Photobooks and photo albums have long remained a niche and somewhat understated segment of Ukrainian publishing. Today, however, amidst full-scale war, visual documentation is becoming one of the most powerful tools for preserving cultural memory, making sense of the wartime experience, and capturing our identity.

The beginning of the school year in Ukraine turned into a week of exhausting and brutal attacks. The most massive shelling targeted the Kyiv region, Odesa region, and frontline communities of Donetsk. This week among the affected sites in the capital: a railway depot, a higher education institution, and the Security Service of Ukraine building; UNESCO World Heritage sites also suffered damage. During the strikes, specialists from emergency and municipal services, as well as workers from the metallurgical sector, were killed: a State Emergency Service rescuer, two police officers, a utility worker, six railway workers, and five metallurgists. Units of the State Emergency Service and Air Defense Forces worked continuously under heavy smoke and constant risk of repeated strikes.