Ukraine: Wild Fields

The Ukrainian soldiers had been sent to secure control of the eastern provinces bordering neighbouring Russia. But now, these young men sat powerless and confused atop their armoured vehicles, contemplating the group of unarmed civilians that had halted their convoy. Determined men and women from the local community had surrounded the army unit, preventing any movement forward. The servicemen sat there for hours, until eventually their commander ordered them to dismantle their weapons, following negotiations with local representatives. The tired young soldiers were tearful as they realised that here, they were the enemy; it was all ending in defeat. From the crowd suddenly emerged a sinister handful of "little green men" (as they were colloquially known), sporting military attire and balaclavas, and they escorted the soldiers away. At this point in 2014, Ukraine was still getting to grips with a tumultuous change of power in Kiev. Months of violent protests had culminated in the ousting of the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, in favour of a western-minded, pro-European government. Moscow had swiftly annexed the Crimean peninsula. From the east of the country echoed the thunder of rebellion. In Donetsk, pro-Russian separatists seized the regional administration building, plunging Ukraine's main eastern city into the centre of the insurgency. An unprepared Ukrainian military was now witnessing the dawn of a tumultuous new era where an ethnic Russian majority — supported by foreign militiamen, and with arms supplied from over the border — would proclaim the creation of separatist states in the historical region of Donbass. Ukraine was effectively losing the east, her population caught in a struggle between Moscow and the newly appointed government. In the months that followed, the insurgency evolved into an enduring conflict where thousands perished, victims to the heavy fighting. Some 1.5 million people were displaced, and vital infrastructure of a once-prominent region was destroyed in a continuous battle over territorial dominance. This work charts events leading from the early days of the popular revolt, to the moment Ukraine was officially considered at war. It bears witness to the protests on the shores of the Black Sea supporting the Crimean annexation, and the occupation of government buildings in Donetsk by rebel militants. These photographs explore the status referendums which attempted to create legitimacy to the establishment of People's Republics in Donetsk and Luhansk, and they examine the forged alliances between workers' unions, police forces, and separatists. Entwined in this web is the aftermath of the tragic downing of MH17 Flight over Grabovo, and the suffering of innocent families as their lives are shattered in the crossfire of unpredictable battles. Wild Fields intends to depict the trauma of war inflicted on a society divided by language and historical affinities, amidst a backdrop of a global struggle for power.