Gennady from Rovenky – at the entrance to the squat yard on Uspenskaya, 4 
David from Rovenky, Luhansk region, lies in the yard of a house captured by displaced peoples from Donbas in the center of Odesa, December 2016. 
Alexander from Toretsk conducts an electric cable to provide the yard with light, December 2016. 
David from Rovenky plays war with his grandmother in the apartment where this family moved in the captured house, December 2016. 
Marina from Luhansk region cries, remembering how she came under artillery fire on her way to work at the mine, December 2018. 
Lyudmila from Donetsk sits on a bed in the room where she lives with her two sons. One of them had been beaten during a pro-Ukrainian demonstration in Donetsk having a very serious traumatic brain injury. So now this son has everyday epileptic seizures. 
Room of one of the families of migrants from Donbas in this house, the bathroom had to be arranged right in it, July 2018. 
Baba Dusya from Donetsk is the oldest inhabitant of this squat of displaced peoples. Next to her is her son Serhiy, November 2017. 
Olga from Donetsk calls her room in the displaced squad “Shakherezada’s room” because of the blue color of the decoration. Her husband remained in the occupied territory, she was forced to return from time to time. 
Ropes with washed clothes, which are dried in the yard of a house in the center of Odessa, which was occupied by migrants. Next to the house is a nunnery, which belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate 
Natalia from Yenakiyevo together with her three children – in the apartment they occupy in a squat on Uspenskaya Street in Odessa 
Olexandr from Toretsk knocks out the carpet in the squat yard 
Natalia from Yenakiyevo laughs, posing in the uniform of a Ukrainian soldier in the yard of a house captured by displaced peoples from Donbas, June 2017. 
Children from Donbas living in captured house sing the anthem of Ukraine near the grave of hedgehog just buried in the squat yard, June 2017. 
Anna from Donetsk selects clothes to be sent as humanitarian aid to residents of Avdiivka, Donbas region. A woman of her own initiative started collecting such packages and sends clothes to the frontline city every month. 
The migrants carry packs of squat-packed clothing to send them to the frontier Avdiivka in Donbas region. 
Yuri and Anna from Donetsk play with their daughter Angelina – the first child born in this settlement of displaced persons in Odesa. 
Cleaning in the yard of a house in Odesa, home to over one hundred displaced people from Donbass. 
Fragment of the exhibition of drawings of displaced children in the yard of the captured house in Odesa, August 2017. 
Children rehearse a festive performance in the squat yard 
Yuri from Donetsk acting as evil hero rests, preparing for the performance to the second anniversary of the refugees settlement to the house in Odesa, June 2018 
Adults sing songs in the evening celebrating the squat anniversary. 
Yuri and Anna from Donetsk hug in the yard of the captured house in the center of Odesa, June 2018. 
Ira from Toretsk looks out the window of a captured house in the center of Odesa, August 2018.
The New Home is my story about a group of more than a hundred migrants from Donbass who seized an abandoned house in the center of Odessa in the summer of 2016. The main reason for this step is too expensive for families with children and the elderly rent in Odessa. The house partly had no windows and toilets, as well as electricity, hot water and heating — only bare walls. The migrants restored the building on their own.
I had been making this series from 2017 to 2019, for me this story is about the importance of collectivism and unity for creating a new, common home. The migrants still live in this house, the local authorities recognized them, but did not legalize. So they can be evicted at any time.
As of 2019 in Ukraine were registered about 1.5 million internally displaced persons. Only some of them were able to earn a new home, buying it, in particular in small towns close to Kyiv — Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel.
After Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, many had to flee their homes for the second time, and much of their homes were destroyed by shelling. In total, according to UNHCR, about 5 million Ukrainians were forced to leave their country. Will they be able to return home? Will they find a new home? These questions are currently unanswered