Despite Russian Invasion, Vogue Ukraine Returns in Print
HEROIC EFFORTS: Nearly 14 months after Russian troops invaded Ukraine, Vogue Ukraine is back in print for the first time in more than a year.
Billed as “The Road of Unbreakable,” the collectible issue is available as of Thursday. As a symbol of the gravity that is a constant in Ukraine, the cover is an abstract blue and yellow image that was taken by Kyiv-based photographer Vasylyna Vrublevska. Created as part of her ongoing artistic project “The Garden of Nothing,” the imagery’s color combination is true to the country’s national flag.
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As a reminder of the widespread efforts being made by everyday Ukrainians who are pitching in with the resistance, relief efforts and businesses to boost the local economy, the magazine features profiles of an assortment of individuals in a 50-page-plus “Heroes” portfolio. Olena Zelenska, whose husband is Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, is among the political figures and politicians featured in the publication. In the new interview, Zelenska addresses how the war is taking a toll on her homeland’s people. Stephan Lisowski photographed her standing looking out a window in a barren room wearing a black turtleneck and white wide-legged pants.
The commemorative issue was published in Ukraine and will be sold on select newsstands nationwide and be available online for international orders. It will be unveiled at the opening of “Art on the Battlefield,” a group exhibition of Ukrainian artists initiated by Vogue Ukraine at Künstlerhaus in Vienna.
Ukraine’s head of intelligence Kyrylo Budanov, minister of foreign affairs Dmytro Kuleba, the country’s United Nations representative Sergiy Kyslytsya, and Nobel Prize-winning human rights activist Oleksandra Matviichuk are featured. Soccer standout Andriy Shevchenko and Eurovision winner Jamala spoke of parlaying their fame for fundraising. The Donetsk-born artist Alevtina Kakhidze described the diaries she kept to chronicle life in the countryside close to the frontlines. Members of the national synchronized swimming team discussed how they continue to train in an unheated, unlit pool during blackout months, with the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in mind.
Other artists, designers and journalists like Evgeniy Maloletka and Mstyslav Chernov are spotlighted. All of the latest Vogue Ukraine subjects were photographed by the magazine’s collaborators across the country.
Last summer American Vogue faced a social media firestorm after featuring Olenska on a digital cover and a multipage spread with Zelensky. The choice of celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz was another point of contention.
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