<
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/feb/23/julia-kochetova-photographs-war-ukraine>
"Julia Kochetova is unlike most of the people who cover Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine for the
Guardian. The photographer lives in Kyiv; she is Ukrainian.
It is her country that is being invaded, her friends who are being killed.
The war that began in 2014 and brutally escalated on 24 February in 2022 has
infused every part of her existence. It is fundamental to her life choices, her
relationships, her friendships, her career (when she was younger she had
planned to go to art school in Germany, but photojournalism beckoned). She is
at home on the frontline, and could give you battlefield first aid if you
needed it. She is also a vegetarian who makes an exception for meat-based
borsch; reads poetry when we’re on the road together; and can wash and brush
out her waist-length hair in unusual locations and at surprising speed. Her
driving style lies somewhere on the spectrum between chaotic and shrewd, and
she can recommend you a good place for a manicure in Kyiv. She is 32 years old.
She has organised more funerals than anyone should have to do in a lifetime.
Born and raised in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, the daughter of an
economist and a lecturer in German, Kochetova is at home in Kyiv this morning,
between assignments, having woken up without electricity, the result of a
winter of relentless Russian attacks on power infrastructure that has left
ordinary people freezing in their homes.
We first met on 16 October 2022, when I was in Kyiv writing about artists’
responses to Russia’s fullscale invasion. She had just come back from the
frontline in the Donetsk region. She was photographing ballet dancers –
beautifully capturing their fleetness and strength. This was her first
assignment with the
Guardian. Since then, her work has become integral to our
coverage of the war. That day in 2022, I remarked that the job at Kyiv’s
national opera house must feel pretty tame compared to her usual habitat in the
trenches and at medical points. She did not disagree."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
