“As a refugee living in another country, I felt like a cut flower. It’s as if you’ve been given a beautiful vase, but you feel empty and severed. Only here, at home, I start to feel my roots again.” Aliona.
Ukraine has faced immense challenges since Russia's invasion in 2014. Families, especially in eastern Ukraine, live with constant uncertainty, fear, and disruption. Seeing the Unseen shows the Russo-Ukrainian war through the eyes of civilians, offering a perspective often overlooked — not about battles or military strategies, but about the everyday lives of those caught in the middle.
This project tells the story of Aliona, a single mother with two children, living just a few kilometers from the Russian border. Aliona with her two children, fled her home in few days after the invasion began. They spent five months in Poland, then came to Kyiv where they lived for six months, and then to Kharkiv for 3 months. In the fall of 2023, despite the ongoing conflict perilously close to her home, Aliona could no longer endure the distance and decided to return.
Although the school and parts of the village have been destroyed and the area is still under attack, life persists amid the war. As a teacher, she now conducts her classes online, and her children are also engaged in remote studies. Aliona is currently rebuilding her house, which was damaged in a Russian missile strike. Despite the everyday sound of explosions, their home remains a place of love and resilience where they establish new routines, support one another, and treasure their time together.
