Half a year after the invasion began, Ukrainians continue to help their army, often putting up the last of their money and their remaining energy. More than half a year ago this was a fishing shop. Today, only mannequins and elements of decor are a reminder of its past. After February 24, the space was turned into a help center for soldiers. They can get all of …
The Russian army is trying to cut off Donbas from the rest of Ukraine. Somewhere east of Kharkiv, on a now pivotal stretch of the front, Ukrainian troops are fighting to frustrate this plan. There are no extensive, deep and winding trenches here, which are associated with war fronts. You can only see pits carved into the ground, covered with branches and hay, scattered over the territory …
Lyman has become another city that the war has reached. Some residents are deciding to leave at the last minute. There are thirteen people standing by the corrugated steel supermarket hall. All of them have decided on the first day of May to leave Lyman, population 22,000, in Donetsk Oblast. On the road near the store lay branches cut by shrapnel. Two shots are heard, one whistle …
Ukrainian soldiers defend the last scrap of the Luhansk Oblast. Soon, it too may fall into the hands of the Russians. Thick black smoke rises above the area. A Ukrainian refinery, bombed by the Russians, has been burning for several days in the vicinity of Lysychansk. The refinery is surrounded by picturesque canola fields – canola, like sunflower, is one of the key crops for local agriculture. …
After calls by the President of Ukraine, volunteers from abroad have joined the fight against Russia. Among them are Poles. Not only Ukrainian soldiers are stationed in the dense forest, where the singing of birds mixes with the roar of artillery. One team is preparing positions. They dig deep. This is due to a Colombian who prepared for battle in the jungle. “His first time, he dug …
YAROSLAV HRYTSAK, Ukrainian historian: With his rockets, Putin is also destroying the pro-Russian orientation in Ukraine. Today it is associated with the war and its consequences. PAWEŁ PIENIĄŻEK: How did February 24 find you? JAROSŁAW HRYCAK: At six thirty in the morning, I was awakened by a phone call from Myroslav Marynovych [vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, social activist – ed.]. He said that …
As a result of the Russian invasion, more localities in Ukraine are under fire, and the number of civilian casualties is growing rapidly. Around 4 PM, something made an awful bang. Sixty-one-year-old Anatoly and his wife Svitlana leapt to their feet. The electricity went off immediately. Anatoly went outside and saw that the wall of his house was pockmarked by shrapnel;so was the car. There was no …
Although the Russian army is already on the outskirts of the city, inhabitants of the Ukrainian capital try to find a new normality. They have already developed new bonds of solidarity. Not far from the city center, the trendy restaurant Dubler is very busy. Not a moment goes by without someone coming or going. Some bring food, others take cartons full of food. The chef and the rest …
For the second day in a row, the inhabitants of Kyiv were awakened by explosions destroying civilian buildings. It was almost five when the 62-year-old Kateryna was again closing her eyes. Minutes earlier, she had been awakened by sirens warning of an air raid or rocket attack. She did not go down to the basement, she was lying in bed. The sirens howl several times a day, …
Despite pleas from their families, some people don’t want to leave the shelled city. Only when the war ends, or when they finally leave, will they feel what they lived through here. The phone rings more than forty times within three quarters of an hour. In addition, twenty four year old Tetiana Holubova receives countless instant messages; All from people needing help. Her number spread on the …
