Danylo Pavlov

This documentary photography project concerns the topic of humanitarian corridors in the Sumy and Volyn regions on the borders with Belarus and Russia. Today, the corridor on the border between Russia and Ukraine in the Sumy region is actively functioning. For some time, there was even a pedestrian crossing through the forest. People from the occupied territories are returning to Ukraine through this humanitarian corridor using a humanitarian train.

These people are IDPs with unique stories who have long lived in cities occupied since 2014, including Donetsk and Luhansk. They have now returned to Ukraine for different reasons. Some decided to build a new life.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian civilians and military men have been suffering from Russian aggression on a daily basis. Over the past months, tens of thousands of people have been injured. It seems impossible to tell about each of them, although behind each there is a great human story of struggle and pain. After treatment and recovery, some patients require expensive plastic surgery to lead a normal life. Unfortunately, many of these patients cannot afford such operations, and there are no state assistance programs yet. 
In the summer of 2022, colleagues from the United States offered to conduct, together with Ukrainian doctors, several dozen plastic and reconstructive surgeries for victims of Russian aggression. Ten experienced surgeons came from the USA to operate, and 130–150 medics watched the live online broadcast of their joint work with Ivano-Frankivsk doctors at different times. 
I documented the process of operations and captured, with approval, the history of the wounded. It takes about a year for rehabilitation and recovery, and some patients require repeated operations. My goal is to continue to document patients in their recovery, as well as to draw public attention to the need to create such treatment programs at the state level.