“On the 19th of January, 2014 a peaceful protest of Ukrainian Euromaidans on the Hrushevskyi Street in Kiev turned into the possible beginning of a civil war. It went too far, with explosions of gas grenades, Molotov cocktails, shootings of activists by the special police unit “Berkut”, abductions of people to the forest, acts of torture and all the other methods employed by dictatorial regimes. I couldn’t remain indifferent to what was happening in the country. I called a fellow photographer and friend, Sergey Lebedinskyy, and the decision was made to go to Kiev immediately. We bought tickets and the following day we were running on the Maidan in freezing temperatures, holding onto our gear, aiming our cameras at the crowd and trying to keep warm, sharing tea and sandwiches with the activists. Twice God saved us from a “Berkut” attack. With no helmets or gas masks, not even the orange press coat, it was not safe. The latter wouldn’t have saved us anyway as the press were being systematically targeted by the police. We stayed on the Maidan for two days documenting the events as much as we could. We’re still alive without scratches or injuries. As I write these words I’m sitting in a train, Sergey is in a plane, our films and impressions are with us”. Vladyslav Krasnoshchok vimeo/89324095 Design: Huseynov Ilkin Photographs: Vladislav Krasnoshek and Sergiy Lebedynskyy. Published by Riot Books Handmade Sewing-machine binding Limited Edition of 250 Size 21x15 sm Pages 52 € 30+ shipping
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 14:16:40 +0000