COMRADES INTERRUPTED 2022-2026
In February 2022, Vladimir Putin invaded sovereign Ukraine, reviving the dangerous fantasy of restoring the Soviet Union. Inside Russia, state propaganda obscured the truth, banning words like “invasion” and “war” and replacing reality with fabricated threats and absurd justifications for what was called a “special military operation.” In announcing the invasion, Putin accused the West of imposing “false values” that would lead to “degradation and degeneration” and destroy Russia’s “traditional values.” His rhetoric was echoed by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who went further, describing the “gay pride parade” as a test of loyalty to the West and framing the war as a defense against these values. Together, these narratives portrayed Ukraine and the West as a moral threat to Russian society.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the world to help Russians see the war’s reality by sharing images and stories of the suffering inflicted on their Ukrainian neighbors, friends, and family.
Answering that call, I entered online spaces where Russians sought anonymous, intimate connections. Using only my cell phone, I shared photographs, handmade signs, political cartoons, and children’s drawings in private conversations, hoping to break through fear and misinformation and create moments of genuine dialogue.
What began as brief encounters sometimes developed into yearlong exchanges—fleeting for some, profound for others. These conversations revealed a shared humanity caught between political lies and manipulation, and challenged my own understanding of Russians not simply as villains, but as people vulnerable to a brutal geopolitical game.
Composed of cell phone screen captures documenting these encounters, Comrades Interrupted is both an artistic process and an invitation to empathy. It explores love and loneliness, war and peace, and our enduring need for human connection in the midst of conflict.
