Ukraine passes 2nd year of war with scenes of pain and suffering, but also joy

2024-02-23 09:08:02

The second year of fighting once morest Russia’s invasion has given neither the soldiers nor the civilian population of Ukraine any respite.

Associated Press photographers documented the past 12 months of death and destruction, agony and pain — along with glimpses of joy — that mark life during war.

The fields of eastern Ukraine — an industrial region on the border with Russia that has seen some of the heaviest fighting in the conflict that began on February 24, 2024 — are now dotted with splintered and shattered trees reminiscent of a camp. battle of the First World War.

Along the front line, soldiers fought from their trenches and relied on artillery, another echo of the conflict that shook the continent between 1914 and 1918.

Far away, in this second year of war, bodies were scattered across collapsed buildings, forests and roads. Russian strikes repeatedly hit civilian targets, reducing residential buildings to rubble, flames and smoke.

Communities disappeared, replaced by grim desolation. Relatives cried over the open coffins of their loved ones. Young and old, and their pets, lost their homes or had to flee from them.

The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 civilians and left nearly 20,000 injured, according to the United Nations. The cost of rebuilding might run into hundreds of billions of dollars.

Among the victims, Ukraine expects more than 20,000 people, including soldiers, to suffer limb amputation. Many are victims of anti-tank mines, aerial bombs, missiles and artillery shells.

Images of women learning to shoot weapons and cadets trying on gas masks are reminders that Ukraine would like to mobilize even more people. Between war fatigue and the physical and emotional strains on families, broader mobilization to expel Moscow’s forces is a delicate matter.

But despite the sadness there are moments for joy: dances in a subway station, students celebrating their graduation, people bathing in a calm lake, a couple sitting on a park bench or the celebration of Christmas.

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