Armed forces of Ukraine recaptured the city of Kherson, districts of the Kherson region and parts of the Nikolaev area in November 2022. The events were the result of the southern counteroffensive of Ukraine, which took place thanks to the titanic work of the Ukrainian military.
Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos of Vyacheslav Ratinsky, who took pictures of the artillery of 43 separate artillery brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine a few days before the liberation of Kherson.
A few days before the liberation of Kherson, I worked with the artillerymen of the 43rd Separate Artillery Brigade of the Armed Forces. We did not understand at the time that Kherson was about to be released. Together with a colleague, we spent 5 days in the village, where the crews of two giant self-propelled artillery installations 2S7 “Peon” were based. They stood in the village of Novovoskresenske near the front line in the Kherson region — about 15-20 kilometers. We slept with the fighters in a village hut, ate together, played backgammon, and went to combat work.
By the way, the SAU 2S7 “Peony” is the weapon that is described by the words “nay” and “yes”. The largest and most spectacular car among the available in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The crew of one car consists of up to 9 people. The “Peony” projectile has the largest caliber among the available in the Ukrainian army — 203 mm, its weight — 110 kg. To charge such a projectile, you need four people. The maximum firing range is up to 50 km. The SAU itself is the size of a good country house. When you ride on this monster, the earth shakes, the villagers run out of the huts to look, and the soldiers you meet along the way jump and wave like children. In a word, an exceptional technique.
The horizon burned 180 degrees around the village due to the active offensive of the Armed Forces. We did not know then that it was about the breakthrough of the front line and that Kherson and the entire right bank of the Kherson region would be liberated in a matter of days. Some of the fighters assumed that such an active front is artillery training on the part of the enemy, the Ukrainian army is retreating, and some villages have already been taken by the Russians and they are about to go on a counteroffensive. There is always a pessimist in the team. However, it turned out quite the opposite.
On the first evening, we talked late with the military, listened to their stories. Then I talked for a long time with Ryba (gunner Mykhailo Rybitsky), he talked about his life, about sports, about his family, which he misses terribly, and about his work in the Anti-Corruption Court.
Within a few months, Mikhail and his brothers will die while working in the Ugledar direction — a projectile will fly on their car. Have a restful sleep to these wonderful people and brave warriors.
In the evening before the departure, one fighter described to me the past departure, explained that immediately after the shooting, cassette shells flew at the place from where the work was carried out. If they had not had time to “make their legs”, no one would have been left alive. I involuntarily kept this story in my head during combat outings.
On the first night we were awakened: “Combat departure, are you with us?”. Of course, we left. Climbed on the armor with the whole crew. I'm on one car, my colleague on another. The street is dark, even with eye gouges. Everything was somehow wrong that night. We drove for a long time at the position, and when we finally arrived and waited for the coordinates, an unknown car pulled up and began to shine on our cars. It turned out to be infantrymen from positions nearby. They were not happy about our presence, because after the shooting of the “Ipion” everything starts flying at them. The worst thing is cassette shells.
Then it was a very dark night, I still could not understand what settings to set on the camera to catch the flash of the shot in the right way. And suddenly — Baba! The first car shot and left quickly.
Our car did not shoot everything, something creaked in the mechanism, the fighters shouted very loudly at each other and pulled the rope for the shot. This has been repeated for quite some time. Next to me, the chargers were nervously smoking. At this point, I remembered the story about cassette shells. I began to inspect the area, look for a hole where it would be possible to dive in case of shelling. And the guys could not shoot everything. It lasted an eternity. GRANDMAS! I did not have time to lift the cameras as I was driven back to the car. Everyone left feeling sad and worried. Me too. I didn't take a shot.
During breakfast, everyone emotionally discussed the previous night, and then the guys went to look for the cause of the breakdown. My colleague and I went with them.
While the men were repairing the SAU, a helicopter flew on the horizon, and I only had a 35mm lens. So I decided to go back to the cabin to get an extra lens. While we were at home, we heard a very loud explosion somewhere nearby. All of a sudden, everyone fell to their feet and ran out into the street. “This is the arrival, this is the arrival!” the military shouted. “Apparently, by car, there are boys there.”
A short time later, Fish and his fellow soldiers came running, with whom they were repairing the SAU. They laughed loudly and repeated, “It's a lancet! It's a lancet, come on! Don't fall, Bitch!”
“Kapa” is a commander who had the reputation of being an extremely experienced and talented artilleryman. He was a professional military man, graduated from the military academy, and in the army almost from childhood. Also, Kapa is known as a lovelace and collector of girls' hearts.
November 9 is the last day of our stay with the boys. Then everyone was in good humor, waiting for a new task and coordinates of goals.
“Doc! Doc! Nastya's bells!” said Kapa, sitting on the hood of his commander's SUV. The soldier with the call sign “Doc” lazily took the phone out of his pocket, dialed some number and handed the phone to Kapi.
“Alo, Nastya, do you want to shoot? Well, if you want, let's go shoot. Well, from what, from “Peony”. Come - let's talk,” Kapa ended the dialogue with Nastya.
A few minutes later, a young girl came, who serves in another unit, which was also stationed in Novovoskresensk. The girl did not have to be convinced for a long time and, as soon as the coordinates arrived, we jumped on the Peonies and rushed to the positions. Kapa, Nastya and Doc left by Commander Nissan.
After the shooting, we returned to base, parked the Peonies and Kapa decided to hold a dedication to the artillery for Nastya. The girl's face was smeared with soot from the sleeve, and the sleeve itself was hit on the “soft” place. In a good mood, we said goodbye to the guys and left.
Two days later, news began to arrive about the release of Kherson. At that time, we were one of the few photojournalists working in this direction. All international news about the successes of the Armed Forces in this direction, including the top The New York Times, Washington post, The Times, etc., were depicted with our photographs, in particular, where Nastya shoots from a huge gun.
Vyacheslav Ratynskyi — Ukrainian reporter and documentary photographer. He was born in the city of Zhytomyr. He has been living and working in Kyiv for the last 9 years. Graduate of the Faculty of Journalism of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. He has been published in many Ukrainian publications (Ukrainska Pravda, Hromadske, Novoe Vremya, Focus, Forbes, Ukrainian Week, Reporters and others), as well as in a number of foreign publications (Time, The Guardian, The Wall Street journal, The Washington mail, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, The New York Times, El Pais, Radio Freedom Europe, BBC, Reuters, Der Spiegel).
Photographer's social networks:Facebook, Instagram
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Kateryna Moskalyuk
Bild-editor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
Read also: Countdown to the future. Photos of Yevhenii Zavgorodny and Andriy Dubchak from liberated Kherson
The project is implemented thanks to supportCHANGES.
Armed forces of Ukraine recaptured the city of Kherson, districts of the Kherson region and parts of the Nikolaev area in November 2022. The events were the result of the southern counteroffensive of Ukraine, which took place thanks to the titanic work of the Ukrainian military.
Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos of Vyacheslav Ratinsky, who took pictures of the artillery of 43 separate artillery brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine a few days before the liberation of Kherson.
A few days before the liberation of Kherson, I worked with the artillerymen of the 43rd Separate Artillery Brigade of the Armed Forces. We did not understand at the time that Kherson was about to be released. Together with a colleague, we spent 5 days in the village, where the crews of two giant self-propelled artillery installations 2S7 “Peon” were based. They stood in the village of Novovoskresenske near the front line in the Kherson region — about 15-20 kilometers. We slept with the fighters in a village hut, ate together, played backgammon, and went to combat work.
By the way, the SAU 2S7 “Peony” is the weapon that is described by the words “nay” and “yes”. The largest and most spectacular car among the available in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The crew of one car consists of up to 9 people. The “Peony” projectile has the largest caliber among the available in the Ukrainian army — 203 mm, its weight — 110 kg. To charge such a projectile, you need four people. The maximum firing range is up to 50 km. The SAU itself is the size of a good country house. When you ride on this monster, the earth shakes, the villagers run out of the huts to look, and the soldiers you meet along the way jump and wave like children. In a word, an exceptional technique.
The horizon burned 180 degrees around the village due to the active offensive of the Armed Forces. We did not know then that it was about the breakthrough of the front line and that Kherson and the entire right bank of the Kherson region would be liberated in a matter of days. Some of the fighters assumed that such an active front is artillery training on the part of the enemy, the Ukrainian army is retreating, and some villages have already been taken by the Russians and they are about to go on a counteroffensive. There is always a pessimist in the team. However, it turned out quite the opposite.
On the first evening, we talked late with the military, listened to their stories. Then I talked for a long time with Ryba (gunner Mykhailo Rybitsky), he talked about his life, about sports, about his family, which he misses terribly, and about his work in the Anti-Corruption Court.
Within a few months, Mikhail and his brothers will die while working in the Ugledar direction — a projectile will fly on their car. Have a restful sleep to these wonderful people and brave warriors.
In the evening before the departure, one fighter described to me the past departure, explained that immediately after the shooting, cassette shells flew at the place from where the work was carried out. If they had not had time to “make their legs”, no one would have been left alive. I involuntarily kept this story in my head during combat outings.
On the first night we were awakened: “Combat departure, are you with us?”. Of course, we left. Climbed on the armor with the whole crew. I'm on one car, my colleague on another. The street is dark, even with eye gouges. Everything was somehow wrong that night. We drove for a long time at the position, and when we finally arrived and waited for the coordinates, an unknown car pulled up and began to shine on our cars. It turned out to be infantrymen from positions nearby. They were not happy about our presence, because after the shooting of the “Ipion” everything starts flying at them. The worst thing is cassette shells.
Then it was a very dark night, I still could not understand what settings to set on the camera to catch the flash of the shot in the right way. And suddenly — Baba! The first car shot and left quickly.
Our car did not shoot everything, something creaked in the mechanism, the fighters shouted very loudly at each other and pulled the rope for the shot. This has been repeated for quite some time. Next to me, the chargers were nervously smoking. At this point, I remembered the story about cassette shells. I began to inspect the area, look for a hole where it would be possible to dive in case of shelling. And the guys could not shoot everything. It lasted an eternity. GRANDMAS! I did not have time to lift the cameras as I was driven back to the car. Everyone left feeling sad and worried. Me too. I didn't take a shot.
During breakfast, everyone emotionally discussed the previous night, and then the guys went to look for the cause of the breakdown. My colleague and I went with them.
While the men were repairing the SAU, a helicopter flew on the horizon, and I only had a 35mm lens. So I decided to go back to the cabin to get an extra lens. While we were at home, we heard a very loud explosion somewhere nearby. All of a sudden, everyone fell to their feet and ran out into the street. “This is the arrival, this is the arrival!” the military shouted. “Apparently, by car, there are boys there.”
A short time later, Fish and his fellow soldiers came running, with whom they were repairing the SAU. They laughed loudly and repeated, “It's a lancet! It's a lancet, come on! Don't fall, Bitch!”
“Kapa” is a commander who had the reputation of being an extremely experienced and talented artilleryman. He was a professional military man, graduated from the military academy, and in the army almost from childhood. Also, Kapa is known as a lovelace and collector of girls' hearts.
November 9 is the last day of our stay with the boys. Then everyone was in good humor, waiting for a new task and coordinates of goals.
“Doc! Doc! Nastya's bells!” said Kapa, sitting on the hood of his commander's SUV. The soldier with the call sign “Doc” lazily took the phone out of his pocket, dialed some number and handed the phone to Kapi.
“Alo, Nastya, do you want to shoot? Well, if you want, let's go shoot. Well, from what, from “Peony”. Come - let's talk,” Kapa ended the dialogue with Nastya.
A few minutes later, a young girl came, who serves in another unit, which was also stationed in Novovoskresensk. The girl did not have to be convinced for a long time and, as soon as the coordinates arrived, we jumped on the Peonies and rushed to the positions. Kapa, Nastya and Doc left by Commander Nissan.
After the shooting, we returned to base, parked the Peonies and Kapa decided to hold a dedication to the artillery for Nastya. The girl's face was smeared with soot from the sleeve, and the sleeve itself was hit on the “soft” place. In a good mood, we said goodbye to the guys and left.
Two days later, news began to arrive about the release of Kherson. At that time, we were one of the few photojournalists working in this direction. All international news about the successes of the Armed Forces in this direction, including the top The New York Times, Washington post, The Times, etc., were depicted with our photographs, in particular, where Nastya shoots from a huge gun.
Vyacheslav Ratynskyi — Ukrainian reporter and documentary photographer. He was born in the city of Zhytomyr. He has been living and working in Kyiv for the last 9 years. Graduate of the Faculty of Journalism of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. He has been published in many Ukrainian publications (Ukrainska Pravda, Hromadske, Novoe Vremya, Focus, Forbes, Ukrainian Week, Reporters and others), as well as in a number of foreign publications (Time, The Guardian, The Wall Street journal, The Washington mail, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, The New York Times, El Pais, Radio Freedom Europe, BBC, Reuters, Der Spiegel).
Photographer's social networks:Facebook, Instagram
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Kateryna Moskalyuk
Bild-editor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
Read also: Countdown to the future. Photos of Yevhenii Zavgorodny and Andriy Dubchak from liberated Kherson
The project is implemented thanks to supportCHANGES.
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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