"The war in Ukraine is being fought with bullets and artillery, but it began years earlier on Russian television, the primary news source for most Russians. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the last critical media outlets have been closed and social media blocked, creating an alternative reality where the army is said to be "demilitarizing" Ukraine and battling the "collective, fascist West."

This work tries to serve as a historical record, contrasting the brutal realities of the war in Ukraine with the distorted perceptions within Russian society. It captures themes of loss, nationalist fervor, mourning, and delusion, portraying a society shaped by nearly 25 years of Putin’s rule, while the country wages Europe’s biggest war of conquest since 1945. Cities like Mariupol and Bakhmut, now largely in ruins, epitomize the devastation wrought by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In contrast, daily life in Moscow remains outwardly unchanged, a testament to President Putin’s strategy of insulating much of Russian society from the war’s consequences. Across a vast land steeped in bitter history, the project captures the weight of the past, the vertigo of territorial immensity, and the immense losses of a disastrous war. In poorer regions like Dagestan, the toll is particularly severe, with disproportionate casualties among ethnic minorities and conscripts sent to the frontlines."