The absurdity of war

When I entered the Barabashovo market of Kharkiv, instead of a busy and lively scene, I found mannequins blanketing the floor in one of the shops. The sound of artillery was in the background. My mind immediately returned to the Church of St. Andrew Pervozvannoho in Bucha. Many people found dead have been buried in a mass grave excavated in its backyard. On February 24th Russian troops were ordered to mount a full-scale invasion of Ukraine; the fourth stage of the Ukrainian crisis had started. According to the UNHCR, from February 24th, the war has created a fast-rising exodus displacing more than a quarter of Ukraine's population. Six million people fled the country, while eight million are internally displaced. The Human Rights Watch documented several uses of the illegal Cluster bombs by Russian forces, especially in cities like Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv. Eleven thousand one hundred fifty-two civilian casualties were reported on July 4th - 4,889 killed and 6,263 injured. The photo series was produced in April 2022; it results from research through the destroyed Ukrainian cities such as Kharkiv and Chernihiv and the people still living there, channelled into a sequence showing the absurdity of war.