Magnum Digest

Nanna Heitmann’s Photographs of Life in Russia During Wartime

A selection of images from Nanna Heitmann's documentation of life in Russia during wartime, on assignment for The New York Times.

Last bell ceremony at a Military Cadet school in Moscow. The celebration is carried out just after all the studies are finished, but before the final exams. Moscow, Russia, May 2023. © Nanna Heitma (...)
Passengers at a metro station in Moscow. Russia, October 2023. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York Times
A fashion show with an ad by the Russian Army stating: “Hero of a great country.” © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York Times
Luxury stores like Dior that have signs saying “Closed for technical reasons.” Moscow, Russia, May 2023. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York Times
Dmitri A. Muratov, the Nobel-prize-winning editor of the shuttered independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta in his office in Moscow. Russia, May 2023. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York T (...)
The main cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces. Moscow, Russia, November 2022. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York Times
Children stand in front of a bust of Stalin outside the Kremlin. Mr. Putin has largely rehabilitated Stalin, his gulag notwithstanding, as the thread to the past remains unbroken. Moscow, Russia, 2 (...)
Alexi Venedictov, whose popular ‘Echo of Moscow’ radio station was shut down after the war began, at his new office. Moscow, Russia, May 2023. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York Time (...)
Conscripts at the Alabino training site outside Moscow. Russia, August 2022. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York Times
A garage where vehicles are repaired and readied to be sent to the front. Russia, May 2023. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York Times
A Russian conscript embracing his partner in Moscow. Russia, October 2022. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York Times
Father Dmitry Graves carrying out the funeral procedure of 8 killed Wagner soldiers at a site on the outskirts of Bakinskaya village in Krasnodar region. ⁠© Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The N (...)
A shelled car next to the police station of Shebekino. Russia, June 2023. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York Times
School classes at a museum dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. Moscow, Russia, February 2023. © Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Photos for The New York Times

From the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, whilst numerous Magnum photographers have documented the impact of the war in Ukraine, Nanna Heitmann turned her lens to Russia and its surrounding borders, covering a country where daily life is a continuous encounter with uncertainty, glorified myths, and relentless propaganda.

As the ripples of conflict extend mostly to the economically disadvantaged regions, Heitmann, on assignment for The New York Times, reveals the divergent landscapes of ordinary life in comparison to the distant perspectives stemming from Moscow.

Heitmann’s work has been published in two articles for The New York Times. One, Putin’s Forever War in August 2023, and the second, In Moscow, the War Is Background Noise, but Ever-Present in September 2023.

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