One of the last civilians in Saltivka, Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Igor Tkachev
May 07, 2022 - 7:00 AM
Not long ago, Igor Tkachev was in Kamloops attending classes at Thompson Rivers University, like any other student.
Today, he’s on the front lines of a war in his home country, documenting the conflict with a camera lens.
Tkachev, 25, was in California when he first heard Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
“When this all happened. I didn’t plan to take pictures of the war but I couldn’t just sit and watch, I wanted to (know) what was happening,” he said.
Northern Saltivka, Kharkiv, Ukrainian soldier Pasha in the basement of a destroyed building. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Igor Tkachev
The former TRU international student, who studied at TRU from 2013 to 2015, most recently has been documenting Kharkiv and serving as a guide for foreign journalists. The city has been attacked by Russians since the start of the war.
Tkachev is currently residing in Poltava, in the north eastern part of the country, where his family is. After a few days of rest, he will make his way back to Kharkiv to get closer to the front lines of the conflict.
For the last several months, he’s been travelling around the country, documenting the conflict. He said he has a passion for photography, was a part of TRU’s photography club, and has always been taking pictures but never thought it would involve war.
At first when he flew back to Europe he began volunteering and delivering military aid to Ukrainian troops but soon decided he wanted to see the conflict for himself.
“I went straight to Kharkiv. I wanted to see what was happening… I wanted to document it,” he said, adding it’s a part of history.
Borodyanka, Kyiv Oblast, Consequences of russian missile bombings, Ukraine in April, 2022.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Igor Tkachev
With the click of the shutter, he wants his photos to be used to show the world what this war is so it never happens again.
“I always wanted to come back to my city and my country because I enjoy being here and I know everyone here. When this happened, all my friends started to volunteer, they didn’t leave my country. Everyone was so patriotic so I decided to help somehow,” he said.
In some parts of the country, it’s still safe to be but in Kharkiv, there’s no gas and there is hardly anyone in the city so at times it was difficult to survive, he said.
“I couldn't imagine that in Europe in the 21st Century, such kind of war and what is happening in Mariupol, thousands of people are dying without medicine and supplies,” he said. The large port city has been mostly reduced to rubble.
Slowly, you get used to the sounds of bombs, shells and air raids, he said.
“I’ve lost a few friends in this war and you try to hide these feelings. You know, after we win, we can celebrate or regret or feel sorry but not now,” he said.
His most impactful photos, he said, are from when he visited Bucha. Walking through Bucha, an Associated Press reporter encountered 24 witnesses of the Russian occupation. Almost everyone said they saw a body, sometimes several more. Civilians were killed, mostly men, sometimes picked off at random. Many, including the elderly, say they themselves were threatened.
READ MORE: Russian media campaign falsely claims Bucha deaths are fakes
“They killed so many people, they put it in a mass grave… we’ve been to the place of the mass grave by the church and there were journalists from around the world and our service people were taking dead bodies from the grave… trying to recognize (the bodies),” Tkachev said.
A mass grave contained at least 70 people, he said.
Bucha, funeral, Ukraine, April 2022
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Igor Tkachev
“It was horrible but there were so many pictures of this grave and I couldn’t believe it would happen by the capital of a huge European city, so many civilians (killed) and what was the reason?”
When going into a city under siege like Kharkiv, he understands the risk that you can be hit and killed at any time.
“You take this risk and you came to the city, which is under shelling, you understand you can be hit anywhere.”
READ MORE: 'Seemed like goodbye': Mariupol defenders make their stand
FILE PHOTO - Igor Tkachev in 2020
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Igor Tkachev
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