I Hope Your Family is Safe

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project © Anya Tsaruk - The shattered windshield of a car destroyed by Russian shelling at the frontline. © Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project View all images ↓
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  • Dates
    2023 - Ongoing
  • Author
  • Location Ukraine, Ukraine

Titled echoing a hopeful encouragement often expressed to me by foreigners, "I Hope Your Family is Safe" offers a nuanced perspective on today’s Ukraine — one that reflects my people's bravery, vulnerability, defiance, and desire for freedom.

'I hope your family is safe.'

I’ve heard these words so many times since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of my homeland, and I still don’t know how to reply. What is safety in a country at war?

I was born and raised in Ukraine and left my country nine years ago — first for Poland, and later for Germany. Since then, I have never felt the urge to return as strongly as I do today. To see how my homeland has changed. To challenge the oversimplified portrayal of Ukraine and its people as mere victims. What is my Ukraine today?

I can’t find words, and I am looking for visual hints. A car destroyed at the frontline, trenches where my dad underwent military training, a wedding suit and mourning scarves hanging side-by-side at the market. I hear that our neighbour’s brother was killed on the frontline and that my uncle joined the Military Forces. I see a black-and-white photograph of my childhood friend in the alley of fallen defenders, accompanied by a remembrance candle.

Here, death is at every corner, and yet, so is life. A full public beach on a Sunday afternoon; a friend’s newborn baby; my grandma's little chicks. Ukrainians fall in love, adopt dogs, volunteer, and celebrate Christmas. There is love, there is joy, and there is beauty that coexists with enormous pain and tragedy. I see my people in all their resilience, dignity, and desire to be free.

In my country, filled with trauma and torn by the war, I feel as alive as anywhere else. I am unsafe because of Russian rockets flying over my head. I am safe because it is my home.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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A crowded public beach on a Sunday afternoon in Khmelnytskyi — my hometown in the West of Ukraine. Though far from the front line, the region is frequently targeted by Russian drones and rockets.

© Anya Tsaruk - The shattered windshield of a car destroyed by Russian shelling at the frontline.
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The shattered windshield of a car destroyed by Russian shelling at the frontline.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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My friends Nastya and Pavlo. Pavlo has served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, when he was just 21. Now 24, he holds the rank of Captain. Nastya, his partner, lives in Dublin, and during a brief leave from his duties, they reunited to spend some precious time together in Kyiv.

© Anya Tsaruk - My cousin Maksym eats watermelon while his mother, Ira, fixes his hair at their home in Khmelnytskyi.
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My cousin Maksym eats watermelon while his mother, Ira, fixes his hair at their home in Khmelnytskyi.

© Anya Tsaruk - Rabbits of my granduncle and grandaunt, in the yard of their house in Khmelnytskyi.
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Rabbits of my granduncle and grandaunt, in the yard of their house in Khmelnytskyi.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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My aunt Iryna holds a medal her son Ilya received as a first-year student at a military college in Lviv, awarded for outstanding academic achievement.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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Kamila, my best friend's nephew and goddaughter, proudly displays her award for Best Actress in the play "The Snow Queen" in Chornyi Ostriv.

© Anya Tsaruk - A weekend dinner at a yoga camp for women in the Kyiv Region.
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A weekend dinner at a yoga camp for women in the Kyiv Region.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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My friend Yevhenii, who now serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, rests in the kitchen of his mother’s flat during a short break from duty.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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Trenches on the outskirts of Khmelnytskyi, where my dad underwent military training at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. A year and a half later, the abandoned site — still far from the frontline — had nearly faded from view. But when we found it, blue and yellow flowers were in bloom.

© Anya Tsaruk - My grandmother Maria is holding a chick in the garden of her home in the Khmelnytskyi region.
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My grandmother Maria is holding a chick in the garden of her home in the Khmelnytskyi region.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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My school friend Kristina stands near the river in our hometown. She is wearing a cross and a shirt with the word “Лебідка”, a gentle way to address a woman that literally means “female swan” in Ukrainian.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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Pokrovsky Nunnery in Kyiv, viewed from my friend Nastya’s flat on the 15th floor. Living so high offers a breathtaking perspective of the capital — but during Russian rocket and drone attacks, the height becomes a source of fear.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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My friends Vadym and Karina rest in a park. After nearly nine years abroad, Karina returned to Ukraine in 2024 to build her life in her homeland.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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Sandbags protect the Greek Catholic Church of the Holy Eucharist in Lviv. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian cities have shielded monuments and buildings with sandbags to minimise damage from explosions.

© Anya Tsaruk - A choir rehearsal at Khmelnytskyi Pedagogical Academy, where my mother taught before fleeing the war to Germany.
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A choir rehearsal at Khmelnytskyi Pedagogical Academy, where my mother taught before fleeing the war to Germany.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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Varvara rests in the arms of her mother, aunt, and grandmother in the Kyiv region. Her father perished in the war in 2023, and her grandfather is currently defending the country.

© Anya Tsaruk - My grandmother Maria lights a candle on the Christmas table in the Khmelnytskyi region.
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My grandmother Maria lights a candle on the Christmas table in the Khmelnytskyi region.

© Anya Tsaruk - My friend Vadym stands on the balcony of his house in Khmelnytskyi.
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My friend Vadym stands on the balcony of his house in Khmelnytskyi.

© Anya Tsaruk - Image from the I Hope Your Family is Safe photography project
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At the market in Khmelnytskyi, traditional Ukrainian embroidered towels (rushnyky) and a wedding suit hang alongside black mourning scarves and artificial flowers for graves.