War in Ukraine has been going on since the spring of 2014. It took place between pro-Russian separatists supported by Russia and the Ukrainian army, bringing about thousands of casualties on both sides, including civilians. My project aims to show how destructive can be the use of propaganda and disinformation mechanism. We see a situation where people of the same nationality stand against each other ready to kill.

Although these battles are being fought for specific territories, villages, fields, and cities, this is a conflict over identity too. Who identifies as a Ukrainian, Russian, or just a local from Donbas. Those for whom the Red Army is a hero and those who believe the anti-Soviet OUN insurgents are the true idols. Identity has become important-it and has become a declaration, a frontline. But the reality on the booth sides looks completely the same. Society becomes a tool for political moves which have tragic consequences.

Borderline of DPR and Ukraine was a good indicator of the public mood on both sides of the conflict. Donetsk-the capital of the birth of the separatist movement-was distanced by only 60 kilometers from Bakhmut, which was the largest city on the Ukrainian side. I was curious in which direction it all would turn, how these moods would clarify. At one point someone puts a line on the map, and that line is supposed to determine who you feel. Someone puts that dash, and the part of your family that lives in a nearby village suddenly lives in another country. Or rather, a para-state. Part of the family watches Ukrainian news, and a family 15 km away is fed Russian propaganda. And I was very curious about the direction in which the situation would develop further, and I observed how it all mixes, clashes, conforms, divides and merges. What will come of it. What really determines the formation of identity.

The conflict took on a new dimension when Russia launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine in February 2022. Now it’s a struggle to keep borders. The fight against the brutal invader and the fight for Ukraine to gain its independence and to free itself from the Russian yoke once and for all. The struggle that unites Ukrainian society.