After months of threats, Russia launched a full, unprovoked invasion of its neighbor Ukraine on February 24, 2022, extending the earlier invasion begun in 2014. On the false pretexts of safeguarding its own security from NATO expansion and countering Ukrainian radicals, Russia initiated the largest ground war in Europe in decades.
The initial phase of the war proved catastrophic. While large areas of southern and eastern Ukraine were quickly occupied by Russian soldiers, territory around Kyiv in particular proved harder to control. Russia withdrew from the Kyiv area at the end of March, after barely a month, revealing ghastly war crimes and the summary executions of hundreds of innocent civilians.
Over more than three years of fighting, hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed along with many thousands of civilians. The death toll in many occupied areas may never be known.
Despite initial stumbles, Russian forces have adapted to Ukraine’s resistance and the war carries on across a frontline extending roughly six hundred miles through the country’s south and east, controlling roughly 19% of Ukraine’s territory. While diplomatic efforts to implement a ceasefire and eventual end to the war have taken on a new energy under the Trump administration, there is little change in the reality on the ground. Drones, bombs, and missiles terrorize civilians throughout the country on a daily basis.
-Brendan Hoffman
KYIV, UKRAINE – OCTOBER 29, 2022: Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, poses for a portrait on Saturday, October 29, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Nuzhin was a prisoner in Russia when he was offered the opportunity to join the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor, and fight in Ukraine in exchange for his freedom after six months of service. He instead surrendered to Ukrainian forces. CREDIT: Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times ©Brendan Hoffman
BIO
BRENDAN HOFFMAN is an American documentary photographer based in Kyiv, Ukraine, where his work reflects his interest in themes of identity, history, politics, conflict, and the environment. Since 2013 he has primarily covered revolution and war in Ukraine, mostly for The New York Times, and has exhibited his photographs at galleries, museums, educational institutions, and festivals across Europe, Asia, and the United States.
Hoffman was a 2018-19 Fulbright Scholar in Ukraine and the 2018 Philip Jones Griffiths Award winner. He has received grants from the Magnum Foundation, TheDocumentaryProjectFund, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the South Asian Journalists Association, and the National Press Photographers Association, among others.
studio@brendanhoffman.com
www.brendanhoffman.com
Instagram: @hoffmanbrendan
Featured Image: KYIV, UKRAINE – MAY 30, 2024: Oleksandr, 32, poses for a portrait outside his apartment on Thursday, May 30, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Oleksandr did not want to reveal his identity because he does not want to be conscripted into the Ukrainian military and sent to the front line as he feels physically incapable of performing combat-related tasks. ©Brendan Hoffman
