In early August 2024, columns of Ukrainian military equipment crossed the border with the Russian Federation in Sumy region. Reports of a breach of the border appeared on August 6, 2024 in the Kremlin media, which claimed that the Armed Forces entered the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region. On August 12, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the operation of the Defense Forces in the Kursk region, emphasizing that its goal is to liberate the border territories of Ukraine from Russian troops who regularly shelled the Sumy region.
Photojournalist Vyacheslav Ratynskyi for 10 days he documented the situation on the border regions of Sumy, recording the evacuation of the local population, the columns of Ukrainian vehicles heading to the territory of the aggressor state, the consequences of shelling by Russian cabs, and also explained why he himself did not go to Russia with the Ukrainian military.
Vyacheslav Ratinsky was shooting Khmelnytsky NPP when he learned about the offensive of the Armed Forces on Kurshchina. He hesitated whether to go to the Russian-Ukrainian border in Sumy region to document the historical event.
“I thought it would be a situation similar to the march of the RDC (Russian Volunteer Corps — ed.) in the Belgorod region. They will come and go. But every day events began to develop more and more actively, and I decided to look for a way to get there,” says Vyacheslav. “My colleague from Reuters, who was also going to go there, contacted me. Together we went to the border villages with the NGO “East SOS”, which was engaged in the evacuation of the local population.”
The Russians are shelling Ukrainian border villages daily with guided air bombs. There were a lot of people willing to leave that morning.
“In the morning we were called from East SOS and said that there were two buses - 40 people wanted to leave after the shelling of Kabul. We asked permission to join them because we were worried that they would not miss us ourselves. However, “East SOS” refused, as the priority was to remove civilians. We were offered to go by our own transport to also help with the evacuation of people. We left and successfully crossed all the checkpoints,” Vyacheslav recalls.
During the evacuation of civilians, the work of Russian artillery was heard. People converged on the evacuation site with pets and small bags. Some were drunk.
Vyacheslav hoped to shoot only the evacuation of civilians, so the fact that he managed to communicate and capture the military was a great success: “When we saw the military, we were very happy. It was a pleasant surprise, because there were times before when we negotiated with the command about work, for example, in Robotyne in the South, but at the checkpoints we were not missed any further.”
The photographer admits that, apart from a large number of military equipment and well-equipped soldiers, he has not seen the Ukrainian military in such a high mood for a long time: “They go to fulfill their mission, they win!”
During these 10 days in Sumy region, Vyacheslav met many people and recorded many stories. About one of the episodes he remembered, the photographer said: “We drive along the highway and see a large SAU, we decided to overtake it. Just set the sun, the rays of light broke through the dust on the road. On the howitzer sat a stocky bearded guy waving at us into the camera. We stopped, and one of the soldiers said, “Everything is fine! Moving forward! Kursk NPP will soon be ours!” Their positive attitude was felt in the air. However, later other military said that the situation in Kurshchina had become more complicated.”
During these days, Western media actively published photos of Vyacheslav from Sumy region — the Armed Forces of Ukraine appeared on their front pages.
“This is good, because the Ukrainian army is again appearing in the Western media as a strong army,” Vyacheslav shares. - The military themselves said that they were encouraged by the Kursk operation. After all, for a long time we heard only sad news: about death, failure, suffering. And this attack reminded them themselves that they are capable of more! It really lifted the spirit of the boys.”
The military explained that the official work of journalists near the border is prohibited: they can neither mention nor comment on any actions of the military, in particular in the Kursk region. However, photojournalist Vyacheslav Ratinsky says that he still managed to get to the border territory of Sumy region: “Although we wrote a request, we did not receive any answer. At least the command knew we were here. Work seemed to be banned, but they did not interfere, for the first time I see this. We worried every day that we could be detained, stripped of accreditation or punished in some way.”
The next day, the photographers again decided to go to shoot the military. They tried to find volunteers to accompany them, but to no avail, so they went at their own risk. The trip went well, but one day they and a colleague were detained and searched, forced to remove the footage.
“We passed through checkpoints where we were not even stopped, not once during these days we had our documents checked. Except for one episode when we almost had our equipment taken away.”
Vyacheslav emphasizes that he worked very carefully so as not to harm the Defense Forces:
“I always shot so as not to harm the military. The main thing for me was and remains to do no harm. I would not like my photos to be able to identify the area where the Armed Forces are moving, or what roads they are driving on.”
“We worked quite confidently and openly, as Ukrainian troops advanced far beyond the border,” the photojournalist says. “There were no FPV drones, artillery or mortar shelling in these villages, so we felt relatively safe. However, the threat was posed by numerous CABs. There were many of them, and it always caused fear. A loud sound that cannot be forgotten. We have seen the consequences of airstrikes in these settlements: houses destroyed, farms bombed.”
“We were the first journalists who got to the checkpoint on the state border and filmed the Ukrainian military there,” explains Vyacheslav. “If we wanted to, we could press on the gas at the checkpoint and go straight to Russia, and probably no one would have stopped us. But we were held back by several reasons.”
First, Vyacheslav's car did not have any identification marks, so the Ukrainian military could take it for an enemy DRG and destroy it. Secondly, crossing the border, even during hostilities, is illegal.
Vyacheslav says: “I remember well that in 2014, during the fighting in Donbas and the annexation of Crimea, it was painful and unpleasant for me to see how six foreign photographers from well-known photo agencies presented the project “Another Crimea”. Among them was the Russian photographer Yuri Kozyrev or Georgy Pinkhasov, whom I still respected at that time. They went to Crimea and created propaganda material about what the peninsula looks like now.
It was horrible. Ukrainian colleagues then said that this was unethical, shameful, illegal and violates Ukraine's sovereignty. I always mention this story when I think about whether it is worth crossing the border and going to Russia, even if we are officially offered. We journalists work not only to collect and disseminate information, but also to defend values, to show what is right and what is not. We cannot make decisions emotionally, even if we really want to. As a person, I too would like to go to Sudja and see what happens there, but I find it unethical.
Along with the desire to show what is happening on the territory of the Russian Federation, this issue also has a reverse side: the situation with the border crossing reflects the actions of the Russians who entered our villages and cities together with journalists, removed the tearing down of Ukrainian flags, etc. We had a discussion about this with colleagues. I was told, “What about the journalists who went into Iraq with American troops? Or a similar situation in Kosovo or Serbia in the 90s?” This question is complicated. It contains not only a professional, but also a moral dilemma. If we do not raise the relevant discussion now, at least in the professional circle, they will forget about it.”
Vyacheslav emphasizes that he had no desire to take revenge on the Russians by their own methods. According to him, Ukrainians should be morally and valuably superior to their enemies: “Only in this way can Ukrainians win. Asymmetric actions. Otherwise, why fight? What do we want to prove? That we are no different from them?!”
Vyacheslav Ratynskyi — Ukrainian documentary photographer and photojournalist. He has been working in the field of photojournalism for more than 10 years. Collaborates with international and Ukrainian news agencies and media, including Reuters, The Guardian, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine and others. He has been published in many Western and Ukrainian media, including The Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, The New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel and others.
Participant in many photo exhibitions in Europe, USA, Japan and South Korea. His photographs have been published in several books. Vyacheslav Ratinsky works in Ukraine. In his work, the photographer explores the impact of war on society, social and political problems.
Social networks:Facebook, Instagram
In early August 2024, columns of Ukrainian military equipment crossed the border with the Russian Federation in Sumy region. Reports of a breach of the border appeared on August 6, 2024 in the Kremlin media, which claimed that the Armed Forces entered the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region. On August 12, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the operation of the Defense Forces in the Kursk region, emphasizing that its goal is to liberate the border territories of Ukraine from Russian troops who regularly shelled the Sumy region.
Photojournalist Vyacheslav Ratynskyi for 10 days he documented the situation on the border regions of Sumy, recording the evacuation of the local population, the columns of Ukrainian vehicles heading to the territory of the aggressor state, the consequences of shelling by Russian cabs, and also explained why he himself did not go to Russia with the Ukrainian military.
Vyacheslav Ratinsky was shooting Khmelnytsky NPP when he learned about the offensive of the Armed Forces on Kurshchina. He hesitated whether to go to the Russian-Ukrainian border in Sumy region to document the historical event.
“I thought it would be a situation similar to the march of the RDC (Russian Volunteer Corps — ed.) in the Belgorod region. They will come and go. But every day events began to develop more and more actively, and I decided to look for a way to get there,” says Vyacheslav. “My colleague from Reuters, who was also going to go there, contacted me. Together we went to the border villages with the NGO “East SOS”, which was engaged in the evacuation of the local population.”
The Russians are shelling Ukrainian border villages daily with guided air bombs. There were a lot of people willing to leave that morning.
“In the morning we were called from East SOS and said that there were two buses - 40 people wanted to leave after the shelling of Kabul. We asked permission to join them because we were worried that they would not miss us ourselves. However, “East SOS” refused, as the priority was to remove civilians. We were offered to go by our own transport to also help with the evacuation of people. We left and successfully crossed all the checkpoints,” Vyacheslav recalls.
During the evacuation of civilians, the work of Russian artillery was heard. People converged on the evacuation site with pets and small bags. Some were drunk.
Vyacheslav hoped to shoot only the evacuation of civilians, so the fact that he managed to communicate and capture the military was a great success: “When we saw the military, we were very happy. It was a pleasant surprise, because there were times before when we negotiated with the command about work, for example, in Robotyne in the South, but at the checkpoints we were not missed any further.”
The photographer admits that, apart from a large number of military equipment and well-equipped soldiers, he has not seen the Ukrainian military in such a high mood for a long time: “They go to fulfill their mission, they win!”
During these 10 days in Sumy region, Vyacheslav met many people and recorded many stories. About one of the episodes he remembered, the photographer said: “We drive along the highway and see a large SAU, we decided to overtake it. Just set the sun, the rays of light broke through the dust on the road. On the howitzer sat a stocky bearded guy waving at us into the camera. We stopped, and one of the soldiers said, “Everything is fine! Moving forward! Kursk NPP will soon be ours!” Their positive attitude was felt in the air. However, later other military said that the situation in Kurshchina had become more complicated.”
During these days, Western media actively published photos of Vyacheslav from Sumy region — the Armed Forces of Ukraine appeared on their front pages.
“This is good, because the Ukrainian army is again appearing in the Western media as a strong army,” Vyacheslav shares. - The military themselves said that they were encouraged by the Kursk operation. After all, for a long time we heard only sad news: about death, failure, suffering. And this attack reminded them themselves that they are capable of more! It really lifted the spirit of the boys.”
The military explained that the official work of journalists near the border is prohibited: they can neither mention nor comment on any actions of the military, in particular in the Kursk region. However, photojournalist Vyacheslav Ratinsky says that he still managed to get to the border territory of Sumy region: “Although we wrote a request, we did not receive any answer. At least the command knew we were here. Work seemed to be banned, but they did not interfere, for the first time I see this. We worried every day that we could be detained, stripped of accreditation or punished in some way.”
The next day, the photographers again decided to go to shoot the military. They tried to find volunteers to accompany them, but to no avail, so they went at their own risk. The trip went well, but one day they and a colleague were detained and searched, forced to remove the footage.
“We passed through checkpoints where we were not even stopped, not once during these days we had our documents checked. Except for one episode when we almost had our equipment taken away.”
Vyacheslav emphasizes that he worked very carefully so as not to harm the Defense Forces:
“I always shot so as not to harm the military. The main thing for me was and remains to do no harm. I would not like my photos to be able to identify the area where the Armed Forces are moving, or what roads they are driving on.”
“We worked quite confidently and openly, as Ukrainian troops advanced far beyond the border,” the photojournalist says. “There were no FPV drones, artillery or mortar shelling in these villages, so we felt relatively safe. However, the threat was posed by numerous CABs. There were many of them, and it always caused fear. A loud sound that cannot be forgotten. We have seen the consequences of airstrikes in these settlements: houses destroyed, farms bombed.”
“We were the first journalists who got to the checkpoint on the state border and filmed the Ukrainian military there,” explains Vyacheslav. “If we wanted to, we could press on the gas at the checkpoint and go straight to Russia, and probably no one would have stopped us. But we were held back by several reasons.”
First, Vyacheslav's car did not have any identification marks, so the Ukrainian military could take it for an enemy DRG and destroy it. Secondly, crossing the border, even during hostilities, is illegal.
Vyacheslav says: “I remember well that in 2014, during the fighting in Donbas and the annexation of Crimea, it was painful and unpleasant for me to see how six foreign photographers from well-known photo agencies presented the project “Another Crimea”. Among them was the Russian photographer Yuri Kozyrev or Georgy Pinkhasov, whom I still respected at that time. They went to Crimea and created propaganda material about what the peninsula looks like now.
It was horrible. Ukrainian colleagues then said that this was unethical, shameful, illegal and violates Ukraine's sovereignty. I always mention this story when I think about whether it is worth crossing the border and going to Russia, even if we are officially offered. We journalists work not only to collect and disseminate information, but also to defend values, to show what is right and what is not. We cannot make decisions emotionally, even if we really want to. As a person, I too would like to go to Sudja and see what happens there, but I find it unethical.
Along with the desire to show what is happening on the territory of the Russian Federation, this issue also has a reverse side: the situation with the border crossing reflects the actions of the Russians who entered our villages and cities together with journalists, removed the tearing down of Ukrainian flags, etc. We had a discussion about this with colleagues. I was told, “What about the journalists who went into Iraq with American troops? Or a similar situation in Kosovo or Serbia in the 90s?” This question is complicated. It contains not only a professional, but also a moral dilemma. If we do not raise the relevant discussion now, at least in the professional circle, they will forget about it.”
Vyacheslav emphasizes that he had no desire to take revenge on the Russians by their own methods. According to him, Ukrainians should be morally and valuably superior to their enemies: “Only in this way can Ukrainians win. Asymmetric actions. Otherwise, why fight? What do we want to prove? That we are no different from them?!”
Vyacheslav Ratynskyi — Ukrainian documentary photographer and photojournalist. He has been working in the field of photojournalism for more than 10 years. Collaborates with international and Ukrainian news agencies and media, including Reuters, The Guardian, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine and others. He has been published in many Western and Ukrainian media, including The Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, The New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel and others.
Participant in many photo exhibitions in Europe, USA, Japan and South Korea. His photographs have been published in several books. Vyacheslav Ratinsky works in Ukraine. In his work, the photographer explores the impact of war on society, social and political problems.
Social networks:Facebook, Instagram
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.
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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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