‘Women are not just victims of war': The Ukrainians crafting a new line of defence

Telegraph

13-04-2025

Folklore and snipers don't normally go hand in hand. But in Horenka, a small village in the Bucha district infamous for the massacre of civilians and mass graves dug into the land when Russians invaded in the winter of 2022, they do.
It is here, some three years after the world learnt the brutal tactics Vladimir Putin's army used to ravage a once-peaceful
community, that the Horenski Mavkas spend their days weaving camouflage kikimora suits (also known as ghillie suits)
to clothe the Ukrainian warriors on the front line of the war.
In Ukrainian folklore, mavka is a mythical, ethereal, female creature who moves between the worlds of living and dead, casting her spell. In recent times, the mavka has become the embodiment of strength and self-sacrifice, and today takes the form of a group of Ukrainian women – from grandmothers to young women – who use textiles as a way of fighting for their country.
The Mavkas volunteers are certain that the camouflage products they weave with love provide a special protective power to their soldiers. Now, photographer Alena Grom, a Donetsk native who, with her family, was forced to flee her hometown during Russia's 2014 invasion in the east of Ukraine, has submitted her portraits of 15 women who do this work for this year's Sony World Photography Awards and exhibition at London's Somerset House.
Each woman pictured has her own story and motivation, Grom explains. There is the grandmother who waits for her grandchildren to return from evacuation, a mother who yearns for her son to come back from the war alive, another who fled the occupied Donbas and dreams of having a safe home once more, and a fourth woman who weaves because she fears the return of the Russians.
Grom, who moved to Bucha after 2014 only to be forced to flee the Russians once more during its occupation of the district in March 2022, is now telling the stories of these women who 'persist' through life 'amidst adversity'.
'Ukraine is experiencing and reflecting on the most terrible collective trauma – the trauma of war,' Grom says. 'In such moments, the empathy of society becomes most apparent. The project is about the victims of this war, but also about the struggle. It is about what holds Ukrainians together and what gives them strength.'
According to the United Nations, 77 per cent of the buildings in Horenka were destroyed by Russian aggression, while the residents are still learning how to heal from the trauma of having their loved ones and neighbours murdered.
As such, the Mavkas' commitment to the cause is striking. For more than two years, 60 women have gathered to weave – even when blackouts caused by Russian missile strikes meant they had to work by candlelight without heating. 'In ancient times, Ukrainian women got together to embroider, sing songs, and pray,' Grom says. 'The vyshyvanka [traditional embroidered shirt] has long been a symbol of the Ukrainian people, their unity and traditions. Now, camouflage items are our modern vyshyvanka.
'The weaving of camouflage takes place in every village, town, community, school, museum and metro station. It has become a mass movement. Therefore, it can be said that these images define and mark our time.'
Grom explains that before Russia's full-scale invasion, the Mavkas did not know each other, but now, they are like family. She photographed them because she feels it is imperative to share their story, to preserve a part of history when women at war are so often written out. Grom adds: 'Until the 20th century, the history of war was rarely written from a female perspective. Military events were often depicted either pompously, glorifying the deeds of heroes, or tragically, demonstrating the suffering of soldiers dying for the ideals of their homeland.
'It was considered the woman's task to inspire those fighting for victory, to mourn the fallen and to care for the wounded. I think not only about the role of women in any war but also about how a feminine perspective helps to reinterpret this traumatic experience from an artistic point of view. The project demonstrates how Ukrainian women have stepped beyond the defined roles and proposed a new narrative. The military conflict in Ukraine has changed traditional gender roles; women have gained mobility, independence and opportunities for leadership.
'Women are not just victims of war; they are leaders of change. This project addresses feminism and the shifting
social roles. While men have gone to war, women have taken on new roles.'
It can take four women six hours to weave a kikimora suit. This is done using a wooden stand and involves stretching a
fishing net over it, before using fabric or burlap to make the body with sleeves. It is then adjusted to the required length and the weaving begins. If the thread the women have to work with is thin, they will weave two at a time, with some using crochet hooks and others just their fingers.
As the Telegraph 's defence editor, I have travelled with Ukrainian troops to the front line of Shevchenkivskyi District, near the city of Zaporizhzhia, in the south of Ukraine. I have spent time with a sniper drenched in sweat beneath his kikimora, having just come off a 24-hour shift.
At the time, I did not think to ask where his suit, which provides crucial camouflage, had been made. Now I wonder, had it been made by one of these women? Was the love that the Mavkas had put into the suit the same power that enabled him to joke and smile as we talked about how his exhausting shift had gone?
To this day I don't know whether that sniper has survived the punishing front line, but it is a comforting thought that perhaps he is still fighting with the help of the Mavkas behind him.
For Grom, war has been ever-present in her life. She never knew her grandfather because he died from wounds received in the Second World War. Her mother, who grew up in the post-war years, lived with a fear of hunger, always saying, 'Bread, more bread!' and insisting there had always to be a sack of flour at home in case of war.
After being forced to flee the east of Ukraine to Kyiv, it felt as though Grom's family's past was catching up with her. 'Physically, I was in Kyiv, but mentally, I was in the semi-destroyed Donbas,' she says. 'Photography helped me overcome trauma. Through photography, I became acquainted with different places, cities, people, and their way of life. The internal monologue turned into a dialogue with society and troubled times. In my projects, I talk about myself, my loved ones, displaced persons and war. Trips to the war zone became a logical continuation of my work.
'It is very important for me to constantly keep the topic of war relevant so that the world community does not forget that in the heart of Europe, a bloody massacre unleashed by Russia continues daily. I invite people living in peaceful areas to hear and notice those who see war every day.'
Alena Grom is shortlisted in the Professional Competition, Sony World Photography Awards 2025, exhibition at Somerset House, 17 April-5 May; worldphoto.org