Traces

a loop of thread used to join the edges of a wound or surgical incision. I hand-stitched things, that are too hard to imagine because of the scale and impossible to photograph.

The pictures show inverted maps of Eastern Europe and Russian Federation with different roots that people had to take because of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The red stitches indicate where Ukrainian people have been deported since the beginning of the full-scale invasion by Russia on 24th February 2022. Estimates from various sources, including the Russian government, indicate that Russian authorities interrogated, detained and forcibly deported from their homes to Russia between 900,000 and 1,6 Million Ukrainian citizens.

The blue stitches symbolize the Russian soldiers who have been mobilized for war since September 21, 2022. As of October 20, 260 thousand Russians were mobilized. Number of regions where the plan is fulfilled: 41. As of December 13, 2022, Russia is getting for the second wave of mobilization in January-February 2023

The black stitches indicate where Russian men are fleeing to avoid a "partial mobilization" announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin as of September 21, 2022 to bring 300,000 people to the front lines. According to different sources around 1 million Russian citizens have left. The most popular destinations are Kazakhstan, Georgia (which Russia invaded in 2007 and annexed part of the territory), Finland, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan.