A Newfoundland film-maker is just back from Ukraine where he’s been working on a film about the women of Ukraine who have been helping to keep the country together while soldiers and civilians push back against invading Russian forces.

Brian O’Dea says Russian President Vladimir Putin is not only interested in territory, he’s also focused on eradicating Ukrainian culture and identity.

“This is a war against the Ukraine people,” says O’Dea. He says Putin wants to “eradicate Ukrainianism among the people. Putin has an idea called Russkiy Mir, which means Russian World.”

O’Dea first went to Ukraine soon after the war began, shooting about 40 hours of footage, but realized that the images needed to follow a narrative thread. Over time he started weaving together a story connecting the women of Ukraine who have been keeping the country going, with the work of local sculptor, Morgan McDonald.

O’Dea won’t tip his hand as to how the stories connect, “but what I will tell you is that it’s a tremendous reveal that will happen in this film.”

He’s hoping to have a rough cut completed by February.