Ukrainiandocumentarian Serhii Korovainyi won second place at Italy’s Siena Awards photo contest, drawingthe world’s attention to the war in Donbas. His series, Ground Zero OfUkrainian War, received recognition in the Storyboard category, whichfocuses on documentary photo narratives.
Donbasas the heart of the war
Serhii’sproject tells a story of life and death in eastern Ukraine, where the war hasbeen going on for more than nine years.
“Donbasis the epicenter of the Russia–Ukraine war. Civilians here suffered long beforethe full-scale invasion in 2022,” he says.
Most of thephotographs for this story were taken in February 2023 in towns that havebecome symbols of resistance: Avdiivka, Vuhledar, and Marinka.
“Thisland has endured the pain of war longer than anyone can imagine. Back then,people talked less about Ukraine, but for those here, suffering had alreadybecome the norm,”the photographer notes.
Korovainyidoes not hide that this project is more than work for him—it is personal. He isfrom eastern Ukraine, and each trip to the region is a return to a place withwhich he feels a painful, intimate connection.
“I can’timagine this story without the military. They are part of what is happeninghere. This summer I spent most of my time in Donbas gathering new material—andI haven’t stopped shooting,” Serhii shares.
A photofestival in Siena
SienaAwards is an annual photography festival that brings together some of theworld’s best documentary photographers and artists in the Italian city ofSiena. Though the city itself is small, the festival has an outsized influenceon global photography and culture. This year, on the stage of the historicTeatro dei Rinnovati, respected cultural figures presented crystal statuettesto winners across categories ranging from fine art to photojournalism.
SerhiiKorovainyi took second place in his category, finishing behind a photo storyfrom Palestine.
“Unfortunately,in competitions, relevance often becomes a deciding factor. Palestine is infocus right now, and sadly, I understand that choice,” the photographer comments. Still,Serhii is not disappointed: “What matters to me is that my work was heard.It’s a chance to remind the world that the war in Ukraine is ongoing.”
At thecontest, Korovainyi also presented photographs from recent tragic events inUkraine: images of the evacuation of civilians from Pokrovsk and photographs ofthe Bazylevych family, who were killed during Russian shelling in Lviv.
“It’semotionally difficult, but these stories have to be told. This is the realitywe live in. Still, it’s only part of a larger story—and I keep collecting it,” Serhii says.
Taking partin international photo contests allows Ukrainian documentarians to bring thereality of the war in Ukraine to the global community. Alongside Korovainyi,photographer Olena Hrom was also recognized at the contest. Her image from thephoto series “Stolen Spring” took first place in the Fine Art category.
As areminder, the photo series by Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov won the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award. Theirstory dedicated to the war in Ukraine received several high honors.
Workedon the piece:
Topic researcher, text author: Vira Labych
Photo editor: Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary editor: Yuliia Futei
