“I am the Donbas, and I am Ukraine too!”

Mariupol-based photographer Yevhen Sosnovsky, who took part in this year’s Den’s Photo Exhibit, arrived in Kyiv just as the situation in eastern Ukraine worsened again. “Participation in the exhibition brought unexpected impressions for me,” Sosnovsky said; he is a local civic activist among other things. “It turned out that Kyivites are interested in the ‘other’ Mariupol. They follow the principle that we are all Ukrainians, not residents of separate areas with separate electorate. We all must try to understand each other, and that is fine. Unfortunately, such understanding is being artificially distorted in some other quarters. I was impressed not only by my works, in particular, getting selected, but also by the scale of the Photo Exhibit, including the number of guests who visited it. Some people who I did not even dream to see there still came, ranging from politicians to cultural figures. I paid attention to the visitors and saw that they were not just walking past photos, but peering, photographing, recording in writing. I really want to see this exhibition reaching Mariupol some day. This year, for example, we had the Chervona Ruta music festival, and many artists refused to come to our city. However, those who did come, did not hide they had their views changed, because we must see each other to draw correct conclusions.

“One can perceive Mariupol in many ways. Unfortunately, quite a few people have distorted understanding of the city, just as of the eastern region in general. It is so in particular because Mariupol is sometimes pictured inadequately even in the Ukrainian media. Indeed, there is a feeling that there is some agreement at the top and our region has been given as a fief to some oligarchs, including Rinat Akhmetov. They set teeters and bribe the local electorate. Thus, the main issue, that of the struggle for Ukrainian citizens’ minds, is not being dealt with. The elections are still dominated by speculation rather than thorough political education of Ukrainians. It is true that the central government has not really done much directly for Mariupol, which pushes Mariupol residents away and helps them to swallow the enemy’s propaganda. I always cite as an example the shelling of the city on January 24, when none of the leaders of the country went to Mariupol.”