The Collection of War Photos
Elena Tita got interested in photography in 2019, leaning more toward portraits, artistic black-and-white photography, and street photography.
Since February 24, 2022, Tita started working in documentary photography, capturing the everyday life of the Ukrainian frontline city of Zaporizhzhia, her hometown. She volunteered at the refugee hub as a social worker and worked as a photographer on many topics: internally displaced persons, humanitarian aid, volunteer movement, training of military and tactical training of civilians, destruction caused by Russian troops, etc.
“Just like in pre-war times, the focus of my attention and camera is still on people: how they react to the war, what they do, how they cope with new living conditions,” Elena Tita shares.

From the ‘Letters Beyond the Horizon’ photo project. Yana Hordieieva looks through a photo album with photos of her deceased husband Oleksandr, 35, a junior sergeant with the call sign Kit. He was a sapper, and while clearing the area of mines, he exploded and received fatal shrapnel wounds. Zaporizhzhia, September 7, 2024.

Olha, the wife of fallen Ukrainian soldier Andrii Chertov, visits his grave with their baby daughter Solomiia for the first time. This is the anniversary of her husband’s death. Andrii never knew he was going to become a father. Zaporizhzhia. July 30, 2024.

A mother wrapped in the national flag kisses her son at the Memorial on the tenth Anniversary Of The Azov Regiment on May 5, 2024, in Zaporizhzhia. A memorial space ‘Flag of Memory’ was organized on the Maidan of Freedom to honor Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war.

A servicewoman installs a memorial flag on the tenth Anniversary Of The Azov Regiment on May 5, 2024, in Zaporizhzhia. A memorial space ‘Flag of Memory’ was organized on the Maidan of Freedom to honor Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war.

The funeral ceremony takes place in the mourning hall. Fallen Ukrainian defender Andrii Chyshko was a member of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade and took part in the liberation of Irpin, in the battles in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk region, where he was killed. Zaporizhzhia, May 2, 2024.

A volunteer makes camouflage nets for Ukrainian soldiers. In one of the branches of the largest volunteer center Palyanycia in Zaporizhzhia approximately 100 people work daily. There is a sewing department, a department for making pot belly stoves, as well as a department for making trench candles and camouflage nets for the military. January 9, 2024.

Civilians practice shooting rifles. Free shooting courses for civilians were organized by the Rifle Training Center ‘The First’ in Zaporizhzhia. March 31, 2024.

A volunteer makes trench candles for Ukrainian soldiers. In one of the branches of the largest volunteer center Palyanycia in Zaporizhzhia approximately 100 people work daily. There is a sewing department, a department for making pot belly stoves, as well as a department for making trench candles and camouflage nets for the military. January 9, 2024.

A child lies on a bed at a bomb shelter during an air raid alert in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. A group of internally displaced persons (IDPs), 81 persons, including 21 children, live in a residential building equipped with a bomb shelter where they hide children during the air-raid siren and shelling. January 17, 2023.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia became the closest large city for many people escaping the Russian occupation. One hundred thousand internally displaced persons (IDPs) live there.

Cynologists with search-and-rescue dogs stand near a nine-story residential building hit by a missile in Dnipro, Ukraine. On January 14, the Russian missile strike destroyed a section of the building, killing 46 people and injuring 80. January 15, 2023.

Vladyslav, 22, is undergoing rehabilitation in a hospital in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, after Russian captivity. July 7, 2022
Since the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion, Vladyslav had been in the city of Mariupol. While moving between Ukrainian positions, he was injured by mines. He underwent surgery in a bunker in one of the city’s hospitals. Later, in Russian captivity, Vladyslav was transferred to hospitals several times but did not receive proper postoperative care.
Before the full-scale war, Vladyslav weighed 70 kg. On June 29, 2022, he was released from captivity, and the man weighed 50 kg due to his injuries and poor or no nutrition.

A girl hugs her dog at the refugee hub in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. April 4, 2022.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia became the closest large city for many people escaping the Russian occupation. A large logistics hub was created in the city, which receives, registers, and helps internally displaced persons (IDPs). Many people are coming with their domestic animals; most pets are scared and hungry. The hub always has food for animals; sometimes, there are also medicines and cardboard carriers.

A woman holds a baby in her arms at the refugee hub in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. April 4, 2022.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia became the closest large city for many people escaping the Russian occupation. A large logistics hub was created in the city, which receives and registers internally displaced persons (IDPs), provides free medical and psychological assistance, clothes, hygiene products, and helps with shelter or transfer to other regions in Ukraine or abroad.

A little boy is sitting in a car with a broken windshield at the refugee hub in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. May 2, 2022.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia became the closest large city for many people escaping the Russian occupation. A large logistics hub was created in the city, which receives and registers internally displaced persons (IDPs), provides free medical and psychological assistance, clothes, hygiene products, and helps with shelter or transfer to other regions in Ukraine or abroad.

Portrait of a girl at the refugee hub in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. March 23, 2022
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia became the closest large city for many people escaping the Russian occupation. A large logistics hub was created in the city, which receives and registers internally displaced persons (IDPs), provides free medical and psychological assistance, clothes, hygiene products, and helps with shelter or transfer to other regions in Ukraine or abroad.

A volunteer holds a box of sandwiches at a volunteer center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. March 1, 2022.
Since the first days of the Russian invasion, people have been organizing themselves into volunteer centers to resist and help meet the needs of the military and internally displaced people. The largest volunteer center in Zaporizhzhia had about 500 members in the first months of the invasion. The main goal in the first two months was to defend the city: ordinary people made anti-tank hedgehogs and placed them on the main roads in the city.

A volunteer sews a national flag at a volunteer center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. February 28, 2022.
Since the first days of the Russian invasion, people have been organizing themselves into volunteer centers in Zaporizhzhia to resist and help meet the needs of the military and internally displaced people. One of the largest centers in the city unites about five hundred people and includes a sewing department, a group that makes potbelly stoves, a department of humanitarian and medical aid, a group that makes trench candles for the military, and others.

Rescuers help an elderly woman on her way out of the destroyed residential building in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Russian missile attack on a residential building on October 10 left an entire section in ruins. Rescuers work 24/7 at the site and evacuate the survivors. October 10, 2022.

Two residents look at the consequences of a missile hitting their home in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. October 10, 2022.
Zaporizhzhia, like other frontline cities of Ukraine, has been regularly shelled by Russian troops since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

A man takes a baby carriage out of his wife’s car, heavily damaged in a Russian missile strike on a civilian building in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. October 6, 2022