Valeria Shashenok

Valeriia Shashenok (; born 17 July 2001) is a Ukrainian photographer who has garnered international attention for her satirical TikTok videos documenting the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Shashenok, who is from Chernihiv, Ukraine, worked as a freelance photographer before the war.

Life during the war From 24 February 2022 until the week of 13 March, Shashenok lived in a bomb shelter where she documented her family's survival techniques, and the destruction of her hometown (which is on the border of Russia and Belarus), in a comedic manner. Meanwhile, her friends fled Ukraine to other countries, including Bulgaria and Italy.

In mid-March, she escaped alone to Poland, while her parents stayed in Ukraine. According to her account, she went from Kyiv to Lviv, then from Lviv to Poland's Przemyśl. Although she lacked her passport, she used documents from Ukraine's Diia app and was allowed into the country. From Przemyśl, she traveled to Warsaw via Łódź and was interviewed by a Polish journalist from Telewizja Polska who recognized her at a train stop. During this journey, she was also interviewed by CNN en Español, Cosmopolitan Italia, and la Repubblica.

By August 2022, Shashenok was a refugee in Italy, where she lived with relatives. In September she visited the European Parliament, where she met First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska.

Book In May 2022, Shashenok released a book containing her photographs and describing her experiences with the war. It was first released in German as 24. Februar: Und der Himmel war nicht mehr blau.