IRON STEPPE
by Oleksandra Umanska
Research on post-war design processes for Ukraine - through case studies, veterans’ rehabilitation, and strategies for clearing land from mines and war debris.
Film Logline: In a near-future Ukraine, where war’s remnants still shape the land, a veteran volunteer group leads a relentless cleanup effort in the abandoned Iron Steppe. Guided by AI and towering mechanical constructs, they clear mines, reclaim ruins, and fight for veterans’ rights—while an artist among them transforms war’s wreckage into haunting memorials.
This speculative story envisions a possible future for Ukraine after the war ends—whether new borders emerge or not. The end of war, in any form, is never truly the end. Not all places will get a second chance, and not everything will return to normal, at least not immediately.
The narrative follows Chorna Rada, a fictional group of veterans who form a volunteer movement to reclaim land and clear it of landmines and post-war debris. Set in Kamyanka—a small Ukrainian village left in ruins after Russian occupation—the story unfolds in a landscape too dangerous to return to.
The film explores how skills learned on the battlefield might be redirected toward rebuilding, and how rehabilitation for veterans extends far beyond physical recovery. It also reflects on the deep psychological scars left by war, particularly the lingering trauma tied to the sky—drones, sirens, and the silence that follows. Since the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian skies have been closed, transforming once-familiar sights into triggers of fear.