Project focuses on brave Ukrainians - 6th March 2024

A new photography project describes the situation of Ukrainian women who are now living in the UK. These women arrived when Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022.

The designers of the 'Nezlamna' project are Ukrainian Katia Duncan and also Vlada Stoliarova, whose grandmother was Ukrainian. Nezlamna means 'unbreakable' in Ukrainian.

Katia Duncan: "And one of the questions that we've asked the women is, what, what, what is your story of being "nezlamna", of being this unbreakable woman. And they say, I don't feel like that. I feel like I break down every single day. And then I build myself back up."

18 women are focused on in Nezlamna but these individuals, such as Yulia Zabrodska, are similar to thousands of others. They were all forced to leave for the protection of their children.

Yulia Zabrodska: "We, Ukrainian woman meet with challenges and I think all of us we have a sense of guilt that we left our country. And these projects show that we are strong, we're fighting, and we try to settle in foreign country and protect our children."

Vlada has photographed the women with flowers. These objects are chosen for their beauty, but also their unexpected strength.

Vlada Stoliarova: "I think it's very important to show that these refugees, that these women, that they're real. They used to have their lives in Ukraine, they full of love and full of just problems and the usual life that we have. But one day, it changed."

The mothers made the challenging decision to leave Ukraine. On reaching safety, they've had to cope with problems as single parents, away from their families. They're anxious about what's happening in Ukraine. Many are well-educated and with good qualifications. However, they often find their skills cannot be transferred, or their language skills are a problem.

Nezlamna talks about these important issues. The project's ended up being of great help to the women who've been involved. But it's also helped others who can recognise their own stories.

Katia Duncan: "They lived through the experience, but also it has been therapeutic to other Ukrainians who, who saw themselves in these stories, so Ukrainians who read and relived and they felt that 'I'm not alone. I'm not alone in feeling like this.'"