The Other Battlefields explores the profound imprint of war on Ukrainian youth, offering a glimpse into what it means to grow up and live in a country at war, more than three years after the Russian invasion.

The years of youth are normally synonymous with widening horizons, the weaving of friendships, and the promise of adventure. But for many young Ukrainians, those expectations have been shattered, replaced by fear, loss, depression, and exile.

This visual narrative unveils fractured lives and dimmed dreams, yet also a fierce resilience that pushes back against the surrounding darkness. Each image is a fragment, part of the many individual stories I have been following over the long term. These stories themselves are part of a broader mosaic, reflecting the hopes and realities of a wounded nation.

It was in June 2022, in Odesa, that I fully realized the importance of documenting this sacrificed generation. Young graduates, deprived of their commencement ceremony for obvious security reasons, transformed their frustration into a spontaneous art performance, later sharing it on social media to show the world what they had lost and what they were enduring. That poignant moment revealed the urgency of bearing witness and preserving their stories.

The visible scars are only part of the narrative. Beneath the surface lie other wounds, invisible yet profound, that testify to a war also fought within the soul. These battles, whether close to or far from the frontlines, are those of freedom, dignity, reconstruction, and hope. Together, they draw the many contours of a conflict that is irreversibly shaping Ukrainian youth and its future."