THE ART OF WAR

In his latest dispatch from Ukraine, with the embattled country under increasing pressure, Lord Ashcroft meets a talented painter and photographer who has turned her creativity to the defence of her courageous nation...

- By Lord Ashcroft

AS one of Ukraine's most talented artists and photographers, Iryna Kovalchuk never expected to work with more than a paintbrush or camera in her hands. She certainly never imagined being taught how to fire a rifle in anger. However, like millions of other Ukrainian women, when war came to her homeland thanks to the aggression of its brutal neighbour Russia, Iryna had to decide whether to flee her country or fight for its survival.

It didn't take her long to decide on the latter course of action.

As most of her wartime role involves going to the frontline, the 38-year-old and her husband Pavlo have continually risked their lives from Russian fire.

However, it has also brought them even closer together particularly as a result of one incident in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on a dark winter's evening towards the end of 2022.

"We were about to go back to the trenches at a time when there was a lot of noise from gunfire and shooting all around us," Iryna told me. "Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a loud explosion followed by a whistle which was from an enemy Iskander missile.

"I froze in fear but my husband, who was nearby, saw this, pushed me to the ground and hugged me. I understood at that moment that he would always protect me and that he would put my safety before his. It was a very emotional moment."

On the day of the all-out invasion by Russia on February 24, 2022, Iryna - widely known under her creative name of "iSky" ("I am the Sky") - was at home with her husband, who worked as a film maker, and her son, Max, at their apartment block in a town close to the capital Kyiv.

"We were on the 25th floor and we saw the [enemy] helicopters and it was very scary," Iryna says.

Before the invasion she had not spent much time considering what she would do if Russia did invade. The dramatic events of that day concentrated her thoughts.