"No tears left to cry"

Dates

2022 - Ongoing
Author

Marcin Kruk
Recognition

PhEST Shortlist - PhMuseum 2023 Photography Grant

"No tears left to cry" - On February 24, Russia attacked Ukraine, calling its criminal actions a "special operation." This operation is nothing more than a full-scale illegal invasion and open war, which Russia began nomen omen in 2014.

The world froze. For more than 20 years, there has been no such conflict in Europe. For more than 20 years, there has not been a genocide so close to the borders of United Europe and NATO.

As a result of Russia's aggression, more than 7.7 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes and relocate, and more than 5.4 million, have fled the country.

My documentary project, which I have been making since the first days of the invasion, is a story about civilians. I take up the theme of war and its impact on society, in various aspects, such as genocide, struggles with trauma, and processes of change in society and culture.

It is a story of unimaginable suffering and drama, but also of rising from the ruins and rebuilding the country.

This project, in some ways, is a personal project for me. My great-grandparents and grandparents were forced to resettle from Ukraine to Poland in the 1940s. I was born in Ustrzyki Dolne, just 10 km from the PL-UA border. Ukrainians have always been in my life.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Ivanivka near Chernichiv, 01/10/22022, Portrait of Anton, one of the volunteers from Repair Together, a Ukrainian volunteer initiative to restore the communities that suffered from the Russian occupation.

© Marcin Kruk - Kyiv Subburbs, 18/07/2022 Removal of burnt Russian tanks

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Kyiv Subburbs, 18/07/2022 Removal of burnt Russian tanks

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Lviv, 18/03/2022, Portrait of Sasha, a 20 -year-old student from Kharkiv. Sasha is a talented clothing designer. He managed to escape from Kharkiv to Lviv, where I met him in the art residence turned refugee shelter. Sasha could work in Poland as a clothing designer for one of the famous brands, but unfortunately due to the law on compulsory mobilization law for men aged 18-65, he can not leave the country.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Kyiv, 05/09/2022, Boris is a declared gay man. He joined the army as a combat medic. He serves in the Unicorn battalion along with other members of Ukraine's LGBTQ+ community LGBTQ activists say several same-sex soldier couples got engaged after Russia's invasion, and many hope Ukraine will legalize gay marriage or at least civil unions.

© Marcin Kruk - Lviv, 21/03/2022, A riddled photo of Putin, attached to a dart shield in one of the temporary refugee shelters in Lviv.

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Lviv, 21/03/2022, A riddled photo of Putin, attached to a dart shield in one of the temporary refugee shelters in Lviv.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Kyiv, 03/08/2022, Sasha, a young boy from Kyiv, a declared gay who joined the Army on 10th March to fight for his country. I am very happy that I was able to meet him and talk to him, and this is the day after the president Zelenskiy, said yes, to civil partnerships in Ukraine

© Marcin Kruk - Izium, 11/10/2022, Wreckage of a rocket in the Izium forest.

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Izium, 11/10/2022, Wreckage of a rocket in the Izium forest.

© Marcin Kruk - Bucha, 23/07/2022, Destroyed bridge over the Bucha River.

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Bucha, 23/07/2022, Destroyed bridge over the Bucha River.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Bucha, 18/07/2022 Jana (name changed) and her daughter were held hostage in the shelter of a building at 144 Yablunska Street. They survived the massacre during which 8 men were murdered - Anatoly Prykhidko, Andriy Matvychuk, Andriy Verbova, Denys Rudenko, Andriy Dvornikov, Sviatoslav Turovsky, Valery Kotenko, and Vitaliy Karpenko. On 22nd July, for the first time since that terrible day, she came to the site to honor the victims and pray for them.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Bucha, 27/07/2022, Denys - A young boy from Bucza sitting in front of the block of flats where he lived. The block was completely destroyed. Behind his back was a Territorial Defence post.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Przemyśl (Poland), 02/03/2022, Arranged space of the temporary refugee shelter in the abandoned building of the Tesco shopping mall in Przemysl.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Lviv, 09/04/2022, Maria and Dmitrij. Maria is an architect and a draughtswoman, and she writes poetry. Dmitri is a builder, pizza master, and engineer. After escaping from Kharkiv they stayed in Lviv. Here they became engaged in building a shelter for refugees called. They started a crowdfunding campaign. Maria designed the space and her husband Dmitro is working on the construction.

© Marcin Kruk - Somewhere in Ukraine, 17/03/2022, A section of the fortifications was under construction in the first month of the war.

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Somewhere in Ukraine, 17/03/2022, A section of the fortifications was under construction in the first month of the war.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Izium, 11/10/2022, Numbered crosses in the Iziuma atrium, where a mass grave of 447 people was found. Exhumations showed that a significant number of the victims bore traces of torture. The head of the Ukrainian President's office, Andriy Yermak, commented that "Russia is killing Ukrainians with whole families."

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Kyiv Subburbs, 18/07/2022, Yulia (18) and her friend sit on the steps of a shop destroyed during the fighting in the Kyiv suburb near Bucha. Ever since they have known each other, this has been the place where they have always met.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints Church, where the bodies of the murdered civilians were placed in a mass grave on 10 March 2022. "There was no ceremony or sermon at the grave," - he says. "Everything was done quickly, with a few hasty prayers," - says Taras Shapravskyi, deputy mayor of Bucha

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Lukashivka, near Chernichiv 22/10/2022, Mrs. Nadia, (61y) - stands in the rubble of her house left behind after a rocket attack on her village. Her husband Volodymyr was killed during this attack. She herself is a survivor. Every day she comes to the place where her house stood, trying to clean up the rubble.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Bucha, 23/07/2022, Andrej was shot twice by Russian occupiers. It shows in what position he was shot and two healed bullet wounds while lying on a mattress in a bunker at 144 Yablonska Street in Buch, where he was held hostage along with local residents. On the same day he was shot, the Russian occupiers murdered 8 men, around the corner of the building at 144 Jablonskaya Street.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Lviv, 21/03/2022, A view from the balcony to the stage in one of the theatres. After the full-scale invasion, many places in the western part of Ukraine were transformed into temporary shelters for refugees, including cultural venues such as artist residencies and theatres. In the background, a 48-year-old refugee woman from Kyiv sits on a mattress. Irena (name changed) and her 18-year-old son in one such refugee shelter. Because of the law on compulsory mobilization for men aged 18-65, her son cannot leave the country. Irena would like him to study and work, and she has decided to stay with him.

© Marcin Kruk - Image from the "No tears left to cry" photography project

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Bucha, 27/07/2022, A soot-blackened wall in one of the flats in Bucza was burnt down by the Russian occupiers. On the wall, you can see a half-burnt Orthodox Icon and a clock melted from the high temperature.