Love Letter to Donbas
I grew up in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine. As a kid, I climbed the terricon, the coal mine spoil tip, and observed the landscape around my small working-class hometown of Khartsyzsk. I saw an endless steppe with coal mines, pipes from steel plants, and blocks of Soviet-style residential houses. Back then, the air smelled like feather grass and estragon. In 2014, after Russia invaded Donbas, it smelled like gunpowder, and the region became the epicenter of the conflict.
After the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, many towns in Donbas were destroyed and then occupied by Russian troops, while others were experiencing daily drone strikes and the danger of further occupation.
The project documents the region’s remaining life in its simplicity and beauty. I can compare working in Donbas to photographing a beloved person with a terminal diagnosis. With all the pain and destruction it brought to Donbas, Russia is like a progressive illness to the beloved motherland. Every news about artillery attacks on Donbas civilians, every lost village, gives me pain and motivates me to photograph more. With my project, I want to preserve a memory of the Donbas before it completely vanishes into the hell of war.
A man fishing near Azovstal plant, where the Kalmius river flows into the Azov sea.
Find out more:
Website: korovayny.com
Instagram: @serhiikorovayny