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Book Description: Ukrainian Women – Power & Resilience
Author: Oksana Lytvynenko
Genre: Documentary Photography / Storytelling / Non-fiction
Overview
"Ukrainian Women: Power & Resilience" is a profound documentary and artistic project that explores the female experience of the Russo-Ukrainian war through the lens of displacement and adaptation. Created by the Swindon-based photographer Oksana Lytvynenko, this book serves as both a historical record and a tribute to the strength of the human spirit.
Visual Style & Atmosphere
The visual narrative consists of striking black-and-white portraits. The choice of monochrome is deliberate, stripping away the distraction of colour to focus entirely on the subjects’ eyes, expressions, and raw emotions. The portraits capture a complex duality: the women often appear composed and beautiful, yet a closer look reveals the depth of the trauma and anxiety they carry beneath the surface.
The Stories
More than just a photo album, this is a storytelling project. Each portrait is paired with a candid interview, detailing the subject's journey:
* The Escape: Harrowing accounts of fleeing a war zone and the decision to leave everything behind.
* Loss & Identity: The struggle of losing one’s career, home, and social status, and the challenge of rebuilding an identity from scratch in the UK.
* Adaptation: The reality of settling into British life, navigating a new culture, and finding community (specifically highlighting the Ukrainian community in Swindon and Wiltshire).
Core Themes
The title, Power & Resilience, highlights the central theme of the work: resilience is not the absence of pain, but the ability to function despite it. The book illustrates how these women manage to work, volunteer, raise children, and support the war effort back home, all while processing deep personal grief and separation from their partners and families.
Why It Matters
This publication stands as a vital piece of social history. It moves beyond the headlines to humanise the statistics of the refugee crisis, offering a deeply personal look at the women who are holding their families together whilst their country fights for survival.