Voznesensk: Life after the Invasion
Ihor Ishchuk in “Censorship Level”
In “Zero censorship level” section Zaborona publishes the works of one photographer, artist or group. They show stories that are not in tune with popular culture or are censored in the media and social networks. In this issue we share a photo story by Ihor Ishchuk about the life of Voznesensk, a small town in Mykolayiv region, which was abandoned by the occupation troops.
In early March, during the war in Ukraine, Russian troops came closer to Voznesensk. They tried to occupy it to be able to advance to Mykolayiv and Odesa. Russians stopped in Rakovo – a village in the southeast of Voznesensk.
Locals said Russian soldiers kicked them out of their homes, took all their food and valuables, smashed windows and furniture, and left only a mess. A day later, they began to move to Voznesensk, accompanying this movement with shelling. As a result of the bombing, a children’s swimming complex in the city center, located near the boarding school and kindergarten, was damaged. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the children.
On the way to Voznesensk, you can see many damaged fences smashed by Russian tanks, which drove straight into the yards of civilians’ houses to avoid bombing by Ukrainian troops.
The troops, along with the Territorial Defense and the civilian population, took up to defend their city and pushed back the Russian military for at least 50 kilometers.
“Zero censorship level” is a platform for open dialogue on complex and taboo topics such as sexuality and physicality, stress and depression, war and identity. We do not pay a fee for the publication, but we will help to make the author’s statement heard, as well as participate in its design.
