'Donbass 365' Brings Eastern Ukraine to Moscow

The "Material Evidence — Donbass 365 Days" exhibition opened at Moscow's VDNKh exhibition center on April 7, roughly a year after Kiev government forces launched an anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine.



According to the organizers, the exhibition aims to "tell the story" of people living in the Donbass region — which includes parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions now under the control of pro-Russian separatists.



"Material Evidence — Donbass 365" runs until April 19, open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. VDNKh exhibition center, Prospekt Mira 119, Pavilion 58, Moscow.

The vast exhibition extends across 1,000 square meters of space and has been divided into two parts.



The first is a photo exhibit of images taken by photographers in the conflict zone. None of the photographers have been named for fear of compromising their safety, organizers said.

In the second part of the exhibit, entire scenes from eastern Ukraine have been brought to the Moscow exhibition space and rebuilt there — including houses, schools and streets — to convey an atmosphere of war.

"We want to show how the concept of war, anguish and suffering infringes on the lives of civilians. We have decided make the entrance free to avoid accusations of cashing in on human tragedy," Pavel Orlov, the exbition's assistant curator, told the Moscow Times.

The sign says: "Beware of mines."

Debaltseve made headlines in February after Kiev forces lost control over the city to separatists after weeks of relentless fighting.



"We had an agreement with local border guards — that's how we organized the delivery of all the items. The mayor of Debaltseve gave us permission to exhibit the city's sign here. We brought it here on the condition that we will return it to the local museum of war and local authorities will build another one once the war is over," Orlov explained.