Ukrainian Director Turns Cameras Into Weapons For War Against Russia

JAKARTA - Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych has contributed with his expertise, holding a camera. Together with producer Vladimir Yatsenko, the 50-year-old director, who has already made films about the conflict and its aftermath, documented what happened in Kyiv.

The video footage captured includes people, young and old, being evacuated from Irpin, crossing a destroyed bridge in the city that was hit by gunfire. "I am better at holding a camera than a gun... I can learn something, I can record, I can make videos, I can watch and gain understanding," Vasyanovych told Reuters.

"I will collect what can be videos, what can be made of everything that happened... I'd rather take pictures than use weapons," quoted from ANTARA, Wednesday, March 16.

Like the others, the director claimed to have weapons and had undergone training before Russia launched "special operations" in Ukraine last month. "I had a feeling this situation was going to happen, that Kyiv might be attacked," he said.

"When the need arises, all of us must use our weapons against the Russian invaders."

Born in the city of Zhytomyr, Vasyanovych made his feature film debut in 2012 titled "Business As Usual" in the comedy-drama genre. The 2019 film "Atlantis" he made took the theme of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. "Atlantis" won best film in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival that year.

His latest film, "Reflection", is set against the backdrop of the 2014 war between Kyiv and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The film entered competition in Venice last September.

"When I was working on ('Atlantis')... I never thought cities would be destroyed to this extent (during the war), places like Kharkiv and Mariupol were completely annihilated," he said.

"We shot most of the images for film in Mariupol and what is happening now, people are dying here, everything is being destroyed in such a methodical way that the city is completely wiped out... honestly, I never imagined a scenario like this."

The Russian invasion has forced more than 2.8 million people to flee across borders and left hundreds of thousands trapped in the besieged city.

"What is happening now is the biggest war in our history and Ukraine's existence will depend on the outcome of this confrontation," he said.

"Of course, after our victory infrastructure will be destroyed, roads, cities will be destroyed, there will be large numbers of victims, but I feel my country will be successful later. The whole world is starting to help us," he concluded.