Tender, carefree portraits of young Ukrainians before the war

Diary of a Stolen Youth — On the day that a temporary ceasefire is announced, a new series from photographer Nastya Platinova looks back at Kyiv’s bubbling youth culture before Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion. It presents a visual window for young people into a possible future, as well as the past.

Nastya Platinova grew up in Troieshchyna, a sprawling suburb on the northeastern edge of Kyiv, Ukraine. Built mostly in the ’80s during the Soviet era, the neighbourhood is lined with utilitarian high-rises and concrete courtyards.

Navigating adolescence during the 2010s in a country still reeling from the collapse of the Soviet Union was, at times, surreal. Older generations clung to inherited Soviet ideologies such as rigid gender roles and a deference to authority, while Ukraine’s younger population was starting to push back. Platinova was part of this wave, embracing a version of rebellious youth forged in basement gigs, underground raves, and getting drunk in old Soviet bars.

She spent her summers drifting through Ukraine’s sun-soaked coastal cities – places like Odesa where she and her friends explored its beaches, visited the baroque buildings, and skinny dipped in its freshwater lakes. Platinova documented it all with her camera, creating a visual coming-of-age diary.

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A person with painted face and an expression of concern or distress, standing in front of a building with the word "Freedom" displayed on its facade.

Arm and leg of a person on a hospital bed wrapped in white sheets.

What she didn’t know then was that these images would become something more than personal. They would become historic.

In February 2022, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, forcing Platinova to flee to Berlin. Her circle of friends became scattered – some displaced across borders, others drawn to the front lines. Realising the weight these pictures now carried, Platinova gathered the images into a single body of work titled Diary of a Stolen Youth.

“Looking at these pictures now, I feel nostalgic,” Platinova says thoughtfully. “I want to return to this time, before the war began, when I was younger and had this feeling of freedom. But I can’t. Everything has changed.”

Taken between 2018 and 2022, while Platinova was studying public relations at the Kyiv Polytechnical Institute, Diary of a Stolen Youth captures the duality of life in the capital. Her photographs are a mix of black and white, and desaturated colour, bathed in dreamlike lighting and framed with a sense of intimacy. Through this series she reveals the gritty reality of a dwindling Soviet influence clashing with flashes of modern Ukrainian identity.

Young man in white shirt standing outdoors with city skyline in background.

Dark green lily pads floating on a pond, with a brown animal partially submerged in the water.

Person sitting on a frame suspended from wooden poles, wearing a checkered pattern outfit and red socks.

Today, April 28, a three-day ceasefire has been announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which will begin on May 8 and end on May 11. Whether it will hold or mean anything in the long term remains unclear, and Platinova is pessimistic. She cites the ‘Easter truce’, where both Ukraine and Russia accused each other of violating an agreed ceasefire. “Putin promised the same on Easter and Russian rockets killed 13 people in Kyiv that day. So I think the same will happen, unfortunately,” she says.

“I think it is significant to consider the context,” she continues. “The ceasefire is dedicated to May 9 – the WWII Victory in Europe Day [VE Day]. While for the rest of the world it's not a day of celebration but a day of mourning, for Russia it’s a big day to show their power on the parade in the Red Square in Moscow. I assume he just wants one calm day for the parade and after continuing killing innocent people.”

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“My style is messy,” explains the 29-year-old. “In my pictures I’m trying to show the madness of the Eastern European soul with a David Lynch twist.”

This influence is seen through pops of red in some of her photos – a homage to Soviet iconography as well as Lynch’s infamous Red Room scene in Twin Peaks. In one striking image, a friend wearing a crimson top hangs limply over the edge of a brutalist concrete balcony. Her blond hair and seemingly lifeless arms dangle downward, swallowed by the harsh geometry of the structure around her, creating an eerie, poetic mood.

Large grey concrete building with recessed entrance and figure in red clothing dangling from its exterior.

As a music photographer, Platinova revelled in the friction between defiant youth culture and the lingering shadows of Ukraine’s modern history. She enjoyed growing up in a creative scene unique to Kyiv – one her roving camera lens found inspiration in.

“Kyiv is this crazy mixture of people, buildings and memories. It was like living in two worlds that had been rolled into one.”

In another photograph, two of Platinova’s friends pose in front of a stark, government-style building. A thin layer of snow blankets the ground, mirroring the cold façade looming behind them. One friend wears a vibrant outfit with chaotic colours and prints, bold eyeliner, and piercings that gleam with attitude. Their expressions are unbothered and rebellious, radiating a carefree punk energy that sharply contrasts the grey backdrop.

“I was unaware that these images would later take on a deeper meaning,” she explains. “The war reshaped our reality, drawing a sharp line between the past and the present.”

A black and white portrait of a young person with shoulder-length hair against a white brick wall.

Dark room with a window revealing a sunset view of the sky in the distance.

Person wrapped in a beige blanket holding a sword-wielding statue in the background.

Woman in a white ruched dress sitting by a fountain in a wooded area, black and white photograph.

Cars covered in heavy snow on a snowy street.

A young man lying on a floral-patterned sofa, holding a snack bar, with a crucifix on the wall above.

Curving grey concrete structures with angled roofs and windows, person in casual clothing standing in foreground.

Glass pyramidal structures with a person in a red outfit standing on them, against a backdrop of bare trees.

Snowy forest with bare trees, dark figure standing in foreground wearing hooded black coat, standing in snow by a pond.

Two individuals wearing patterned clothing standing in front of a textured concrete wall.

Curled figure in dark room against red and blue background.

Person wearing a black jacket standing in front of a tall TV transmission tower against a cloudy sky.

When she returned to Kyiv in 2023 for her father’s birthday, Platinova found herself unable to sleep due to the distant hum of air raid sirens and echoes of exploding bombs. The sounds were a harsh reminder of how her country, her home, had changed.

“I was so anxious. Everything was so different. The people were so sad because they are in a war mindset,” she continues. “These images are a tribute to the people, places and moments that shaped me. This is my love letter to Ukraine, to the memories of a time that will never return.”

See Diary of a Stolen Youth and more photography by Nastya Platinova at her official website.

Hannah Bentley is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Instagram.

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