GRANTEE
This is a visual exploration of one of the war’s most taboo subjects—one that rarely makes headlines: the reality of death and how Ukrainians honor their fallen. Viacheslav Ratynskyi’s goal is to lift the veil on this hidden process and document the journey of the fallen: from the mine-strewn forests to black body bags, from refrigerated trucks to forensic examination tables and DNA labs, and finally, to their eternal resting place in the soil. Every mission begins at the place of death—whether on the active front line, where search teams work under relentless shelling, or former battlefields, where they painstakingly collect scattered remains from minefields. Every finding can be a crucial key to identification. These traces may be small: torn uniforms, dog tags, personal belongings, bones, teeth, or even residual DNA can help establish a soldier’s identity.