A Visual History of Putin’s War on Ukraine: From the roots of the conflict in the collapse of the Soviet Union to Ukraine’s counter-offensive against the Russian occupation.

Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine sent shock waves across the globe and has changed the geopolitical landscape of the world. There has been much speculation about Putin’s motives and intentions, and modern wars are as much information wars as they are about battlefield strategies and tactics. Through J.B. Russell’s documentary photographic work on Ukraine, we will discover the historical context of the conflict, from the collapse of the Soviet Union that 30 years later has come full circle to underlie the current war. The lecture will follow the trajectory of the war up until Ukraine’s autumn counter-offensive that has liberated large swaths of Ukrainian territory from Russian occupation. We will view the images that bear witness to the realities of the war, the themes of war crimes and International Humanitarian Law and the challenges and ethics of war reporting.

J.B. Russell began his photojournalism career in 1991 at the end of the Cold War when he went on a reporting trip to Soviet Russia and Eastern Ukraine – the heart of where the current conflict began. He has been covering the current war in Ukraine since it started in late February of this year. In the current media environment of propaganda and media information overload, this lecture will provide a unique eyewitness, on-the-ground perspective on the historical context and latest evolutions of Russia’s war on Ukraine.