“Light Through the Ruins” is a documentary photobook about life in Ukraine during Russia’s full-scale war.

It brings together over 300 photographs taken between 2022 and 2025 in war-affected regions — Kyiv region, Kharkiv region, Chernihiv region, Mykolaiv region, and others.

This is not a chronicle of combat, nor an attempt to capture everything.
The book is composed of individual stories — of cities and villages where the war has left its marks on homes, yards, and people’s lives.

I photographed these places after the fighting had passed.
When people were returning.
When surviving homes were opened again.
When life began to reappear among the ruins.

The photographs are accompanied by short texts. They do not explain the images, but exist alongside them — as an attempt to capture a state, a feeling, a memory.

A distinct visual layer of the book is formed by woven ornaments and ritual cloths created by the author’s grandmother, Hanna Veres, a People’s Artist of Ukraine. Some of her works were lost during a Russian missile strike on the museum in Ivankiv in 2022.

You can order the book on the Bilka Publishing website.

By purchasing Light Through the Ruins, you help bring this story to readers in Ukraine and around the world. Part of the proceeds will support future editions in other languages and charitable initiatives.

Order your copy today.