Valeria Shashenok

Valeriia Shashenok (Ukrainian: Валерія Шашенок; born 17 July 2001) is a Ukrainian photographer who has garnered international attention for her satirical TikTok videos documenting the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Valeria Shashenok
Born (2001-07-17) July 17, 2001
Chernihiv, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine
Known forTikTok videos

Life before the war

Shashenok, who is from Chernihiv, Ukraine, worked as a freelance photographer.[1][2]

Life during the war

From 24 February 2022 until the week of 13 March, Shashenok lived in a bomb shelter where she documented her family's survival techniques, and the destruction of her hometown (which is on the border of Russia and Belarus), in a comedic manner. Meanwhile, her friends fled Ukraine to other countries, including Bulgaria and Italy.[2] Her most prominent video featuring the Sicilian song "C'è la luna mezzo mare", which went viral internationally and accrued over 28 million views.[3] She had previously used TikTok for local businesses and her personal life, but her chronicles of the war started gaining traction when she used English captions. She posted about the war to dispel negative stereotypes about Ukraine and its people, as well as to combat fake news narratives in Russian state media.[4][5][6]

In mid-March, she escaped alone to Poland, while her parents stayed in Ukraine. According to her account, she went from Kyiv to Lviv, then from Lviv to Poland's Przemyśl. Although she lacked her passport, she used documents from Ukraine's Diia app and was allowed into the country. From Przemyśl, she traveled to Warsaw via Łódź and was interviewed by a Polish journalist from Telewizja Polska who recognized her at a train stop.[7] During this journey, she was also interviewed by CNN en Español,[8] Cosmopolitan Italia,[3] and la Repubblica.[9]

By August 2022 Shashenok was a refugee in Italy, where she lived with relatives.[10][11] In September she visited the European Parliament, where she met First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska.[11] In December 2022 her visa application for the United Kingdom was accepted, and she took up residency in London.[12]

Book

In May 2022 Shashenok released a book containing her photographs and describing her experiences with the war. It was first released in German as 24. Februar: Und der Himmel war nicht mehr blau.[13]

References
  1. Sung, Morgan (11 March 2022). "Ukrainian photographer shares what it's like to live in a bunker on TikTok". NBC News.
  2. Bansinath, Bindu (11 March 2022). "TikToking from A Bomb Shelter". The Cut. Vox Media, LLC.
  3. Catalano, Camilla. "Valeria Shashenok filma la sua vita in un bunker su Tik Tok, ed è virale". Cosmopolitan Italia (in Italian).
  4. Rose, Shelby (9 March 2022). "A Ukrainian photographer is using TikTok to turn war zone destruction into art". CNN.
  5. Dado, Natasha (15 March 2022). "Ukrainian Woman Documents What Her Family Cooks and Eats Inside Bomb Shelter amid Russia's Invasion". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  6. "Ukrainian photographer shows how her family cooks and eats in a bomb shelter". TODAY.com. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  7. Fowler, Kate (15 March 2022). "Ukrainian Refugee's Viral Video Documents Harrowing Escape to Poland". Newsweek.
  8. Oraa, Alejandro (14 March 2022). "Conoce a la fotógrafa ucraniana que usa TikTok para hablar de la guerra y ayudar a su país". CNN (in Spanish).
  9. "In fuga dalla guerra ucraina, il video tappa per tappa su TikTok: "Ringrazio Putin per questo viaggio"" (in Italian). 15 March 2022. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  10. Charles, Ron (1 April 2022). "In Ukraine, humor has become a weapon of war". The Washington Post.
  11. Serna-Diez, Isaac (26 September 2022). "Ukrainian Teenager Documents Life As A Refugee 6 Months After Russian Invasion Began". YourTango. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  12. Pandey, Manish (24 December 2022). "Ukraine war TikToker's journey to safety in the UK". BBC News. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  13. Breuer, Rayna (16 May 2022). "Ukrainian TikTok star chronicles life in war". dw.com. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
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