Once they photographed weddings, now they document the horrors of the Russian occupation

Vlada and Kostyantyn Liberov were among the first civilians to enter the territory of Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, after the withdrawal of Russian occupation forces in mid-September.

"In our conversations with locals, it seems that the occupation has caused suffering," says Vlada in an interview for the Russian Radio Free Europe Service.

"They were very happy that their homes returned to their country, that they heard the Ukrainian language again. Everyone was waiting for the Ukrainian soldiers with tears of joy - we saw them with our own eyes," says Vlada.

Before Russia launched its massive, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Liberovs worked as wedding photographers and photography instructors in the city of Odesa.

Since then, they began traveling across Ukraine to document the war. Their photos appeared on the social media pages of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and elsewhere.

"Our main task is to make sure that no one forgets the war," says Kostyantyn. "It may sound strange, but we want to show all these horrors beautifully," he says.

Their images capture emotional moments, such as soldiers reuniting with their spouses, or displaced persons returning to their destroyed homes.

In one of the photographs, a grieving soldier looks at the wreckage of a vehicle in which a comrade was killed by Russian forces.

"We know we are different from the classic war photographers, but we won't change anything," says Vlada.

“As Kostya said, social media is one of the fronts we're fighting these days... Our photos are the ones used by bloggers and [conventional] media. They often help people express their pain", continues Vlada.

She says that when a photo is reposted 10,000 or 100,000 times, she knows that just as many people have remembered that there is a war in Ukraine and that they have reminded others as well.

"If they don't repost it, they don't remember it," says Vlada.

"I really think that one of the reasons why Ukraine has survived - a reason why Ukraine is holding on - is that we have not been forgotten. Our Western partners have not forgotten us and we have not let ourselves be forgotten either", she says.

“...sepse ne vazhdimisht bërtasim për këtë”, shton Kostyantyn.

Çifti kujton se, së voni, ka parë fotografi të veprimeve ushtarake të Rusisë dhe krimeve të supozuara të luftës në Siri, në vitet 2015-2016.

“Fillimisht e kuptoni se atje kanë ndodhur të njëjtat gjëra që po ndodhin këtu”, thotë Vlada. “Dhe, pastaj, e kuptoni që thjesht nuk dinit për to”, shton Kostyantyn.

“Është vetëm një vetëdijesim i tmerrshëm, se Rusia ka bërë të njëjtat gjëra atje - qytete të shkatërruara, rrugë të tëra pa asnjë ndërtesë të vetme të padëmtuar... Të gjitha këto kanë ndodhur, por unë as që kam dëgjuar për to”, thotë Kostyantyn.

Vlada thotë se mediat i mbulojnë gjërat e tilla. Por, siç shprehet, bota shpejt harron, “sepse në atë zonë, në atë kohë, ata nuk kishin mundësi ose zakon të merrnin telefonat dhe të qaheshin për dhimbjen e tyre”.

“Në këtë drejtim, ukrainasit po veprojnë mirë, sepse ne gjithmonë i kujtojmë botës se ekzistojmë. Kostya dhe unë po ndihmojmë me këtë - mendoj unë”, thotë Vlada.

Kur filloi udhëtimin, çifti thotë se e kishte të vështirë të pajtohej me tragjeditë njerëzore që shihte çdo ditë.

“Refuzoja të dëgjoja se sot ose nesër, djali i dikujt, babai apo bashkëshorti i dikujt do të shkonte në luftë dhe nuk do të kthehej më kurrë. Por, mijëra e mijëra familje ukrainase po kalojnë pikërisht nëpër këtë. Më tmerron fakti që kjo do të bëhet disi statistikë. Kjo është një nga arsyet pse Kostya dhe unë po bëjmë atë që bëjmë”, thotë Vlada.

Gjatë shtatë muajve të pushtimit rus, çifti u gjend vazhdimisht nën sulme.

"We're guided by the great saying of [American-Hungarian war photographer] Robert Capa, who said, 'If your pictures aren't good enough, then you're not close enough,'" says Vlada.

Moreover, the couple, whose native language is Russian, began to speak exclusively Ukrainian, both in public and in private. Kostyantyn says that many of Ukraine's problems could have been avoided, "if we all spoke Ukrainian and didn't have all these Russian-speaking regions and so on."

"One of the first things I did [after the Russian invasion] was change the language on my phone, computer and other devices," says Kostyantyn.

The couple is now based in Kharkiv and rarely goes to Odesa to visit their parents. REL