Rescue work, the mutilated Freedom Square and the surviving flag in the photos of Pavel Dorogoy
On March 1, 2022, Russian forces launched a missile strike on the central square of Kharkiv — Freedom Square. 29 people were killed. As seen from a CCTV camera, the explosion occurred at 8:02 a.m. At least four cars drove near the square at this time. The rocket hit the right wing of the building of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration. The buildings of the opera house, the Philharmonic and part of the residential complex — four- and five-story buildings — were also damaged.
Instead, the Ukrainian flag on the Regional State Administration building remained intact.
But the Ukrainian flag on the RSA building remained intact.
The head of the Kharkiv regional state administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said that the Russians had shelled the center of Kharkiv with Grad rocket systems and cruise missiles. Boris Redin, coordinator of the "All for Victory" tent opposite the entrance to the Kharkiv Region State Administration building, said there had been two rocket attacks in total. There were about ten people in the tent at the time, and they ran to hide.
Photographer Pavlo Dorohoy was staying at a friend's place in Kharkiv on 1 March.
On the first day of the invasion, he left his home in Rai-Olenivka village to work as a fixer for foreign publications. This work allowed him to photograph until he received the Ukrainian Armed Forces accreditation.
Pavlo Dorohoy remembers that the first morning of spring in Kharkiv was unusually quiet. At around eight in the morning, there was a shudder in the house, and a little later the sound of an explosion. "A friend showed me a video of a missile crashing into the Region Administration building. I watched it over and over, trying to comprehend the fact that Russia had hit the very center of Kharkiv. The beautiful city where I was born and grew up. Where my son was born," says Pavlo Dorohoy. He decided to go to Freedom Square to take pictures. On the way, he was stopped by SSU officers, to whom he showed his documents and camera.
Pavlo walked down deserted Sumska Street to the central square. In the distance, he saw broken wires and Christmas decorations. "On Sumska Street I could hear the sounds of alarms from broken shops. As I walked up to Freedom Square, the number of broken shop windows was increasing. Closer to Maidan, the asphalt was completely covered in glass. It was the first time I had ever walked on broken glass," says the photographer. He adds that the sounds, images, and smells will stay with him for the rest of his life.
In the center, Pavlo saw a shattered corner of the administration building and a crater from another explosion. Firefighters were working nearby. The "All for Victory" tent was simply gone. It had been blown away. The day before, Pavlo met the tent's volunteers and had been worried about their safety. It was a miracle they were not hurt.
"It was in Svobody Square that I saw the first dead body in my life. Four people carried it in a carpet. From the big boots hanging in the air, I could see that it was a man. The dead man was lying beside a broken Peugeot car, which stood beside the tent. A woman's body was already there - I could tell by her small, fragile ankles," says Pavlo Dorohoy. After that, the photographer saw many bodies. On the day of the attack, ten people were pulled from the rubble. Rescuers dismantled the ruins in search of bodies over the next few weeks. The last of them were pulled out in the middle of March.
"Before that, I was in disbelief that in the 21st century, people could still be solving problems with guns. Unfortunately, they can," says photographer Pavlo Dorohoy.
Rescue work, the mutilated Freedom Square and the surviving flag in the photos of Pavel Dorogoy
On March 1, 2022, Russian forces launched a missile strike on the central square of Kharkiv — Freedom Square. 29 people were killed. As seen from a CCTV camera, the explosion occurred at 8:02 a.m. At least four cars drove near the square at this time. The rocket hit the right wing of the building of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration. The buildings of the opera house, the Philharmonic and part of the residential complex — four- and five-story buildings — were also damaged.
Instead, the Ukrainian flag on the Regional State Administration building remained intact.
But the Ukrainian flag on the RSA building remained intact.
The head of the Kharkiv regional state administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said that the Russians had shelled the center of Kharkiv with Grad rocket systems and cruise missiles. Boris Redin, coordinator of the "All for Victory" tent opposite the entrance to the Kharkiv Region State Administration building, said there had been two rocket attacks in total. There were about ten people in the tent at the time, and they ran to hide.
Photographer Pavlo Dorohoy was staying at a friend's place in Kharkiv on 1 March.
On the first day of the invasion, he left his home in Rai-Olenivka village to work as a fixer for foreign publications. This work allowed him to photograph until he received the Ukrainian Armed Forces accreditation.
Pavlo Dorohoy remembers that the first morning of spring in Kharkiv was unusually quiet. At around eight in the morning, there was a shudder in the house, and a little later the sound of an explosion. "A friend showed me a video of a missile crashing into the Region Administration building. I watched it over and over, trying to comprehend the fact that Russia had hit the very center of Kharkiv. The beautiful city where I was born and grew up. Where my son was born," says Pavlo Dorohoy. He decided to go to Freedom Square to take pictures. On the way, he was stopped by SSU officers, to whom he showed his documents and camera.
Pavlo walked down deserted Sumska Street to the central square. In the distance, he saw broken wires and Christmas decorations. "On Sumska Street I could hear the sounds of alarms from broken shops. As I walked up to Freedom Square, the number of broken shop windows was increasing. Closer to Maidan, the asphalt was completely covered in glass. It was the first time I had ever walked on broken glass," says the photographer. He adds that the sounds, images, and smells will stay with him for the rest of his life.
In the center, Pavlo saw a shattered corner of the administration building and a crater from another explosion. Firefighters were working nearby. The "All for Victory" tent was simply gone. It had been blown away. The day before, Pavlo met the tent's volunteers and had been worried about their safety. It was a miracle they were not hurt.
"It was in Svobody Square that I saw the first dead body in my life. Four people carried it in a carpet. From the big boots hanging in the air, I could see that it was a man. The dead man was lying beside a broken Peugeot car, which stood beside the tent. A woman's body was already there - I could tell by her small, fragile ankles," says Pavlo Dorohoy. After that, the photographer saw many bodies. On the day of the attack, ten people were pulled from the rubble. Rescuers dismantled the ruins in search of bodies over the next few weeks. The last of them were pulled out in the middle of March.
"Before that, I was in disbelief that in the 21st century, people could still be solving problems with guns. Unfortunately, they can," says photographer Pavlo Dorohoy.
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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