In a war-torn steel factory in eastern Ukraine, days before surrendering to encroaching Russian forces, a Ukrainian photographer released a series of images into the public domain.

Self-portraits and images of scarred and limbless soldiers, the photos gained global recognition and won awards. They showed “great courage in the face of war”, one photojournalist said.

But the photographer, Dmytro “Orest” Kozatsky, had no idea his photos were having such an impact.

At the time, in the summer of 2022, Orest was enduring daily physical and psychological torture as a Russian prisoner of war, losing a quarter of his weight in just four months.

Over a year since his release, 27-year-old Orest has come to Malta to talk about his experiences as a Ukrainian soldier and photographer.

It was even worse than hell because there were no rules, there was no Geneva Conventions

“It was even worse than hell because there were no rules, there was no Geneva Conventions,” Orest told Times of Malta.

Established during the aftermath of World War II, the Geneva Conventions are four treaties that outline international humanitarian standards during wartime.

Orest was the press officer for the Azovstal regiment stationed in Mariupol during a siege on the city. On May 20, 2022, all remaining Ukrainian soldiers in the city surrendered at the Azovstal steel factory and, one day later, Orest began his four-month incarceration as a prisoner of war.

“The first thought when you are in captivity is they are taking away your freedom,” Orest said in Ukrainian through a translator.

“Old Russian soldiers were not kind at all. They didn’t have any respect for Ukrainian soldiers, and they did terrible things to me and my friends.”

While imprisoned, Orest underwent daily physical torture. He had to have numerous surgeries following his release to get his body – by now 16kg lighter – back to normal.

Two months into his incarceration, Russian officers allowed the photographer a single call to his family during an interrogation.

“When I got a chance to speak with my sister and my mum… it was a huge support knowing that you are not forgotten, and you have to keep believing you can be released.”

Yet the call was not allowed out of love.

They didn’t have any respect for Ukrainian soldiers, and they did terrible things to me and my friends

“The one [reason] I thought they did that was the psychological side of things. When you are in that condition, in that place and you are speaking with your loved ones, you want to get back to your loved ones.

“[That way], you will say more to the Russian soldiers.”

Orest was released from captivity on September 21 as part of a prisoner trade, forcing the Ukrainian soldier to leave hundreds of his allies behind for his own freedom.

“I felt happiness and pain when I was traded,” he said.

The positive news for the photographer also meant he was leaving behind over 200 soldiers whose fates are still unknown.

“You want freedom, but when you are finally released, it is hard to actually understand and realise that you are free. You can see your friends, your family, you can be free…”

Upon his release, Orest discovered the impact his photographs had had on the world so many months earlier.

Titled The Light Will Win, the series of images shows Orest in an almost unrecognisable steel factory, destroyed by the enemy, home to all the Ukrainian soldiers left in Mariupol.

The images won several awards during the International Photography Awards 2022, including third place in the ‘Photo Essay’ category and first in ‘War’.

The most famous photo from the collection shows Orest bathing in a beam of light, arms outstretched as he absorbs the sliver of metaphorical hope.

I felt happiness and pain when I was traded

“My passion for photography, which started at a young age, continued when I joined the army,” Orest said.

His time spent in the army as his unit’s press officer was a mix of passion and duty.

It was Orest’s sense of duty that sent him to the frontline, the photographer explained – he joined in 2014 at the age of 21 just after the Russo-Ukraine war began.

On Friday, Orest was in Malta for a photography exhibition in Valletta that told the stories of several Ukrainian civilians who joined the military and eventually lost their lives in the war – The Price of Freedom.

There, he discussed his experience as a soldier and eventually prisoner with journalist Neil Camilleri.

“It sounds strange, but I had that experience, but I am still alive.”

Held at The Malta Society of Arts in Valletta, the exhibition runs till October 28.