At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the Ukrainian military blew up a dam at the entrance to Demydov. The village is located less than 40 kilometers from Kiev and the enemy could quickly approach the capital. However, the flooded area became another milestone in the approaches to Kiev — the Russian army did not cross the Irpin River.
Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes footage of Serhiy Korovayny from the flooded Demidov. A month after the retreat of Russian troops from northern Ukraine, part of the village of Demydiv was still under water.
On February 25, 2022, the Ukrainian Defense Forces blew up a dam on the Irpin River near the site of its inflow into the Kiev Reservoir. The attack of the Russian troops managed to stop, but the village of Demidiv was in the water. It flooded individual houses, basements, vegetable gardens and gardens.
Photographer Sergey Korovayny came to Demydov in early May.
“At first, the story of the village of Demydov did not seem to me as dramatic as the testimony from the liberated Bucha, Borodianka, Irpen or the village of Fanevichi. That is, from cities and villages that the Russians either occupied or destroyed greatly, where people were killed or buried,” says Serhiy Korovaynyi.
He traveled extensively in Kyiv and Sumy region in the first months of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, documenting stories of occupation and destruction.
“Demidiv is such a quiet story about the battle for the Kyiv region, but it is no less important, and perhaps the most important. Natural borders were often used to defend Kiev and all of Ukraine. There are many such cases in our history and Demydov is one of such cool examples,” explains Serhiy Korovaynyi.
The Irpin River partially protected Kiev from occupation. The Dnieper River now affects the front line in the Kherson region and has prevented the Russians from occupying the right-bank Ukraine.
The Irpin River became a serious obstacle to the advance of columns of Russian military equipment. In early May, in fact, a month after the retreat of the Russians, parts of the village of Demidiv were still flooded.
“I have pictures of my grandmother Maria, who is 82 years old. Her house and basement are flooded with water, she walks through the apartment in rubber boots. However, grandmother Maria, like almost all her fellow villagers, said that although they did harm, they stopped the Russians. And this act, according to her, was the right thing,” says Sergey.
Even despite the damage to their farms, people in Demidov understood the importance of such a move by the Ukrainian military.
“I was inspired by this position of the residents of Demidov. It inspired me that, despite the flooded areas, people were in their yards, planted vegetable gardens, tried to manually drain scraps of land and grow something on them. Such a boiling activity of the Ukrainian village is also very inspiring,” Korovainyi says.
The photographer recalls the story of 39-year-old Sasha, who works in the State Emergency Service (the guy with the hose in the photo). At the beginning of last year, active fighting continued near Kiev, the state and local community did not have resources to pump water. In fact, Sasha, on his own enthusiasm, took out the pump and pumped the water back into the Dnieper. He said that he wants to help people, that he is ready to pump water, but the only thing missing is funds for a soldering iron for the pump. Sasko said that everything is normal — this is life.
“For me, this expression is also about achievement., about the fact that we continue to live further, to tear up the household and return to normal life. I was very impressed by this position of the locals,” says Serhiy Korovaynyi.
Serhiy Korovaynyy after a trip to Demydov became interested in the topic of using natural boundaries in the history of protection of Ukrainian lands. He continued his research on this topic on the example of the largest river in Ukraine — the Dnipro.
Serhiy Korovaynyi— Ukrainian documentary photographer, actively covering the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Collaborates with international publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Guardian, Financaial Times and others. In his projects, he focuses on the topics of the Russian-Ukrainian war, ecology, and various aspects of Ukrainian modernity. He was educated in the United States in the Master's Program in Visual Storytelling as a Fulbright Program Fellow. In 2018, he joined The Gate, a leading Ukrainian photo agency. Sergey's works have been exhibited at numerous personal and collective exhibitions in Ukraine, the USA and the EU.
Photographer's social networks: Instagram, Facebook
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
The project is implemented thanks to support of ZMIN.
At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the Ukrainian military blew up a dam at the entrance to Demydov. The village is located less than 40 kilometers from Kiev and the enemy could quickly approach the capital. However, the flooded area became another milestone in the approaches to Kiev — the Russian army did not cross the Irpin River.
Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes footage of Serhiy Korovayny from the flooded Demidov. A month after the retreat of Russian troops from northern Ukraine, part of the village of Demydiv was still under water.
On February 25, 2022, the Ukrainian Defense Forces blew up a dam on the Irpin River near the site of its inflow into the Kiev Reservoir. The attack of the Russian troops managed to stop, but the village of Demidiv was in the water. It flooded individual houses, basements, vegetable gardens and gardens.
Photographer Sergey Korovayny came to Demydov in early May.
“At first, the story of the village of Demydov did not seem to me as dramatic as the testimony from the liberated Bucha, Borodianka, Irpen or the village of Fanevichi. That is, from cities and villages that the Russians either occupied or destroyed greatly, where people were killed or buried,” says Serhiy Korovaynyi.
He traveled extensively in Kyiv and Sumy region in the first months of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, documenting stories of occupation and destruction.
“Demidiv is such a quiet story about the battle for the Kyiv region, but it is no less important, and perhaps the most important. Natural borders were often used to defend Kiev and all of Ukraine. There are many such cases in our history and Demydov is one of such cool examples,” explains Serhiy Korovaynyi.
The Irpin River partially protected Kiev from occupation. The Dnieper River now affects the front line in the Kherson region and has prevented the Russians from occupying the right-bank Ukraine.
The Irpin River became a serious obstacle to the advance of columns of Russian military equipment. In early May, in fact, a month after the retreat of the Russians, parts of the village of Demidiv were still flooded.
“I have pictures of my grandmother Maria, who is 82 years old. Her house and basement are flooded with water, she walks through the apartment in rubber boots. However, grandmother Maria, like almost all her fellow villagers, said that although they did harm, they stopped the Russians. And this act, according to her, was the right thing,” says Sergey.
Even despite the damage to their farms, people in Demidov understood the importance of such a move by the Ukrainian military.
“I was inspired by this position of the residents of Demidov. It inspired me that, despite the flooded areas, people were in their yards, planted vegetable gardens, tried to manually drain scraps of land and grow something on them. Such a boiling activity of the Ukrainian village is also very inspiring,” Korovainyi says.
The photographer recalls the story of 39-year-old Sasha, who works in the State Emergency Service (the guy with the hose in the photo). At the beginning of last year, active fighting continued near Kiev, the state and local community did not have resources to pump water. In fact, Sasha, on his own enthusiasm, took out the pump and pumped the water back into the Dnieper. He said that he wants to help people, that he is ready to pump water, but the only thing missing is funds for a soldering iron for the pump. Sasko said that everything is normal — this is life.
“For me, this expression is also about achievement., about the fact that we continue to live further, to tear up the household and return to normal life. I was very impressed by this position of the locals,” says Serhiy Korovaynyi.
Serhiy Korovaynyy after a trip to Demydov became interested in the topic of using natural boundaries in the history of protection of Ukrainian lands. He continued his research on this topic on the example of the largest river in Ukraine — the Dnipro.
Serhiy Korovaynyi— Ukrainian documentary photographer, actively covering the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Collaborates with international publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Guardian, Financaial Times and others. In his projects, he focuses on the topics of the Russian-Ukrainian war, ecology, and various aspects of Ukrainian modernity. He was educated in the United States in the Master's Program in Visual Storytelling as a Fulbright Program Fellow. In 2018, he joined The Gate, a leading Ukrainian photo agency. Sergey's works have been exhibited at numerous personal and collective exhibitions in Ukraine, the USA and the EU.
Photographer's social networks: Instagram, Facebook
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
The project is implemented thanks to support of ZMIN.
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
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