Gray Zone

• Photographer
  Valery Melnikov
• Agency / Studio
  Sputnik
• Prize
  Photographer of the Year in Portfolio

First time I visited the Donbass region was at the beginning of summer of 2014, right atthe beginning of the military conflict. People of Donbass truly hoped the war would end quickly, and peace would come back to their long-suffering land. The active phase of the conflict is over, but there is no peace yet. Along the contact line of the fighting sides, so called "Gray Zone" has been created. This is a conditional name for the territories without a specific status, with no official government or law enforcement. People's lives are in constant danger because of the fighting.