Kyiv, Ukraine
Mikhail Palinchak
February 2022 — Ukraine
About this series
On February 21st, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he was recognizing two regions in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, as independent states. A day later, Russia declared that the Minsk peace agreements were dead. Then, on the morning of February 24th, Putin said Russia was initiating a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine and subsequently launched a full -scale invasion of the country. As of Sunday, February 27th, the capital Kyiv remained under the control of the Ukrainian military and civilians, according to the country’s defence ministry. The defenders of the city, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky and including countless civilians, are hunkering down to save their country. Some seek refuge in a Kyiv metro station. A war has started in Europe.
Photographer Mikhail Palinchak shot this series between February 24-27, except for the civilian training which took place before the war began.
Photographer: Mikhail Palinchak
Nationality: Ukrainian
Based in: Kyiv, Ukraine
Website: palinchak.com.ua
Instagram: @mpalinchakphoto
Mikhail Palinchak is an Ukrainian street and documentary photographer residing and working in Kyiv, Ukraine. He was born in January 1985 in Uzhgorod.
He starts taking photographs in 2008. Since 2012 he is a member of the Ukrainian Photographic Alternative (UPHA) and since 2014 a member of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers (UAPF).
2014-2019: Official photographer of the President of Ukraine.
Founder of Untitled magazine and co-founder of Ukrainian Street Photography group.
His photographs are stored in private collections and permanent collections of photography museums.