Sorrow and Light :
Ukrainian Women War Refugees in Britain
and
Interviews
by Marissa Roth
Photographs
Introduction
In the first months after the full invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, there was significant media coverage showing primarily women and children leaving in droves, crossing at its western borders. Many of these refugees would be welcomed into the United Kingdom through the Homes for Ukraine scheme and have made a tentative life, living in limbo while coping with constant uncertainty. Worry and fear about loved ones left behind, most notably husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers who are serving in the military or waiting to be called up, is always in the background, in tandem with ongoing serious concerns as to how long the war will last and when it will end.
Photographer Marissa Roth has been working on a multi-decade personal global photo essay, One Person Crying: Women and War, that encompasses subjects including Holocaust survivors, Japanese women who survived the A-Bomb in Hiroshima, and survivors of the Srebrenica Massacre in Bosnia. Through her experiences working on this extensive project, she learned that time is a crucial element in telling these stories and chose to photograph and interview Ukrainian women at this juncture in their lives when they are in this heightened moment of transition, when the past as they knew it has been destroyed, and the future remains a blank canvas.
Roth spent the first six months of 2024 photographing and interviewing Ukrainian women in England, creating this exhibition, Sorrow and Light: Ukrainian Women War Refugees in Britain. In determining her subjects, she chose to highlight women who came from a cross-section of geographical locations, from Kyiv and Odesa to the Luhansk region in the east. Their stories all begin the same way, starting with the shocking explosions in the early
morning hours on Thursday 24 February 2022. After that, their memories of survival and exodus vary; some having to make wrenching decisions overnight, others after moving to country homes thinking they were safe, only to be forced to flee months later. Some of these women came to the UK alone, others with their children and grandchildren.
These women displayed a range of emotions during the photo sessions and interviews; all of them inhabited strength and hope, even as they wept. Some of their faces are open with telling feelings, others are masked with guarded grace. Some are stoic and resolute about the reality of their situation, others embraced the unexpected opportunities to be in England. Some want to go home, others would like to stay. For their portraits, some hold precious memories of deceased loved ones in their hands through photographs on mobile phones, others chose to wear traditional Ukrainian clothing as a statement of solidarity for their country
In addition to this exhibition, these portraits and interviews will be conserved in the Shevchenko Library and Archive in London as documents in testimony of the legacy of Ukrainians who migrated to England starting in the late 19th century, becoming part of the greater history of refugees who have been welcomed into the UK, thereby adding to this heritage of humanity and compassion.
VALERIE AVERINA , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Valerie Averina, 38, a lawyer from Kyiv, Ukraine, left there with her 10-year-old son two months after the 2022 invasion began and drove 2,500 kilometres to England. Her civil partner remained in the Ukraine to fight. “The day before the invasion, everyone was anxious after hearing the news and Putin broadcasting his intentions. I’m an analytical person and just couldn’t believe anything would happen What I learned from this war, is that you can’t plan anything ahead, and that you have to live your life as if it was the last day.”
Photographed in Wokingham, England, 27 January 2024.
MARIA HORDICHUK , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Maria Hordichuk, 51, from Postolivka, Ukraine, lost her son, Ivan Moroz, 33, who was the commander of a brigade, killed in a battle on the front-line in the Luhansk region in north-eastern Ukraine while trying to rescue some of his men on January 12, 2023. He voluntarily enlisted just one month before. "This is not life anymore My life is broken I was hoping they would settle down with the grandkids, but that was not the case. Before he went into battle, he texted his wife, ‘please tell everyone, I love you ’"
Photographed in Woking, England, 5 February 2024
UKRAINIAN FLAG AT MARIA HORDICHUK'S HOME , 2024
©Marissa Roth
A Ukrainian flag in the window at the home of Maria Hordichuk, from Postolivka, Ukraine. She lost her son, Ivan Moroz, 33, who was the commander of a brigade, killed in a battle on the front-line in the Luhansk region in north-eastern Ukraine while trying to rescue some of his men on 12 January 2023 She is trying to find a sponsor to bring his widow and her two grandchildren to England.
Photographed in Woking, England, 5 February 2024
OLENA SHUMAKOVA , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Olena Shumakova, 43, from Kadiivka, Ukraine, in the eastern Luhanska region. The family was displaced after the first Russian military incursion into that region in 2014 and moved to Kyiv A week before the 2022 invasion, her husband, an officer, was called up to fight and couldn’t go back to see the family before she left for England with their two daughters; he remains in Ukraine. “The destiny of wives of the soldiers means that we cannot do what we want to do It is done with victory in mind ”
Photographed in Chalfont St Peter, England, 29 February 2024.
FLAG FROM OLENA SHUMAKOVA'S HUSBAND TO HOST FAMILY , 2024
©Marissa Roth
After Olena Shumakova and her two daughters arrived in England and was placed with a family in Chalfont St Peter, her husband Aleksander, as officer in the Ukrainian army, sent a Ukrainian flag to the host family thanking them for taking the family in and keeping them safe
Photographed in Chalfont St Peter, England, 29 February 2024
ANNA PISHLIARIUK , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Anna Pishliariuk, 20, born in Kyiv, Ukraine, came to England by herself when she was 18 years old. She was studying law when the war started, but then all classes ceased. As an only child, she didn’t want to leave her parents, but they insisted that she leave and go to England to continue her education; she is studying law at University of Queen Mary, London. “When the war started, it didn’t feel real, like we were in a film I kept thinking that I would wake up and it would be over.”
Photographed in London, England, 14 March 2024
TANYA RALDUHINA , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Tanya Ralduhina, 70, born in Kyiv, Ukraine She splits her time between England andUkraine in order to spend time with her daughter and grandson who came after the2022 invasion. “When the first invasion began in 2014, it was a shock to everyone, of course As a historian, I understood that it wasn’t going to end, and that it was going to continue at some point.”
Photographed in London, England, 1 March 2024.
ANYA AND MARIA PANKRATYEVA, 2024
©Marissa
Roth
Anya Pankratyeva, 60, with her granddaughter Maria, 15, both from Mykolaiv, Ukraine, has lived in the UK for 15 years. She went home on February 14, 2022, to visit her son and granddaughter and was there when the invasion started In mid-March the city started evacuating civilians, and it was decided that Anya would bring Maria back to England under the Homes for Ukraine scheme When Anya was asked how Maria is doing, she said, “She can’t sleep, and misses her father, but she never cries - she’s very strong."
Photographed in Pinner, England, 20 March 2024
ANYA PANKRATYEVA IN A PHONE PHOTOGRAPH WITH HER NEPHEW, 2024
©Marissa Roth
In December 2023, Anya Pankratyeva received a message that her nephew, Denys Sereda, 35, in a special military unit in the Ukrainian army, was in England for a training exercise She was able to gain access to the military base surprising him; taking phone photos to share with family back in Ukraine. He was sent back shortly after they saw each other and was killed three weeks later in the Kharkiv region on 2 January 2024 His last message to her, “Happy New Year and hopefully we’ll meet next year under a peaceful sky.”
Photographed in Pinner, England, 20 March 2024.
NATALIYA ZAYAT, 2024
©Marissa
Roth
Nataliya Zayat, 48, from Kharkiv, Ukraine For over 20 years, she worked with war refugees from around the world for different humanitarian organizations. After the2022 invasion and the bombings started, she understood the situation immediately and decided to leave the next day with her daughter, Sofia, 16; her father took them to the train station They only took what they could carry; rucksacks with documents, Sofia’s violin and some food and made it to England through a circuitous route through Georgia, Moldova, Romania and Poland Her husband stayed behind in Georgia
Photographed in London, England, 28 March 2024.
KATERYNA ISAIENKO , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Kateryna Isaienko, 25, from Odesa, Ukraine, was a student in literature who came to England in 2019 for six weeks to study English; it was her dream to return. When the 2022 invasion happened, one of the teachers who she studied with sponsored her for the Homes for Ukraine scheme and she arrived in April 2022 “Before the war, I wasn’t very confident to make decisions, but after the invasion I understood that I am the owner of myself, and that I can make decisions and do something to help other people.”
Photographed in London, England, 30 March 2024
YULIIA SHYLOVA , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Yuliia Shylova, 28, from Lyman, Ukraine, in the Donbas region, experienced the first incursion by Russia in 2014 After university in Kharkiv, she started a career in tourism in Turkey and Vietnam. Her father encouraged her to find her life away from Ukraine. She returned during the pandemic to be with her parents and an ailing grandmother After the 2022 invasion, she made it to England “Our house was bombed, my parents had fled the week before, they left everything.” Her grandfather was the last to leave their village after her grandmother died.
Photographed in London, England, 29 April 2024
YULIIA SHYLOVA HOLDS A PHONE PHOTOGRAPH OF HER GRANDMOTHER'S HANDS, 2024
©Marissa Roth
While Yuliia Shylova was back in the Ukraine during the pandemic, she took photographs of her beloved grandmother’s hands These images have become a cherished memory and touchstone for her, as they were very close. Her grandmother died during the war, after she had left for England.
Photographed in London, England, 29 April 2024
OLGA MYKHAJLYCHENKO , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Olga Mykhajlychenko, 46, from Kirovohrad, Ukraine, a lawyer working as a prosecutor in Kyiv After the invasion began, she waited to decide whether to leave or not, but she and her 14 year-old daughter, Sofiia, lived near a military base and there was constant shooting and helicopters circling. Some friends were leaving and they decided to go with them; her building was bombed. “Before the war, I had a lovely life, work and a home that I was dreaming of for 20 years Life has now been separated into before and after war”
Photographed in London, England, 4 May 2024.
SOFIIA MYKHAJLYCHENKO SAKHNO , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Sofiia Mykhajlychenko Sakhno, 14, from Kyiv, Ukraine, came with her mother Olga Mykhajlychenko to England after the 2022 invasion “I have English friends, but it’s not always pleasant because we came here because of the war. But it’s been a good experience being here. I’d like to go home and open a school one day”
Photographed in London, England, 4 May 2024.
SABINA ARTEMIEVA , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Sabina Artemieva, 40, was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, where her father is from, her mother is Ukrainian She moved to Kyiv when she was 20 She chose to come to England with her son, Mykhailo, 19, as she was worried about him being conscripted into the Ukrainian army. “My last memory of Kyiv is of being in a taxi with air raid sirens surrounding us ”
Photographed in London, England, 12 May 2024.
HEROES DON'T DIE , 2024
©Marissa Roth
A memory board for Ukrainian military war casualties at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral. The translation is Heroes Don't Die.
Photographed in London, England, 11 June 2024
NATALIIA
CHERNICHENKO , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Nataliia Chernichenko, 69, from Donetsk, Ukraine When the war started in 2022 with the bombing of the Donetsk airport, she and her husband and their 26 year-old daughter, felt that life just stopped. On 24 February, when the shooting started, there was fire everywhere. Nataliia left on 26 March on an evacuation train to Germany A couple of months later, her husband drove to Germany to meet her and they stayed there until December 2022, then came to England through the Homes for Ukraines cheme. “I finally feel safe.”
Photographed in London, England, 11 June 2024
VALENTYNA YAKOVETS , 2024
©Marissa Roth
Valentyna Yakovets, 49, from Kyiv, Ukraine “We didn’t want to leave immediately, we hoped it would be solved in a day or a week We tried to live as though it was the day before it all started.” They made the decision to leave after seeing neighbours carrying guns to defend themselves, and after a friend in England contacted her and offered to help secure lodging and visas through the Homes for Ukraine scheme Valentyna came with her two daughters, Mariia 15, and Sofiia, 10. Her son Olexiy, 30, remained in Ukraine.
Photographed in Woking, England, 17 July 2024
About the Photographer
MARISSA ROTH
Marissa Roth is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, documentary and fine art photographer, born and raised in Los Angeles. She was part of The Los Angeles Times staff that won the Prize for Best Spot News, for coverage of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Her assignments for other prestigious publications have taken her around the world, where she photographed stories encompassing social, political, and cultural subjects.
To date, Roth’s global photographic project, One Person Crying: Women and War, spans four decades of her photography addressing how women have been directly impacted by war and conflict An exhibition of this work debuted at The Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles in 2012 and has been showcased internationally as a traveling exhibition A book is forthcoming
Her published books include Infinite Light: A Photographic Meditation on Tibet, with a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Burning Heart: A Portrait of The Philippines; and The Crossing, a poetic photographic study of the Atlantic Ocean.
Roth’s work has been widely exhibited and is held in both public and private collections. In addition, she is a curator, lecturer, and teacher
Roth is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London and the Royal Photographic Society in England and resides in London
Website: MarissaRothPhotography.com
Instagram: marissarothphoto
Ben Uri Research Unit for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.
The strategic objective of the Ben Uri Research Unit is to be the pre-eminent academic, and social history research resource on this increasingly recognised and important feature of British 20th and 21st century art history.
The Research Unit portal grows organically, by merger, and by hosting partner links to offer the widest and most authoritative reference profiles across the Jewish, Refugee, and Immigrant contribution to British visual culture from 1900 to today.
Currently over 3000 profiles are published with another 1000 under review and research. Some 1,000 profiles, principally European, completed and published on Buru.org.uk and over 2000 profiles, principally reflecting the black and Asian contribution are published on Diaspora-artists.net which was built by Professor Eddie Chambers and recently absorbed into the Research Unit. Further extensions of reach will be announced in due course. Within our expansive coverage we have a particular focus on the 1933-1945 period and the forced journeys of ‘Hitler Emigres’ and their seminal contribution.