction of buildings, urban facilities, and landscapes, as well as the frightening new reality of once peaceful Ukrainian cities in general.
Victoria’s photo series was presented at the "After February 24" exhibition, organized by the Dialogue Office for Civil Society Cooperation in partnership with the Sakharov Center. In 2022-2023 the photos of four photographers, which apart from Victoria Ivleva were Sergei Stroitelev, Alyona Malkovskaya and Pavel Mirny, were exhibited in five cities across Austria and Germany.
We asked Viktoria about her daily life in Ukraine, her personal feelings and attitude towards Russia’s aggression, as well as the value of documentary photography during wartime. The interviewer was Stefan Melle, director of the Dialogue Office for Civil Society Cooperation. For ease of viewing, we recommend turning on English subtitles added to this video.
The Dialogue Office for Civil Society Cooperation is a non-profit organization based in Vienna. It promotes democracy and human rights, sustainable development, anti-discrimination, integration and peace with a focus on Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Through thematic events, partnerships with civil society organizations and initiatives, publications and public discussions, we provide a multilateral space for exchange and community building among civil society organizations and engaged like-minded people.
