With the full out invasion of the Ukraine by Russian forces on February 24, 2022, the fourth stage of the Ukrainian crisis has tragically arrived. No longer hiding behind the pretense of veiled language like “peace keeping mission” for the newly “recognized” regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, Russian troops were ordered to mount an invasion against the Ukrainian government. Continuing the work I had been doing since 2014, I witnessed the escalation of events as Putin’s misconceived and failed attempts to quickly replace Ukraine’s democratically chosen government turned into a war against the civilian population. With all the right reasons to defend their homes and their freedom, Ukrainians are fighting against an army whose reasons to fight their neighbors are diminishing rapidly. Having had to come to terms with this violently sudden shift in their perception of what their Russian neighbors are prepared to do, Ukrainians, no longer reeling from the shock, are mobilizing their fury as well as their fear to fight for their lives.
2022-Ongoing
Rescuers help an injured woman after Russian shelling of the Ukrainian city of Kherson city center on Christmas eve, which left 10 civilians dead and 60 injured.
A house in the outskirts of Irpin city destroyed by Russian shelling. The city became the site of military engagement during the Kyiv offensive when Russian forces took the Hostomel airport in the north of the city to facilitate their advance southward towards Kyiv. Under Russian artillery fire, the Ukrainians were able to repel and destroy multiple forces in their attempt to move Into the city.
Local residents of Irpin evacuating themselves, during heavy artillery shelling by the Russian army on the city. The city was shelled by Russian artillery while the Ukrainians were able to repel and destroy multiple forces attempting to move into the town.
Ukrainian soldiers, opening fire with a heavy machine gun towards Russian positions located 1km away. Southern frontline, Donbas.
Exhumed graves of civilians who died in a violent way, during the Russian occupation of Izium city. On 15 September 2022, several mass graves, including one site containing at least 440 bodies were found in woods near the Ukrainian city of izium after it was recaptured by Ukrainian forces during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The graves contained bodies of people who were killed by Russian forces. The Ukrainian government believes that over 1,000 people were killed during the battle for and subsequent Russian occupation of Izium.
Yevgeni (50), was injured while driving his car away from his village, Pdilisia, towards Brovary city after Russian forces had opened fire inside the village. Fleeing the fighting with three other civilians including his wife, the car went over a mine. Three were eventually rescued by a Ukrainian army ambulance team, who took them to the hospital in Brovary. One passenger died in the explosion.
On the outskirts of Irpin city a civilian, suspected of being a Russian spy, is questioned by Ukrainian soldiers when he is found close to their position in his car. After some terrifying moments he is cleared and given free passage.
Families trying to escape Kyiv via trains in the first week of the Russian invasion into Ukraine.
The body of a civilian who was shot by Russian soldiers on March 5, 2022, laying in the street close to the central park in West Irpin city. According to Human Rights Watch, on March 6, 2022 an intersection on a road used by residents of Irpin to escape the fighting was bombarded by Russian forces. As of 24 March 2022, eighty percent of the city had been successfully recaptured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces from its Russian occupiers. On 28 March, Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn announced that all of Irpin was fully liberated by the Ukrainian army.
A family embraces a Ukrainian soldier at the main square, on the second day from liberation of Kherson, after the retreat of the Russian army from the city.
Residents of Kyiv checking the destruction in their apartment in Svyatoshyns'kyi district after Russian army shelling on the city.
The body of Anatoli Shulhach (75), who was shot by Russian soldiers on March 12 in the village of Sabuchia, is being transferred from the Bucha city morgue to a van, for a reburial. Shulhach died from his wounds 5 days after he was shot. He was buried in Sabuchia, but his body needed to be exhumed, in order to document war crimes committed by Russian soldiers during the occupation of Bucha and its surrounding areas.
Ukrainian soldiers take cover during heavy shelling by Russian forces at the entrance to Horneka. On 24 February 2022, the first day of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hostomel and the Hostomel Airport which are located very close to Horneka were attacked by the Russian military during their attempt to capture the whole town. Initially, Ukrainian counter offensives were unable to retake the town but a major Russian withdrawal from Kyiv Oblast in late March and early April saw Hostomel completely retaken from the Russian occupiers.
Civilians react in shock, after a Russian army airstrike hits a couple of hundred meters from their home. flattening their neighbour's house. There were no injuries or deaths as a result of the strike. Bakhmut city, East Ukraine.
The body of a civilian lies on a road near the village of Vilkhivka, after it was retaken by Ukrainian Army, near the eastern city of Kharkiv.
A volunteer keeps an elderly woman warm during the evacuation of civilians from Irpin city. Irpin became the site of a battlefield engagement during the Kyiv offensive. Russian forces took the Hostomel airport in the north of the city to facilitate an advance southwards, around Kyiv. The city was shelled by Russian artillery while the Ukrainians were able to repel and destroy multiple forces attempting to move into the town.
Children prepare to perform a show for other kids in a kindergarden at the city of Slavutych, before heading to the shelter of the kindergarten, for their noon time nap. some of the children have a father who is serving in the Ukrainian army. Slavutych became encircled and isolated by the Russian forces in the course of their Kyiv offensive in late February 2022. The mayor of Slavutych agreed to allow Russian forces to search the city for weapons in order for them to agree to withdraw from the city. This process was completed on 27 March, and Russian troops exited Slavutych.
Ukrainian soldiers ,driving towards the frontline city of Vuhledar. Southern Donbas.
The parents of Yuri (23), a soldier who died fighting Russian forces near Kyiv, mourn over his body during the funeral.
Smoke rises from the cities of Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel near Kyiv during heavy fighting between Russian forces and the Ukrainian army.
Oleksii Afanasievska (Center- 38 years old) mourns over the dead body of his mother, Olena Afanasievska (57 years old), who died during a Russian army shelling on the city center of Kherson, on Christmas eve. The attack left 10 civilians dead and 60 injured.
Ukrainian soldiers ,firing a Howitzer D-30, towards Russian army positions, located 6km away.Southern frontline, Donbas.
Residents of Saltovka, staying in an underground makeshift shelter, under school number 172. as this area of Kharkiv city, is under constant Russian army shelling.
A war crimes prosecutor (R), police officers and local residents exhume the remains of Nadiya Medvidyiva, 58-year-old, killed on September 18, 2022 during the Russian occupation of her village., at the cemetery of Pravdyne, near Kherson.
A Ukrainian burnt wheat field as a result of Russian army shelling, near the main road between the Slovyansk and the frontline city of Bakhmut.
Ukrainian army soldiers looking at the bodies of 11 Russian soldiers in the village of Vilkhivka, recently liberated by Ukrainian forces near Kharkiv city. local residents said that around 60-70 people left the village with the retreating Russian army, as they didn't want to stay under Ukrainian rule.
Svetlana Petrozhinskaya (84) being evacuated from her 7th floor apartment by members of SOS Vostok, ( a local Ukranian NGO helping civilans) to Pokrovsk city, where she will be put on a daily evacuation train to Dnipro city. her neighbor and friend: Tatiana Larivonova (L- 84 years old)) crying, seeing her friend being evacuated. Kramatorsk City, Donetsk region Kramatorsk and the neighbouring city of Slovyasnsk are one of the main targets of the Russian army trying to seize Donetsk Oblast. a sovereign Ukrainian territory.
Volodymyr Kovalov, 77 years old, carries trees branches attached to his bike as he collects wood for heating and cooking in the village of Posad-Pokrovs'ke, Kherson region. The village doesn't have electricity or water after heavy fighting between the Ukrainian and Russian armies. Eventually the Russian army retreated.
Territorial defence volunteers combing the rooftop of a building in Kyiv, after a suspected saboteur was spotted there.
The bodies of two civilians laying dead after Russian army sheling on their car, on the only road left open for civilians to leave the frontline city of Bakhmut.
Civilians gather in order to get humanitarian aid, after Sunday service at the Dobra Zvistka church in Kramatorsk.
Military sandbags in front of a destroyed house in the village of Davydiv Brid, Kherson region. The village was the sight of heavy fighting between the Ukrainian and Russian armies. Eventually the Russian army retreated.
The funeral procession of Olena Afanasievska (57 years old), who died during a Russian army shelling on the city center of Kherson, on Christmas eve. The attack left 10 civilians dead and 60 injured.
A Ukrainian army medic treats a soldier who was injured while fighting the Russian army in the frontline city of Bakhmut, at a stabilisation point outside of the city.
A residential home in flames after Russian artillery barrage hit the frontline city of Chasiv Yar. East Ukraine. Of the pre-war population of 15,000, only about 1,500 residents remain in the city. Those citizens that do remain mostly live in the basements of burnt out buildings. There are no shops anymore, and the population is reliant on outside humanitarian aid to stay alive.
Her sorrow clearly evident, a Ukrainian child, resident of Kyiv waits inside a train with her family, heading towards Lviv. Initially, Russian forces captured key areas to the north and west of Kyiv, leading to international speculation of the city's imminent fall, and an exodus of civilians who fled the city.