Explore Ukraine’s War Documentary Filming Locations: A New Kind of Travel

What if you could walk through the frame of a documentary?
For those who’ve watched the most haunting and powerful Ukrainian war films — from 20 Days in Mariupol to Freedom on Fire — the cities they portray are unforgettable.

But what if we told you that you could actually visit these places, guided not by actors or fiction, but by real history?

🎬 1. Mariupol (From 20 Days in Mariupol) — A Ghost City on the Map

This Oscar-winning documentary captured the final weeks of life in the besieged port city. While Mariupol remains under occupation, stories from the film can be felt in Kyiv’s Museum of War Journalism, where stills, quotes, and objects recovered from the city are on display.

You can’t visit Mariupol safely — but you can stand in front of the photos taken from the last hospital and meet those who escaped.

“I watched the film on a flight to Warsaw. A week later I saw the same faces on a memorial wall in Kyiv. It changed me.” — Anna, visitor from Denmark

🎥 2. Bucha & Irpin (From The Earth Is Blue as an Orange)

While this documentary actually focuses on Donbas, many similar scenes — families surviving in ruins, filming hope in chaos — are now recreated by visitors in Bucha and Irpin.

These towns near Kyiv have become symbolic. Destroyed apartment blocks, rebuilt schools, a piano in the middle of rubble — all reflect the resilience shown in Ukraine’s non-fiction cinema.

📍 Tours to Bucha and Irpin start daily from Kyiv. Ask your guide for the “cinematic lens” walk.

📽️ 3. Kharkiv Metro (From Freedom on Fire) — Life Underground

During heavy shelling, the Kharkiv metro system became a shelter for thousands. The documentary Freedom on Fire captured these surreal scenes — children playing in train cars, people sleeping on platforms.

Today, you can walk through those same stations. Some still bear signs of their use as bunkers. Locals will point out exactly where kitchens were set up, where performances took place, and where babies were born in the dark.