The evacuation of the peaceful residents of Irpen was filmed by many Ukrainian and foreign photographers. Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos and memories of Ukrainian documentary photographer and cinematographer Serhiy Mykhalchuk.
In late February and March 2022, Russian troops attempted to capture Kiev. To do this, they needed to take control of the towns closest to the capital — Gostomel, Buchu and Irpin. These settlements, as well as Vyshgorod and the section of the Kyiv-Chop highway near the capital, were identified as the most dangerous places for civilians in the Kiev region.
In the first days of a full-scale invasion, Russian troops entrenched themselves in the town of Gostomel and captured the airport of the same name. From there they advanced towards Kiev. On March 27, the fighting for Irpin began. In the city itself there was a tank battle, the Armed Forces tried to stop the advance of Russian troops. In order to prevent even more Russian ground troops from entering Irpin, the bridge between Bucha and Irpen was destroyed.
Residents of the city of Irpin lived without heating, electricity and water supply. On March 3, the Kiev regional administration announced the beginning of the evacuation from Bucha and Irpen. The 206th Territorial Defense Battalion began evacuation: people were taken out by buses and trains. March 5, Land Ukrainian troops began a foot evacuation of Irpen civilians to Kyiv. Due to the constant shelling of Russian troops, it was very difficult to leave Irpen.
On March 6, hundreds of civilians stood near the destroyed bridge and awaited evacuation from Irpen to Kiev. The Ukrainian military helped people cross the river crossing, often carrying their bags, pets and even children. The Russian army shelled the intersection for several hours. Then eight peaceful residents of Irpen died.
The evacuation of the peaceful residents of Irpen was filmed by Ukrainian documentary photographer and cinematographer Serhiy Mikhalchuk. “A few days before the full-scale Russian invasion, I realized that there would be war. The day before, I read Russian public and telegram channels, in which they had already arranged meetings in a cafe on Khreshchatyk for celebration. In the evening of February 23, he loaded the family and we left for western Ukraine in two cars. We met the first arrivals on the highway behind Zhytomyr,” says the documentarian. On February 25, Sergey returned to Kiev and on the same day began to document the events of the war.
Sergey Mikhalchuk, together with his colleagues, monitored the situation and understood that Russian troops would move through Irpin. On March 4, he was at the “Giraf” checkpoint near Irpen, shooting Ukrainian military and equipment there. “That evening we were heavily shelled there, there was some fighting. The Russian military entered Irpin through this checkpoint,” says Sergey Mikhalchuk.
He worked there alongside fellow filmmakers who decided to film the war and send material to the world's leading media. At the end of March, almost all of them voluntarily joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“If I had waited for the subpoena, I would have received it last. Had a complex spinal and head injury, two malaria cases in Africa. In 2017, I underwent a medical examination in front of the ATO and I was commiserated,” Serhiy Mikhalchuk shares.
Sergey Mikhalchuk compares his first impressions of the destroyed Romanovsky bridge with the emotions of liquidators who peered into the mouth of the destroyed power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Subsequently, similar in strength of sensations, were the events in Gostomel. “Vitaliy Deinega and I were one of the first to get to the Gostomel airport and saw the destroyed “Dream”. At that moment, we probably did not realize the power and significance of what we saw. We witnessed people leaving their homes, we saw shelling...”, adds Serhiy Mikhalchuk.
During the evacuation from Irpen, there were a lot of people who needed support. Sergey says that if he could transfer things to someone, he first helped, and then already fulfilled his duty as a photographer and operator. He was very impressed by pets, who behaved in such a way that they could be identified with humans. “They had such smart and deep eyes, they were very silent, they understood everything. After that, he told his children, let's get a dog, a cat, anyone. Now a Scottish cat lives at home,” smiles Serhiy Mikhalchuk.
The photographer came to film the evacuation until mid-March almost every day. It recalls a purebred shepherd dog with a broken leash, who was looking for his master. He could not take it, because he was at work all the time - he went to the shooting in Irpin and to the front line in the direction of Chernobyl. “The shepherd stood by me and cried like a child. There were a lot of purebred and trained dogs that were left completely alone,” recalls Serhiy Mikhalchuk. He photographed a man riding an old bicycle and carrying two rats in a cage. He reached the Romanovsky Bridge, left the bike and went on only with his pets. People left cars near the bridge, bicycles were thrown right in front of the river.
Sergey Mikhalchuk mobilized at the end of March and went to Irpin already as a military man. “One of the most powerful impressions was when the unit and I arrived in Irpin on the morning of March 29. I was there before the journalists, along with my fellow scouts. We saw the destroyed city, bodies in the streets... I remember it to this day,” says Mikhalchuk. He adds that many of the shots were simply not done so as not to hurt people and not cause them even more emotional pain. “Sometimes the camera works worse than the machine,” says the photographer.
Sergey Mikhalchuk serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and continues to photograph. However, as a military man, most of what is filmed cannot be taught on social networks or published. “War is my reality now. I am constantly in Kharkiv region, Donetsk region, sometimes in Zaporizhia or Kherson. Until I get out of this process, I will not be able to say what important footage he shot during a full-scale war. So I had with the filming of the Maidan. It was only after a while that I realized what was important in terms of the historical cut and what was secondary.”
Recall that the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers has started a series of materials dedicated to key events of the Russian war against Ukraine, where we publish memories and photos of Ukrainian documentary photographers.
The project is implemented thanks to support of ZMIN.
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Foutei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
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