Viacheslav Ratynskyi (1989) is a Ukrainian photojournalist and documentary photographer, born in Zhytomyr and based in Kyiv for the past decade. He holds a degree in journalism from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
He is a member of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers (UAPP) and has been documenting the Russian invasion of Ukraine since its first hours. Before the full-scale war, he worked with various Ukrainian media outlets, covering the country’s most pivotal political and social events. Viacheslav Ratynskyi is developing his own long-term projects, including: 100 Moments of Revolution (2013-2014), New Road Signs Ahead (2022-2024), Every Find is a Key (2025), and Sleep (2025).
Viacheslav currently contributes as a photojournalist to The Times, Reuters, Unian, and other media organizations. His work has been widely published, including in Time, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, The New York Times, El País, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin and Der Spiegel, as well as leading Ukrainian outlets such as Ukrainska Pravda, UNIAN, Hromadske, The New Voice of Ukraine, Forbes Ukraine, Ukrainer, and Reporters.
As a freelance photographer, he also collaborates with international organizations, including UNICEF, UNDP, and UNESCO.
Viacheslav’s work has been exhibited in numerous group exhibitions worldwide, His photographs have been featured in several publications and photobooks, including Ukraine: A War Crime (2022), Relentless Courage (2023), 13 Stories of War, and others (2023), War Chronicles: Ukraine 2014–2025, Ukraine: War+Love (2025), Independent (2021), and others.
Selected exhibitions:
2025
Personal exhibition of Viacheslav Ratynskyi’s series “Dream” during the NGO Pryncyp military conference “The person in the army” in The Intercontinental hotel, on 20-21 October 2025, in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched the documentary photo exhibition “The Lights Stay On” at the European Parliament’s Info Hub.
Group exhibition: The exhibition Ukraine: A War Crime by 49 international photojournalists opened today at the European Parliament InfoHub.
Exhibition “Far and Yet So Close,” which presents the realities of Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine | Leiden, The Netherlands
Exhibition “Stand with Ukraine”: France’s humanitarian action in Ukraine, 24 February to 11 April 2025 | Paris, France
2024
Exhibition “Coming of Age amidst war” | Lviv, Ukraine
Exhibition "Next Station Ukraine" | Leipzig, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Cologne, Germany, London, UK, Prague, Czech Republic
Exhibition “Ukraine: A War Crime” supported by the Open Society Foundations Western Balkans | Prishtina, Kosovo
Exhibition in London "Echos of the Blitz - Underground shelters in Ukraine and London" with the London Transport Museum | London, UK
Exhibition "Under Attack" by Ukrainian Warchive and CFF – Centrum för fotografi, as part of Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, October 28, 2024 | Ulricehamn, Sweden.
2023
Fighting: Ukrainian War Photographers FOTOFEST | Houston, Texas
Silver Street Studios at Sawyer Yards, Artdoc Photography Magazine Exhibitions
Exhibition Project and presentation of the book "Brave to Bring Light" | Shevchenko’s museum, Kyiv, Ukraine
Exhibition project in German universities "DieBewaffnete Wahrheit–dieBilder der Ukrainischen Medien"| Postdam, Germany.
Group exhibition “Bojují i za nás” in the Czech Republic, Belgium, and the USA | Houston, USA, Cheb, the Czech Republic, Pelt, Belgium.
2022
Group exhibition “Ukraine on my mind” | Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
Exhibitions on the anniversary of the Holodomor in Austria | Graz, Austria, Vienna, Austria
Suwon International Photo Festival, Exhibition “Ukraine. Now”, curated by Kateryna Radchenko | Suwon, South Korea
The exhibition "How Are You, Living In a War-Torn Country?" curated by Kateryna Radchenko | TAM-TAM Street gallery, Kranj, Slovenia
Exhibition “House of Russian War Crimes” | Davos (Switzerland), Kyiv (Ukraine), Brussels (Belgium), New York (USA), London (United Kingdom), Munich (Germany).
The “Thin Line” exhibition during Copenhagen Photo Festival on June 2-12, 2022 | Denmark, Copenhagen, Peckham, London
The Shoulder to shoulder: Ukrainian war photography exhibition | Odesa, Ukraine
The group exhibition “Tragedy of the 21st century in the center of Europe” | Nicosia (Cyprus), Sotira (Cyprus), Larnaca (Cyprus)
The group exhibition during the Tbilisi Photo Festival on April 3, 2022 |Tbilisi, Georgia
The exhibition of Ukrainian war photography «Ukraine: days of invasion, days of resistance» Technopolis City of Athens on Sunday, April 3 | Athens, Greece
Group exhibition “The Price of Freedom” on June 11, 2022 | Helsinki (Finland)