In February 2022, the Russians brazenly invaded Ukrainian land. They destroyed cities, raped women and children, tortured civilians. The soldiers of the Russian Federation left the Kyiv region after fierce battles.
Mass burials, looting, and destruction are far from a complete list of the horrors of war that they brought with them. The image of the Russian military has been repeatedly discredited by the representatives of the Russian army. Despite their look, the occupying soldiers still pose a threat because they commit war crimes on the territory of Ukraine. Putin's minions can be called toy soldiers, puppets in the hands of the higher ranks, who send them to Ukraine to die.
After the deoccupation of the Kyiv region, the question arose of rebuilding and revitalizing the space temporarily occupied by Russians. Residents still remember the horrors of the first months of the war. Residents of the region lead an everyday life, but continue to hide during air raids from the danger that lurks in the corners even at the beginning of spring.
There Are No Toy Soldiers is an attempt to understand what the residents of Kyiv region faced after the Armed Forces drove Putin's henchmen out of the region. To find out what remains with us, when through the mud of destruction you do not know what tomorrow will be, and whether it will even come.
The project was created as part of the Odesa Photo Days Festival's online mentoring program on photographic storytelling, which took place from September to November 2022. The series has been exhibited internationally in Finland, Lithuania, Sweden, the United States, Italy, Ukraine, Georgia, and Austria. Additionally, the project was featured in several publications, including Life Goes On photobook (Finland, 2023), Financial Times Weekend Magazine (USA, 2023), I Crave To Make The Invisible Visible magazine (Sweden, 2023), and Two-Thousand-Yard Stare zine (Ukraine, 2022).
A bicyclist rides across the road past a building destroyed by the war in Bucha, Ukraine, September 2022 (Photo by Saf Homin)
A burned car sits in the ruins of a hostel following a Russian attack in Ukraine, September 2022 (Photo by Saf Homin)
A photogram created using artifacts—coins, utensils, and other objects—found in destroyed buildings in Bucha. September 2022 (Photo by Saf Homin)
A shelled fence damaged by a Russian tank in a neighborhood near a hostel in Hostomel. September 2022 (Photo by Saf Homin)
A photogram created with toy soldiers found in a packet of corn flakes on the way from Bucha. The crosses are made of wooden toothpicks. September 2022 (Photo by Saf Homin)
The bus stop is covered with plastic on the road between Bucha and Hostomel. September 2022 (Photo by Saf Homin)
A photogram created using artifacts—coins, utensils, and other objects—found in destroyed buildings in Bucha. September 2022 (Photo by Saf Homin)
A reconstruction of a mass graveyard by Russians. September 2022 (Photo by Saf Homin)
A parent walks with their child near the destroyed Epicenter, which burned to the ground during the war. September 2022 (Photo by Saf Homin)
