After Vladimir Putin’s threat to flex his muscles last week, things still aren’t looking bright for Ukraine. Deadly conflicts and skirmishes between loyalists and Russian-supporting-separatists have occurred regularly during the near six months of unrest, impacting civilians lives on a day-to-day basis. However, even on the frontline of the turmoil, life must go on.

In their latest round of gritty and frank photos, the art collective Gorsad have attempted to capture the “very strange feeling” in their country’s capital. “There is an ambivalent mood in Kiev. On the one hand everyone (especially young people) continues to live their usual life, but on the other, it is not exactly the atmosphere that there was a year ago,” said Victor, Julian and Maria of their most recent shoot; where they specifically tried to capture the capital’s mood, rather than focus on their subjects.

“In Kiev, everything's calm; warm and green summer. But in the East every day people are dying. The real war. Blood. Death. We just do not believe in what's happening. We're in shock. We sincerely hope that this hell will end. We admire our heroes who are not afraid to give their lives in the struggle for the unity of our nation.” Whether it's the state flag of Ukraine coming into shot, or Kiev’s St. Michael’s Golden Dome Monastery in the distance, Gorsad’s admiration for their mother country is clearly evident.

But what of the future for the collective? “There are already many unpublished projects. It will probably be interesting to watch, rather than talk about them though.” Let’s just hope, for the sake of Gorsad and Ukraine, Putin keeps his pecs in check.