Christmas Joy to Ukraine

A year ago, on 29 December 2019, prisoners were exchanged with the self-proclaimed ‘LPR’ and ‘DPR’. Among the Ukrainians who returned home were journalist Stanislav Aseyev, tanker Bohdan Pantiushenko, and human rights activist Andriy Yarovoi. Four months earlier, on 7 September, Crimeans Oleg Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko were released from Russian colonies. We spoke to the former prisoners about their first year of freedom.

Anastasia Trofimova, a Russian-Canadian filmmaker, gains unprecedented access to follow a Russian Army battalion in Ukraine. Without any official clearance or permits, she earns the trust of foot soldiers and embeds herself over the span of a year with one battalion as it makes its way across Eastern Ukraine. What she discovers is far from the propaganda and labels pushed by the East or West: an army in disarray, soldiers disillusioned and often struggling to understand what they are fighting for.

In 2022, Mantas Kvedaravičius went back to Ukraine, Mariupol, at the heart of the war, to be with the people he had met and filmed in 2015. Following his death, his producers and collaborators have put all their strength into continuing transmitting his work, his vision and his films. Also a PhD in anthropology, Mantas Kvedaravičius wished to testify as a filmmaker as far as possible from the agitation of the media and the politicians. With huge force and sensitivity, Mariupolis 2 depicts life as it continues amidst the bombing and reveals images that convey both tragedy and hope.

A look inside the Russian assault on Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, told by displaced families, civilians caught in the fight and first responders.

Deep in a forest by the Baltic Sea, a group of Ukrainian families come together to start the healing process with the help of golden retrievers and palamino horses at an animal therapy retreat. In the safety of the forest, the children’s memories of being illegally deported to Russia and their families’ struggles to rescue them are unraveled with the help of skilled and sensitive counsellors. The joy and humour the children discover during their time in the forest make it easy to forget that their stories are the reason the International Criminal Court recently issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. Nearly 20,000 abducted children remain in Russian institutions.

Five young Ukrainians discuss life following the Maidan Revolution of 2014. Not all fought in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but it, regardless, shattered their life plans. Representing 'Generation Maidan', they face the question of how to cope with experiences of violence, how to go on. A local theatre director produces Hamlet, wherein they can use Shakespeare’s tragic character as a mirror and face their traumas onstage. For them, 'to be or not to be' is not simply text but an existential dilemma with no clear answer.

Personal stories from civilians, children, soldiers, doctors, the country’s elderly, journalists, religious leaders, and international volunteers - a handful of the millions of people whose lives have been turned upside-down by nine years (and counting) of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

As Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, primary schools across Russia’s hinterlands are transformed into recruitment stages for the war. Facing the ethical dilemma of working in a system defined by propaganda and violence, a brave teacher goes undercover to film what’s really happening in his own school.

This documentary follows two long-lost Ukrainian friends, Arsalan and Nastya, as they reconnect in Germany after russia's full-scale invasion against Ukraine. Arsalan, an actor now in Frankfurt after time in a refugee camp, and Nastya, journalist and producer who stayed in Kyiv, reflect on the divergent paths their lives have taken due to the war. Through their conversations and therapy sessions, the film explores themes of displacement, identity, and the emotional impact of war on youth.

A chronicle of the civil uprising against the regime of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych that took place in Kyiv in the winter of 2013/14. The film follows the progress of the revolution: from peaceful rallies, half a million strong in the Maidan square, to the bloody street battles between protesters and riot police.

The crew of kontroll.hu traveled to Transcarpathia, Ukraine, to film among orphaned children in Munkács and lonely elders in Tiszakeresztúr. The documentary follows a single day in the life of Reverend József Sipos, a Reformed pastor whose calling extends far beyond the pulpit. From abandoned hospital wards to remote village homes, he brings words of comfort, food, and aid to those left behind in the shadow of the Russian–Ukrainian war. Just a mile and a half from the Hungarian border—a mile and a half from peace—the film reveals the stark reality of life lived on the very edge of hope.

On February 24th, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war has since killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed entire cities. Despite international appeals for Volodymyr Zelensky, and his family, to be evacuated to a safe location during the opening days of the invasion, the 44-year-old president stayed in Kyiv with his defence forces. It's hard to imagine how this bright, comedic, family man, has ended up in one of the most dangerous positions in the world, with a giant target on his back. 10 months on, and still fighting from the ground, Zelensky has been named TIME Person of the Year 2022. With comparisons to Winston Churchill, as a war time leader, his impact is undeniable. Utilising his acting skills he is embodying everything it means to have the spirit of Ukraine.

A profile of Putin, exploring his complicated relationship with Ukraine. Why does this neighbouring nation threaten his power and identity?

Pulitzer Prize-winning conflict photojournalist Lynsey Addario reflects on a career working in some of the world's most dangerous war zones, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Made refugees by the war in Ukraine, Olga and her granddaughter Milana travel to a summer camp in the Austrian Alps to test the limits of their own bravery, and to strengthen their growing bond.

The story of war, love and death that was documented by the immediate participants of events. Off screen and later on it are the two - a boy and a girl. He volunteered for the front; she went to the place just after the battle. He got into Ilovaysk cauldron, lost his closest brother-soldiers. She, while travelling along the ruined towns, strives to understand the essence of war and love. Both tell openly one another about their feelings during the war, escaping the cauldron, a try to live together after, and a common trip to the frontline.

Since the uprising of a pro Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine in 2014, hundreds of women joined the army. Only a few made it to the front line. Filmmaker Masha embeds herself in the war zone to follow the daily life of three of them. By sharing the intimacy of these fighters, Masha soon becomes a victim of this brotherhood conflict jeopardizing this film and her life.

In 2014, the war begins. Immediately, a system of evacuation of the wounded and killed is being built, the outpost of which is the Dnieper - it is here that the first will be delivered, it is here that they are still received. Tatiana Guba has been coordinating the evacuation for 5 years. She is called "Mom Tanya". Thousands of people are grateful to her for her life. Serhiy Kryvorotchenko, director of the Dnipro Airport, has deployed a helicopter evacuation system since the beginning of the war. Eugene Titarenko, the film's director, in 2014-2015 was part of a volunteer medical battalion, communicates with the heroes of the film about the evacuation system. The viewer will see the whole way of saving lives, will be directly in the vortex of events and will understand how many people are involved in the process of saving one person.

For five teenagers living in the conflict-ridden Donbas region of Ukraine, a Himalayan expedition provides a brief escape from reality. A portrait of a generation that, in spite of everything, is able to recognise and celebrate the fragile beauty of life.

In 2025, satellites recorded wildfires sweeping through the hills of Hollywood, shifting battle lines in Ukraine, and nearly 600 million people assembling for a sacred pilgrimage along the River Ganges. From orbit, imagery exposed the vast displacement of civilians in Gaza, while reconnaissance satellites traced covert weapons transfers from North Korea to Russia. Scientists also relied on satellite data to count migrating wildebeest and walrus, monitoring the planet’s health. Combined with news archives, eyewitness accounts, user-generated content, and expert analysis, these views from above reveal the hidden story of 2025.