The film tells the stories of three Mariupol residents who managed to survive in the blockaded city without electricity or communication, under destructive bombing by Russian aircraft. Each story is unique: graduate Mariia Vdovychenko has been through a brutal filtration, neonatal doctor Hanna Shevchyk treated people in a bomb shelter, and photographer Yevhen Sosnovskyi documented the events and, risking his life, smuggled a flash drive with evidence through checkpoints so the world could learn the truth about the genocide committed by the Russians. The film’s purpose is to tell a historic tragedy in first-hand accounts, so that people can hear it and remember it for centuries.
Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KhPG) is one of the oldest Ukrainian human rights organisations. It originated in the dissident movement of the 1970s–1980s and has been known since 1988 as the human rights group of the Kharkiv Memorial organisation.
Content warning: depiction of war
CREW:
Director: Director: Anna Zaharova. Journalists: Denys Voloha, Andrii Didenko
Producer: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
Cinematographer: Andrii Didenko, Denys Voloha
Director
Andrii Didenko
Andrii Didenko is a Ukrainian human rights advocate, public figure, and programme coordinator at the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KhPG). He was born in Poltava. In the early 2000s, he experienced unjust imprisonment, which defined his further human rights work. When he was released, he joined the struggle against torture and human rights violations in the penitentiary system, particularly against life in prison without parole. He is one of Ukraine’s most prominent experts on life in prison, sentence reconsideration, judicial mistakes, and prison conditions.
He has co-authored research publications, analytical briefs, and reports for international human rights organisations. He also co-founded the platform Fightfor Life, which documents the stories of people unjustly imprisoned for life.
He co-authored the book and the eponymous documentary Voices of the War. Mariupol about the witnesses of war crimes, victims of bombings and torture in Mariupol, the city which has become a symbol of the Ukrainian tragedy during Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Andrii Didenko participates in international conferences, expert discussions, and parliamentary hearings. His work reinforces humanism, the rule of law, and human dignity even under challenging circumstances.
Director
Denys Voloha
Denys Volokha is the media director of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (2022–2024), coordinator of the Voices of the War project, and co-author of the book Voices of the War. Mariupol, which consists of 24 stories of Mariupol residents who have survived the destructive siege of the city in 2022. Since August 2024, he has been serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KhPG) is one of the oldest Ukrainian human rights organisations. It originated in the dissident movement of the 1970s–1980s and has been known since 1988 as the human rights group of the Kharkiv Memorial organisation.
Director
Anna Zakharova
Born in Kharkiv in 2002, Anna Zakharova moved to Kyiv in 2014 and soon began her studies at the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, from which she graduated in 2024. She is the author of short documentaries and fiction shorts.Selected Filmography
Voices of Mariupol, Poncho, Zeitnot, Liutyk, Marsyas 
