My dear Kyevi

The Hobbit of a journalist to photograph the hidden architectural treasures of Ukraine's capital, Kiev, has gained new size of great importance amid war disasters.

Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Radio Free Europe correspondent Sophia Serda and her 8-year-old daughter regularly went out to document Kiev's back roads and hidden courtyards with her iPhone.

On weekends and sometimes during the week, after Serda had completed her work as an investigative journalist for Ukrainian Radio Free Europe, they both set out to explore their city and discover hidden architectural gems.

Serda says she spends time researching her photograph because her daughter enjoys adventures and the journalist wants to show Kiev's rich architectural heritage, which “not everyone knows”.

These pictures, posted on the Sereda account at the Instagram, became a rare Eucharist year for Kiev. Today, among Ukraine's Russian occupation, Serda says she has no time to think about her hobby, but the photos have taken on unexpected meaning because the fragility of civilization is highlighted by the destruction caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Serda was born in the Polanva region east of Ukraine, but lived in Kiev for 14 years, during which time she says the town has become a very important and precious “for her.

Until many entrance doors can be opened and explored, Serda says that at other times she stands near closed entrances, waiting for one of the residents to come in.

In the case of this entry into an apartment block that includes the home of Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, Sereda says she knew only the rough location.

When she believed she had found the address, she tried to get inside after a passing resident, but “literally, half a second wasn't enough. The door locked straight in my face” One moment later, Serda recalls, the newly left-home man “returned and kindly gave me the gate code”.

At this garnished entrance, Serda says she stayed out on three separate visits until a resident opened the door and was able to enter.

It was the roof at this address where former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili withdrew in a tactically famous Ukrainian police call to supporters in 2017.

Amid a unity witnessed throughout Ukraine as a result of the Russian occupation, Serda believes that this <x0 war will only make Kiev stronger and will certainly always be one of the most beautiful cities in the world for me”.

Amid a unity witnessed throughout Ukraine as a result of the Russian occupation, Serda believes that this <x0 war will only make Kiev stronger and will certainly always be one of the most beautiful cities in the world for me”.

Serda says that since war broke out on a large scale, “I can't think of pictures of architecture, I think only of my country. Along with my fellow countrymen, I try to do all I can to help my country win this fight”. And she says that: “Only after that can I return my hobby”.