A year ago, Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, was in a relatively safe rear area, where IDPs from frontline settlements were arriving. The city was well connected, shops and banks were open, and residents felt relatively safe. However, over the past six months, the situation has changed dramatically: Pokrovsk turned into a frontline town, and people began to leave en masse. In the context of the seizure of neighboring settlements, such as Avdiivka and Ocheretyne, there are fears that Pokrovsk may become the next target of the Russian army. Enemy troops are located within 10 kilometers of the city.
Now Pokrovsk in Donetsk region is one of the places where the war leaves the most painful traces. Daily shelling, the evacuation of thousands of people and uncertainty about the future are forcing residents to leave their homes. However, in every story, despite the fear and pain, there is hope for a return.
The situation in the Pokrovsk sector remains extremely tense. Russian troops conduct numerous assaults every day in an attempt to break through the defense. In the city itself, the situation is no less complicated, with constant shelling and threats to life forcing people to leave their homes. Local authorities are calling for evacuation, especially for families with children. However, despite the danger, about 26,000 residents remain in the city, including more than a thousand children. Since September 5, evacuation trains from the city have been canceled for safety reasons. People can leave for safer territory of Ukraine with the help of volunteers or by their own transport.
Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos by Konstantin and Vlada Liberov and Alexander Magula from the Pokrovsk train station, as well as photos by Marian Kushnir of Ukrainian soldiers holding back the Russian offensive on the city.
In recent months, evacuations from Pokrovsk have become part of everyday life. The train station is crowded with people packing their most valuable possessions and preparing for the unknown. In early September, a couple of documentary photographers, Konstantin and Vlada Liberov, captured the situation on the platform, in a train carriage: “Everyone is facing the unknown. Even those who have relatives waiting for them in other cities. It is impossible to prepare a person for this. It is impossible to explain to a small child why he and his mother are leaving and his father is staying. It's impossible to reassure an 80-year-old grandmother who was born, grew up, fell in love, worked, built a family, and spent her entire life in one city that she will not have the opportunity to live out her old age in peace in that city. It's too painful.”
The photographers also note that the most striking thing is that some of them had already had to leave their homes in 2014 or 2022: “It's painful for everyone, but there is a certain category of people whose stories are particularly heartbreaking. They are usually different from others at the train station. They behave a little more confidently, have fewer things with them than others. These are people who have already been through it. Some - in 2014 in Donetsk. Some - in 2022 in Bakhmut. They have already packed their entire lives into a few bags. They had already fled from the Russians and their “liberation,” but they caught up with these people here. Someone on this train, who is not from Pokrovsk itself, but from the region, has already lost his home to a Russian shell. Some have already lost loved ones. The train takes care of everyone. They distribute food and hygiene kits, have doctors on hand and quickly provide assistance to elderly people who have heart problems due to stress.”
“Women are hugging and crying near the evacuation train. Local residents are gradually filling the cars, and conductors in bulletproof vests are helping to place suitcases and animals. The elderly are being treated for stress and heart attacks. The unknown is ahead of everyone,” this is the picture that Suspilne photojournalist Oleksandr Magula saw at the station on August 24, Ukraine's Independence Day. Each departure is a moment of farewell to the city that has witnessed the indescribable pain of its residents.
Radio Liberty's military correspondent Marian Kushnir talks about the situation at the front that directly threatens Pokrovsk: “The occupation forces are advancing in small groups, looking for weaknesses. They are bypassing the positions of Ukrainian paratroopers, conducting assaults, looking for a breakthrough. The enemy is acting under the cover of artillery and aviation, and our fighters are using drones to respond quickly.”
Kushnir notes the complexity of the situation, when even the previous defense lines are becoming a shelter for the occupation troops, but Ukrainian forces are doing everything possible to hold back the onslaught. “Everything is working on the frontline: aviation, artillery, rocketry. So it is not easy. Support the soldiers!” the journalist writes.
Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov are a couple of photographers from Odesa. They started their journey focusing on creative and emotional stories. In a few years, they became one of the most recognized photographers in the field and moved on to active teaching, with thousands of grateful students around the world. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, they changed the vector of their work, focusing on artistic documentary photography: their photos from the hot spots of Ukraine go viral on social media, gaining hundreds of thousands of reposts, and are published by influential media such as BBC, Welt, Vogue, Forbes, and are also used by the President of Ukraine and other high-ranking officials in their social networks. Two personal exhibitions of the Liberovs have already been held in Europe, and their photographs have also been included in many thematic exhibitions.
Oleksandr Magula is a photographer originally from Kharkiv. He is a journalist for Suspilne News in Kyiv. He studied journalism at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Before the war, he worked in local media. He collaborated with the largest German-language print media in Europe (NZZ, FAZ, TAZ, Focus, DerStandard).
Marian Kushnir has been working for Radio Liberty since 2015, and is currently actively covering events related to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In March 2022, while performing an editorial assignment, Marian Kushnir was injured in an attack by Russian troops in the Kyiv region and was diagnosed with concussion. In May 2023, Marian Kushnir received a special award from the Bucha Journalism Conference.
The material was created by:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vira Labych
Editor-in-chief: Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Site manager: Vladyslav Kukhar
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A year ago, Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, was in a relatively safe rear area, where IDPs from frontline settlements were arriving. The city was well connected, shops and banks were open, and residents felt relatively safe. However, over the past six months, the situation has changed dramatically: Pokrovsk turned into a frontline town, and people began to leave en masse. In the context of the seizure of neighboring settlements, such as Avdiivka and Ocheretyne, there are fears that Pokrovsk may become the next target of the Russian army. Enemy troops are located within 10 kilometers of the city.
Now Pokrovsk in Donetsk region is one of the places where the war leaves the most painful traces. Daily shelling, the evacuation of thousands of people and uncertainty about the future are forcing residents to leave their homes. However, in every story, despite the fear and pain, there is hope for a return.
The situation in the Pokrovsk sector remains extremely tense. Russian troops conduct numerous assaults every day in an attempt to break through the defense. In the city itself, the situation is no less complicated, with constant shelling and threats to life forcing people to leave their homes. Local authorities are calling for evacuation, especially for families with children. However, despite the danger, about 26,000 residents remain in the city, including more than a thousand children. Since September 5, evacuation trains from the city have been canceled for safety reasons. People can leave for safer territory of Ukraine with the help of volunteers or by their own transport.
Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos by Konstantin and Vlada Liberov and Alexander Magula from the Pokrovsk train station, as well as photos by Marian Kushnir of Ukrainian soldiers holding back the Russian offensive on the city.
In recent months, evacuations from Pokrovsk have become part of everyday life. The train station is crowded with people packing their most valuable possessions and preparing for the unknown. In early September, a couple of documentary photographers, Konstantin and Vlada Liberov, captured the situation on the platform, in a train carriage: “Everyone is facing the unknown. Even those who have relatives waiting for them in other cities. It is impossible to prepare a person for this. It is impossible to explain to a small child why he and his mother are leaving and his father is staying. It's impossible to reassure an 80-year-old grandmother who was born, grew up, fell in love, worked, built a family, and spent her entire life in one city that she will not have the opportunity to live out her old age in peace in that city. It's too painful.”
The photographers also note that the most striking thing is that some of them had already had to leave their homes in 2014 or 2022: “It's painful for everyone, but there is a certain category of people whose stories are particularly heartbreaking. They are usually different from others at the train station. They behave a little more confidently, have fewer things with them than others. These are people who have already been through it. Some - in 2014 in Donetsk. Some - in 2022 in Bakhmut. They have already packed their entire lives into a few bags. They had already fled from the Russians and their “liberation,” but they caught up with these people here. Someone on this train, who is not from Pokrovsk itself, but from the region, has already lost his home to a Russian shell. Some have already lost loved ones. The train takes care of everyone. They distribute food and hygiene kits, have doctors on hand and quickly provide assistance to elderly people who have heart problems due to stress.”
“Women are hugging and crying near the evacuation train. Local residents are gradually filling the cars, and conductors in bulletproof vests are helping to place suitcases and animals. The elderly are being treated for stress and heart attacks. The unknown is ahead of everyone,” this is the picture that Suspilne photojournalist Oleksandr Magula saw at the station on August 24, Ukraine's Independence Day. Each departure is a moment of farewell to the city that has witnessed the indescribable pain of its residents.
Radio Liberty's military correspondent Marian Kushnir talks about the situation at the front that directly threatens Pokrovsk: “The occupation forces are advancing in small groups, looking for weaknesses. They are bypassing the positions of Ukrainian paratroopers, conducting assaults, looking for a breakthrough. The enemy is acting under the cover of artillery and aviation, and our fighters are using drones to respond quickly.”
Kushnir notes the complexity of the situation, when even the previous defense lines are becoming a shelter for the occupation troops, but Ukrainian forces are doing everything possible to hold back the onslaught. “Everything is working on the frontline: aviation, artillery, rocketry. So it is not easy. Support the soldiers!” the journalist writes.
Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov are a couple of photographers from Odesa. They started their journey focusing on creative and emotional stories. In a few years, they became one of the most recognized photographers in the field and moved on to active teaching, with thousands of grateful students around the world. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, they changed the vector of their work, focusing on artistic documentary photography: their photos from the hot spots of Ukraine go viral on social media, gaining hundreds of thousands of reposts, and are published by influential media such as BBC, Welt, Vogue, Forbes, and are also used by the President of Ukraine and other high-ranking officials in their social networks. Two personal exhibitions of the Liberovs have already been held in Europe, and their photographs have also been included in many thematic exhibitions.
Oleksandr Magula is a photographer originally from Kharkiv. He is a journalist for Suspilne News in Kyiv. He studied journalism at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Before the war, he worked in local media. He collaborated with the largest German-language print media in Europe (NZZ, FAZ, TAZ, Focus, DerStandard).
Marian Kushnir has been working for Radio Liberty since 2015, and is currently actively covering events related to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In March 2022, while performing an editorial assignment, Marian Kushnir was injured in an attack by Russian troops in the Kyiv region and was diagnosed with concussion. In May 2023, Marian Kushnir received a special award from the Bucha Journalism Conference.
The material was created by:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vira Labych
Editor-in-chief: Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Site manager: Vladyslav Kukhar
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.
