These are the voices of lives lived under extraordinary circumstances. A series of short vignettes told through text, photography and film. These stories are the unfiltered voices of the people that we meet. A commitment to the individual human experience during moments of change, conflict, or catastrophe.
The latest.
“When the war started, my neighbor and I took shelter in the basement. His wife was sick, so we used wooden planks to make a makeshift bed for her.
She lay there, and we took care of her. We cooked over a bonfire, gathering firewood to keep it going. At first, we had no bread, but we still had some flour. So we made something like pitas, baking them in a pan.
We looked after one another.”
Our stories.
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Nadia - Izyum
A Day in the Life of an Insulate Ukraine Team - As winter tightens its grip on Izyum, the Insulate Ukraine team visits Nadia, a devoted neighbor overseeing the reconstruction of a home in her apartment community. She shares her story of occupation and how neighbors came together to support one another in those difficult times.
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Combat Medics
A short film about Ukraine's combat medics on the frontline near Pokrovsk on the Eastern Donetsk front.
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Faith on the Frontlines
The story of a Kherson Priest, Father Igor. Filmed in collaboration with the Ukrainian NGO, UAid Direct.
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Shrapnel
Yuri, his day to day life under constant bombardment in the city of Nikopol.
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Staying for Mother
A story of why some stay in their homes despite war’s presence. Filmed in Nikopol.
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Taia and her boys
A family surviving occupation by the strength they pull from each other.
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The Dacha
The story of a family surviving the war in the frontline city of Nikopol, Ukraine.
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Elena - Izyum
Filling up the dark. A story about one woman’s experience surviving the occupation of Izyum
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Oleksandr
Kurylivka, Kupiansk Region, Ukraine
A day in the life of Volodymyr, an evacuation driver, and Oleksandr, a resident of the frontline village of Kurylivka - who has decided to flee to safer ground.
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Svitlana
Luch - Ukraine
Courage and commitment to community in a once frontline village, now recovering from the horrors of war.
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Hanna
Kherson - Ukraine
Living through the occupation of Kherson, Hanna Mykolayivna Korotyuk recounts her experiences and aspirations for the future of her home city.
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Olga
Nikopol - Ukraine
The story of Olga, who remained in Nikopol from the onset of the war to help preserve the school where she works as a supply manager and once attended as a child.
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Ivan
Slovyansk - Ukraine
Leaving home is never easy. But as the Russian troops advance on Bakhmut, the pressure on Ivan’s daughter grows. She knows she needs to leave, but cannot without her father - who’s recent medical emergency has left him unable to fully grasp the gravity of the situation at hand.
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Lviv's Orphanages
Lviv - Ukraine
A network of Lviv orphanages houses children from across Ukraine, some evacuated from grey zones and occupied cities during the heigh of fighting. The dedicated psychological support teams at the orphanages work tirelessly everyday to ensure these children are able to grow.
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Valerie and Ira
Shevchenkove - Ukraine
The fighting ended months ago. But for the residents of the village of Shevchenkove, rebuilding the lives they had torn away from them has yet to begin. Valerie and Ira survey the ruins of the family home as winter arrives.
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Ivan and Svetlana
Shevchenkove - Ukraine
Without an income, and with the normal chain of supply and transportation disrupted, simple things like doctors visits go unfulfilled in the face of prohibitive cost.
Our Mission.
We share human stories from lives on the ground.
Stories of bravery, conviction and commitment to a cause. Stories of loss, of separation, of lives torn apart by the forces of war and catastrophe. Stories of people whose known and trusted world is irreversibly changed. Stories from the voices of the people; what gives them pain, what gives them hope.
We hold that each person’s story is an important element of history, and that by sharing their voice, we can educate and inspire others to see the world through the eyes of someone else.