Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

17th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest People
Portrait of Valentyna, internally displaced ukrainian activist from Crimea

Historical background: In 2014 Russia occupied Crimea and started war in Donbass, Ukraine. Every day my country is defending its people and boarders. 13 000 of people were murdered and around 1,5 million of people from Donbas and Crimea became Internally displaced persons. About project: I started to shoot portraits of Crimea residents that were forced to leave their homes and move to Ukraine. All of them are activists that were fighting for Ukraine and refused to have Russian citizenship. It was dangerous for them to stay in Crimea when Russian troops invaded.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 05.2019
Date Uploaded: 09.2019
Photo Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Camera: NIKON D610
Copyright: © Oleksandra Zborovska