En
He says that when he began photographing, he never thought about holding an exhibition, especially in Warsaw. “I thought I’d never come to Warsaw again,” he admits.
Zhurawski explains that the idea to shoot “on film” what he sees at the front came at the very start of the full-scale war in Ukraine. He only got his first camera in spring 2023 as a birthday gift.
“As you can see, the photographs in this exhibition vary greatly in quality and color, because during the war I changed several cameras and different types of film. In military conditions, cameras break very quickly. Almost every series here was shot on different films and with different cameras,” explains the photographer.
The exhibition features over 60 photographs taken over the last two years, from spring 2023 to spring 2025. The works are organized chronologically: “Photos from Bakhmut district: spring–summer 2023”, “Fights for Klishchiivka: September 2023”, “First encounter with the PM-38 120-mm mortar from 1941: February 2024”, “Tactical medicine exercises: November 2024”, “Life at the Dublin position: February 2025”, and so on.
Zhurawski regrets that he cannot show all the photos he likes: “Some images show positions currently occupied by other soldiers, and some show fighters’ faces that cannot be revealed because it would be dangerous for their families.”
“There isn’t much actual combat in these photos. Most depict training and military daily life. Because in reality, war is not what you see in films, on TV, or on Telegram channels with videos,” explains Yauhen Zhurawski.
During a guided tour of the exhibition, Zhurawski stops at an apparently ordinary photo from the series “One rotation at position ‘Alyosha’”. Behind its ordinariness lies horror:
“Look, this is how we lived in the trenches. We dug this bunker ourselves. Position ‘Alyosha’ was named after the stinking Russian soldiers whose remains were lying nearby. Here you can see the real face of war and what happens to invaders when they come to Ukraine: they die in the mud, and no one collects their bodies. Russians abandon their comrades, and they just rot…” comments Yauhen “Salam” Zhurawski.
“And in this photo, my comrade is holding the door while we’re flying at high speed – a 120-mm mortar is hitting us, and drones are chasing from behind. The guy holding the door is supported from below by another guy. And that’s my trick: they’re shooting at us, we might die right now, but – we have to take photos,” – the author stops at the next photograph.
On the day of the opening, the exhibition Praz fotaplionku: Štodzionnasc’ vajaroŭ was seen by several dozen Belarusians. Among the visitors were former fighters of the Kastus Kalinouski Regiment and ex-political prisoners.
“The photos are amazing. But the main thing is that Salam himself came,” – shares former KKR fighter and head of the sports-educational foundation Krywiczy, Uladzimir Lavraniuk.
“These are works of an amateur, as I understand, not a professional. But it’s done coolly, and the message comes through. I like it. It’s as if you can touch what’s happening there,” – says ex-political prisoner Vadim Ermashuk (blogger Vadimati).
“Everything is interesting. It’s interesting to see the everyday life of the guys who are fighting there, including for our freedom,” – shares Belarusian Yuriy, who had a business in Belarus until 2025 but moved to Poland after receiving a summons from the Investigative Committee in February.
Visitors wanting to take selfies with Salam in front of the photographs formed a line. When Yauhen is alone for a moment, we ask if he ever thought of becoming a military photojournalist. He admits he did consider it: taking a camera, arranging with a media outlet, and getting accreditation. But in the end, the money he had been saving before the war to buy a camera went instead to purchasing equipment.
“And now I learned that photographic film is made using gelatin. And I’m vegan – so that contradicts my beliefs. That’s why I decided that for the next ‘combat missions’ I’ll buy something more professional, compact, with high photo quality. And we’ll see. Because I enjoy taking pictures,” – says Yauhen Zhurawski.
“You know, I believe that what we see and experience is exactly what as many people as possible should see and experience. Because, as I told my comrades today, if every person went through a war like this, there would never be wars again,” our interlocutor adds.
Yauhen says that recently he has gone through several “truly horrifying situations” in Ukraine. He and the comrade who was with him on the position were very lucky.
“We survived, and now we’re here. Well… we survived – which means we can go back and tell our stories to people,” says Yauhen Zhurawski.
He admits that he is going to Barcelona to fulfill his “anarchist” dream – to visit sites of the Spanish revolution and, at the same time, see some friends.
“Because in reality the war is changing so much now that I understand: if I don’t do this today, there’s no guarantee I can do it tomorrow…” the Kalinouski fighter explains.
How is the war changing? According to Zhurawski, it’s not that the Russians have taken the initiative. Something else has changed: the mechanization of warfare has reached a level where it is extremely difficult for a regular infantryman to survive.
“My current job is as a fighter in a fire-support group — I’d even call it heavy infantry. We approach the enemy quite close with machine guns and automatic grenade launchers. And that is now much more dangerous than it was one and a half years ago, when I talked in Warsaw’s Karma about my mortar work.
If before, as a mortarman, you could operate 5–6 km from the front line relaxed and without body armor, now we can’t even step out to meet basic human needs — it’s too dangerous. The Russians have the same problem, even worse, because Ukrainians invented FPV drones and for some time we had an advantage thanks to that. But the enemy now has fiber-optic drones and is developing new ones using artificial intelligence. They reach 30 kilometers deep. Now the danger zone is enormous. Only a smoothbore shotgun will save you,” Salam explains.
“I once told my comrades that if I had landed in this kind of war from the start, I might not have lasted — I would have quit immediately,” the Kalinouski Regiment fighter smiles.
In his view, after the war in Ukraine the world’s robotization will go so far that “the horrors from the movie Terminator will become reality.”
Turning to negotiations and peace talks, Yauhen admits that “all talk about the end of the war” scares him personally.
“Because I understand that if the war ends today, tomorrow, or in the coming days — that will be our defeat. That’s it. If the war ends on the terms the Russians are now proposing, we have lost: there will be no free Belarus, and no free Ukraine either! Ukraine will soon be captured either politically or physically. And Europe as a whole will be under threat,” the fighter says.
He is convinced that “Moscow is not in a position now to dictate to the Ukrainians when to end the war.” When they try to dictate — “that’s just bravado for the West and for Trump.” If Putin were truly strong, he wouldn’t be asking the Koreans for weapons and fighters.
“If things were so good for Putin, then why have we been on their territory for so long and still have total superiority in the Black Sea? And they tell us to surrender? No!” Yauhen Zhurawski reacts emotionally.
“I won’t speak for all fighters, only for my friends — Ukrainians and Belarusians I communicate with. None of them believe the war will end, and they are ready to keep fighting,” Zhurawski assures.
He believes that even if Volodymyr Zelensky were to agree today to some terms and decide to end the war, “a huge number of people inside the country and on the front would say ‘no!’ — and continue the fight.”
“The Russians suggest that if Zelensky is removed, everything in Ukraine would change. No! It wasn’t Zelensky at the start of the war grabbing a shotgun, putting on sportswear, and shooting at tanks. It wasn’t Zelensky and his officials making Molotov cocktails. And it wasn’t them sitting on the front lines all these years. It’s ordinary Ukrainians who, I think, are not ready to give up their country,” sums up Yauhen “Salam” Zhurawski.
Salam believes real negotiations may start at the end of 2025 — “and already on different terms,” dictated by Ukraine, as Russia will be drained.
After Barcelona, Yauhen Zhurawski will return to Ukraine. “The guys are waiting,” says the Kalinouski Regiment volunteer.
Yauhen Zhurawski’s photo exhibition Praz fotaplionku: štodzionnasc’ vajaroŭ will be on display at the Museum of Free Belarus in Warsaw (Foksal St. 11) until June 3.
Original article: belsat.eu
