On 24 February 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine forcing millions of people to flee to safety. Now two years on, more than 6.3 million Ukrainian civilians are displaced throughout the world, nearly 80% are women and children.

Since the outbreak of the war, Polly Braden, has been following the personal stories of some of the Ukrainian families who fled to Europe to escape the violence. In this new series of photographs and films, Braden set out to capture the less visible side of conflict in which she highlights the unseen burden of responsibility that falls to women.

Presenting these stories at the Foundling Museum echoes the constant challenges and agonising choices endured by women throughout history, including the sacrifices made to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their children and others.

Documenting the extraordinary emotional and geographical journeys of mothers, daughters, grandparents and babes in arms, Leaving Ukraine is an intimate portrait of women and children navigating the complexities of new schools, homes, languages, jobs, friends, and people left behind as they weigh up the challenges of starting again in a foreign country against the risks of returning home.

For two years, Braden has worked closely with Anya, Lena, Narine, Sofiia, Yuliia, Aliesia and their families who became dispersed across Poland, Moldova, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland and England. Together they have created a vivid record of painful separation, joyful reunion, the arrival of new life and the shaping of alternative futures, set against a backdrop of uncertainty created by the war.

Leaving Ukraine is on show at The Foundling Museum, London until September 2024

Guardian - Some found happiness. Some were overwhelmed. Some had to return. Photographer Polly Braden spent two years documenting the lives of Ukrainian women and children as they became increasingly scattered across Europe

Economist - The hopes and dreams of Ukraine’s teenage refugees. Photographer Polly Braden has followed the lives of schoolgirls who fled after Russia’s invasion

BBC - The Ukrainian teenagers who returned to a war zone for their school prom

CNN - This photographer spent two years documenting life for the women forced to leave Ukraine