Despite being twice the size of Germany, it’s perhaps fair to say that for most of us, our knowledge of Ukraine was relatively limited before the start of Russia’s illegal war in February of this year. With over 44 million residents, the country has been in turmoil ever since, and we’re now sadly very used to daily reports and imagery from the beleaguered nation.
Understandably, its residents are keen to show a different side of Ukraine. A Ukraine which is as beautifully ordinary as any other European country that we might associate with gorgeous landscapes.
A new book, The Beauty of Ukraine, features the photographs of Yevhen Samuchenko and the words of Lucia Bondar. The book is an illustrated love letter to their homeland, created in the darkest of times. Images within the book were shot between 2017 and 2022, and show a completely different view than we’ve seen over the past few months.
Samuchenko hails from
