A photo exhibition about the full-scale war in Ukraine was opened at Akademik Vernadsky station. Its author is Kostiantyn Polishchuk, a Kyiv photographer who has been defending Ukraine at the front for more than two years.
In 2016-2019, Kostiantyn worked in the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science and repeatedly filmed farewells and meetings of Ukrainian Antarctic Expeditions. He was always interested in the work of polar explorers and dreamed that one day he could visit the icy continent.
On February 26, 2022, two days after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, Kostiantyn joined the Territorial Defense Forces of his native Kyiv. Prior to that, he had no military experience
He first defended the north of the capital from the invaders, then fought in the Donbas, participated in the liberation of Kherson, the counter-offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, and battles in the Liman and Kharkiv directions.
He was a rifleman, then a grenade launcher in a fire support company, then was engaged in aerial reconnaissance in the landing and assault troops. Currently, as part of the anti-tank guided missile company of the National Guard, he is “hunting” Russian tanks.
In his free time, he continues to take photographs. Now in Kostiantyn’s lens is everything that he sees and experiences during the war: the way a soldier lies on the bottom of a captured Russian trench, hiding from KABs’ explosions, and salted fish from volunteers next to an AK-74.
15 Kostiantyn’s photos were transferred to Vernadsky this year during the rotation of expeditions. On the eve of the Midwinter Day, the main holiday of Antarctic researchers, the exhibition was opened at the station. It will work here permanently.
“We have no right to forget, thanks to whom we can continue our Antarctic mission and develop Ukrainian science. This exposition will be another reminder to everyone that there is a war in Ukraine right now. We are talking about the polar explorers themselves, and numerous guests visiting Vernadsky station during the Antarctic summer – they are tourists and ship crews from all over the world, Antarctic researchers from other countries. In particular, for foreign visitors, we made all captions for the photos and information about the author in English in advance,” noted the head of the 29th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition, geophysicist Yurii Otruba.
We join in Yurii’s words and express our sincere gratitude to Kostiantyn and all the defenders of Ukraine. Take care of yourself. Glory to our Heroes!
Photo: Kostiantyn Polishchuk, Anna Torgonenko, Anna Soina, Oleksandr Bogomaz
