Veronika Vovk Dmytriyivna had a clear picture of what her future would look like. She planned to stay in Kyiv, continue her education and develop her modelling career alongside university. Then February 2022 changed everything.
The full-scale invasion forced her to leave the life she had expected to build in Ukraine. What came next was deeply difficult, but it also pushed her toward a professional step she had dreamed about for years.
“The war changed my plans completely, but in an unexpected way.”
That unexpected change eventually took Veronika to Italy for her first serious international modelling contract, where she lived and worked for four months. It became the start of a much wider career in fashion, travel and international campaigns.
Italy Became the First Major Step in Veronika Vovk Dmytriyivna’s International Career
Before the war, Veronika expected to continue building her life in Kyiv. She was focused on education and modelling, with plans to develop both at the same time.
The invasion made those plans impossible.
Veronika remembers waking up to explosions while living close to Kyiv’s Zhuliany Airport. Her family later left the city and travelled to relatives in the Khmelnytskyi region, where around 30 displaced people found temporary shelter in the same home. The experience became one of the most difficult periods of her life.
Later, Veronika left Ukraine with her parents. That period of uncertainty eventually led to Italy and a decision that would change her professional direction.
“In a strange way, the war pushed me to take a step that I had been dreaming about but might not have had the courage to take so soon.”
She spent four months in Italy under her first serious international modelling contract. What began as a move shaped by circumstances soon became an important career milestone.
“What started as something forced upon me by circumstances became the beginning of a completely different chapter in my career.”
International Fashion Soon Became Part of Her Everyday Life
Italy was only the beginning. Veronika continued to work across different countries while she expanded her experience with Ukrainian and international brands.
Her professional portfolio now includes work with Guess, fashion shows connected to Demna, and an ongoing collaboration with Italian brand 100% Capri. She also appeared in a Cyprus Airlines campaign alongside Andrea Pirlo, another international project that added a different dimension to her career.
Travel became a regular part of that lifestyle, but Veronika did not leave her education behind. She continued her studies in Ukraine and eventually completed her degree in Psychology while she worked abroad.
That combination became one of the defining parts of her story.
“I think the biggest lesson was learning not to wait for the ‘perfect’ circumstances to pursue a dream.”
Her career required discipline, organisation and the ability to adapt quickly to different professional environments. It also showed her that one path does not have to replace another.
For Veronika, fashion, education and travel were not separate lives. They became parts of the same one.
Veronika Vovk Dmytriyivna Still Carries Ukraine Into Every New Chapter
International fashion has taken Veronika into environments that can feel far removed from what her family and friends have experienced in Ukraine.
She describes moments on beautiful sets, luxury campaigns and trips abroad as almost surreal when compared with what is happening back home.
“You can be standing on a beautiful set, working with a luxury brand or travelling somewhere incredibly beautiful, while knowing that people you love are living through a war back home. Those two realities exist at the same time.”
That contrast has changed the way she looks at opportunity.
She has lost people close to her, while some members of her family remain in Ukraine. Those experiences are part of the perspective she now carries into every new country, campaign and professional milestone.
At the same time, Veronika does not want her story to stop at loss.
She remains proud of her Ukrainian identity and sees her international career as another way to represent where she comes from.
“I want people to see that Ukrainians are not defined only by the war. We are also ambitious, creative, hardworking and capable of building international careers.”
Her ambitions now extend further into the international fashion world. She plans to continue working with major brands and expand her presence across the global fashion scene.
The direction of her life changed in a way she never expected. Still, the future she is building remains her own.
“The war changed the direction of my life, but I don’t want it to define the limits of my life.”