Liza Bukreeva’s photobook “Here They Build Houses from Ash” is a story about the everyday lives of civilians in de‑occupied and frontline territories, where everything may seem ordinary — until you look closer. It is not a story about trauma itself, but about attempts to live with it, to move forward, and to make plans — if not for a distant future, then at least for the coming spring. It is a story about creating a home amid ruins and transforming objects made for killing into things used for living. Liza Bukreeva speaks about how people make plans while surrounded by minefields, how they create comfort out of ammunition crates, about life inside an administrative building and a grave in a backyard, and also about the very delicious pastries baked by the local priest.

With the beginning of spring, Russian attacks on Ukraine’s railway and port infrastructure continue. There were strikes on railway substations, railcars, and bridges, and a civilian vessel was damaged in a port in the south of Odesa region. Missiles, drones, and aerial bombs hit Druzhkivka, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk every day. On the night of March 7, Russia carried out the fifth massive attack on Ukraine’s energy facilities since the start of the year. That night became tragic for Kharkiv — according to preliminary information, a Russian “Izdeliye‑30” missile destroyed an entire apartment block entrance, killing 11 people, including two children.

As part of the FotoEvidence Ukraine initiative (UAPP × FotoEvidence), the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers (UAPP) has published Liza Bukreeva’s photobook "Here They Build Houses from Ash" — an intimate yet boundlessly expansive story about the everyday lives of civilians in de‑occupied and frontline communities. It is a book about routines in which logic sometimes disappears, but human dignity remains. About ruined places that may seem almost ordinary if you don’t look closely. And the moment you pause — the cracks emerge: fear, pain, stubbornness, hope.

“Nature ‘300’” is one of the projects selected within the third annual micro‑grant program supporting Ukrainian documentarians, implemented by UAPP. The goal of the program is to support authors who continue to document the experience of a country resisting aggression and who create visual evidence of events that define the history of contemporary Ukraine. The program is carried out with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine.

Russia has always engaged in deception by twisting and interpreting historical events. To explain the desire to seize foreign lands to a pro-Russian audience, Russia created a positive image of war—a "sacred" war with the noble goal of helping a "brotherly nation." At the same time, the enemy was always blamed for the war, as they allegedly forced Russia to fight.

The UAPP micro‑grant program is an annual initiative created to support Ukrainian photographers who continue documenting the experience of a country resisting aggression and who shape the visual record of events defining the history of contemporary Ukraine. At a time when authors risk their lives, lose the ability to work, or face financial constraints, the program gives them the resources to keep going — while also helping preserve the visual memory of the war, support new voices, and create a space in which those voices can be heard.