Good Evening, We Are From Ukraine
In April 2022, I met Valentyna Romanchuk. She had just escaped from Kharkiv, Ukraine, as Russian forces encircled her city. She had arrived in Moorhaven, a village on the edge of the wild, rugged moorland of Dartmoor, Devon, UK, which had recently become home for dozens of Ukrainians.
Since Russia’s invasion, 148,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK under the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme. It’s the first time since World War II that the British public have welcomed refugees into their homes en masse.
I began photographing Valentyna and the emerging Ukrainian community on Dartmoor, hoping to understand the impact of landing in a remote British landscape after fleeing war. I wanted to document what it was like to leave everything behind and live in the home of a stranger in a forgotten part of the UK, in a community that voted to leave the EU. Gradually, the story evolved into a study of our capacity to be open to refugees, despite the UK government’s ‘hostile environment’ policies and the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment.
While making this work, I found that when given the opportunity and resources to care for others, people will open their homes to those in need and that when they do, both sides benefit.
Of the sponsors who participated, 80% said they were glad they did. Another 70% said they would host again and be open to receiving someone from Ukraine or Afghanistan (at the time Afghan refugees faced eviction from UK hotels)
During the making of this work, many of the Ukrainians involved came to the realisation that Moorhaven would have to be called home, even if only temporarily. This project chronicles the shift from waiting to return to Ukraine for life to resume to recognising that people must, somehow, continue in the here and now.
The title, “Good Evening, We Are From Ukraine” is taken from a song that has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance since the invasion. Politicians, soldiers and journalists use those words as a greeting. They were printed on a boy’s T-shirt for his sixth birthday in Devon. They are also a testament to the imprint this small community has left on an otherwise quiet, remote place.