Coming of Age Amidst War
Photo exhibition presents the work of 10 Ukrainian photographers who captured the ways in which Russia's full-scale war has altered the lives of Ukrainian teenagers.
Support Ukrainian resilience and host this exhibition at your American Space to mark three years since the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine has started.
The journey to adulthood for Ukraine’s youth is anything but typical amidst war. For young Ukrainians, the universal concerns of adolescence — school, friendships, and future ambitions — are eclipsed by the harsh realities of air raid sirens, daily missile and artillery attacks, and the loss of loved ones. They are forced to mature quickly, shifting from dreams of a carefree future to urgent questions of survival and duty to one’s country.
The photographs of the Coming of Age Amidst War exhibition tell a story of resilience, capturing how young Ukrainians navigate an uncertain and often harsh reality because of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, finding strength in both collective action and quiet perseverance. Go through some of them in the carousel beneath 👇
Olena, 48, braids her daughter Yelyzaveta’s hair, 15, at a military base in Kyiv on July 7, 2024. They came together for tactical and medical training for women (Viacheslav Ratynskyi)
Classmates (L-R) Dzvinka, Anna, Maia, Ksenia, Sonia, Dara, and Misha gaze at the evening view of Kyiv after a heavy rain on March 29, 2024. When the Revolution of Dignity began, these children just started going to school and now, nearly 11 years later, they are graduating from school amid the ongoing full-scale invasion (Alex Babenko)
Misha (L), Sonia (behind), and Maia (R) attend the “Free Azovstal Defenders” demonstration on Khreschatyk Street in Kyiv, on March 24, 2024. The classmates come together to advocate for the rights of Ukrainian servicemen to be released from Russian captivity (Alex Babenko)
Service member “Blanco,” 20, poses for a portrait in his bunker in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on Nov. 22, 2023. Alongside three other members of his unit, Blanco joined the 3rd Assault Brigadewhen he was just 18 years old. They spent their last teenage years near Bakhmut and other front-line areas (Alex Babenko)
Maksym (pseudonym) participates in a shooting training session at a range with his father and fellow soldiers in Kyiv Oblast, on May 12, 2024 (Karina Piliugina)
Anna (L) hugs her friend Maia, who is one year younger, after a heavy rain in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 29, 2024. When the Revolution of Dignity began, Anna started her education, and now, nearly 11 years later, they are graduating from school amid the ongoing full-scale invasion (Alex Babenko)
Anna and Mariia (pseudonyms), who survived the Russian occupation of Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, are photographed in their yard on July 6, 2023 (Ira Lupu)
Serhii Sanin, 17, poses for a portrait in his room. During his village's occupation in 2022, Serhii was persuaded by Russians to move to Russia. After spending a few months there, he yearned to return to his family, but the Russians prevented his departure. Eventually, with the assistance of the Save Ukraine organization, he managed to find his way back home (Serhii Korovayny)
Children play in the village of Novohryhorivka, Mykolaiv Oblast, on June 14, 2024. Situated near the border with Kherson Oblast, Novohryhorivka suffered extensive damage from shelling at the onset of the full-scale Russian invasion, leaving no houses intact (Katya Moskalyuk)
Sofiia Chyhyryn, 19, and Vadym Beilakh, 19, pose for a portrait during territorial defense training in Kyiv, on Feb. 5, 2022. Sofiia, a business psychology student, and Vadym, a management student, attended the training for the first time to prepare before the full-scale Russian invasion. “Prepare for the worst, believe in the best,” they shared (Oksana Parafeniuk)
According to the Ivana Kupala tradition, girls toss wreaths into the water, believing that if their wreaths sink, they will not find love that year. However, during this first celebration of Kupala after Russia’s full-scale invasion, students altered the ritual, deliberately sinking a wreath with Putin's image as a symbolic gesture so that he would die (Oleh Tymoshenko)
Children mourn beside the coffins of Anna and Yuliia Aksenchenko during their funeral ceremony in Dobropillia, Donetsk Oblast, on June 30, 2023. Parents, relatives, and friends gathered to say goodbye to the 15 years old twins Anna and Yuliia Aksenchenko, who were killed in the Russian attack on the RIA pizzeria in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, just days earlier (Alex Babenko)
Andrii (center) and Mykyta (right), both 16, along with their teacher, weave camouflage nets for the Ukrainian army in Kharkiv, on April 23, 2024. For some local students, crafting nets became a meaningful response to the war. “We weave nets because we don’t work yet, so we don’t have money to donate to the army, which would be the right thing to do,” Andrii and Mykyta shared (Serhii Korovayny)
This project is implemented by America House Lviv in cooperation with The Kyiv Independent, Ukraine’s fastest-growing English-language media outlet.
Play the video to see the exhibition at the America House Lviv Space and to hear the brief review by its curator, Kyiv Independent photo editor Irynka Hromotska.