In Pictures

Gallery|Russia-Ukraine war

A year of Russia’s war in Ukraine: Haunting photos of tragedy

A selection of images attesting to the tragedies inflicted on the Ukrainian people.

Natali Sevriukova is overcome with emotion as she stands outside her destroyed apartment building following a rocket attack in Kyiv
Natali Sevriukova is overcome with emotion as she stands outside her destroyed apartment building following a rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. [Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo]
Published On 24 Feb 2023

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago brought death, destruction and hardship to the country, and awakened fears of a new Cold War.

The February 24, 2022 full-scale attack resulted in more than eight million Ukrainians fleeing in the greatest exodus of refugees that Europe has witnessed since World War II.

Moscow’s war machine has bombarded infrastructure. Missiles, rockets and artillery shells have indiscriminately hit homes, hospitals and other public buildings, killing and wounding thousands.

In some areas, the ruins of apartment buildings and crumbled bridges are now the prominent features of Ukraine’s new war-ravaged landscape. Bodies lie in the streets, in gardens, in houses. Fire-gutted cars and armoured vehicles dot the roads.

In Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, where hundreds of civilians were found dead after a Russian withdrawal from the city last March, Ukrainian officials allege atrocities. Some corpses had their hands tied. Mass graves have been found.

In Mariupol, attacks on hospitals, schools, residential areas and other civilian structures and sites protected under international humanitarian law became the norm.

Ukrainians are often confined for hours in makeshift bomb shelters. Many have been in dire need of food and other aid.

Russian attacks on the power supply during winter left many without heat and running water.

At funerals for soldiers, civilians and children, Ukraine’s yellow-and-blue flag is a familiar sight.

Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee by crossing the Irpin River on the outskirts of Kyiv
Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee by crossing the Irpin River on the outskirts of Kyiv. [Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo]
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Stanislav says goodbye to his 2-year-old son, David, and wife, Anna, after they boarded a train that will take them to Lviv, from the station in Kyiv
Stanislav says goodbye to his two-year-old son, David, and wife, Anna, after they boarded a train that will take them to Lviv, from the station in Kyiv. Stanislav stayed to fight. [Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo]
A child in a stroller is lifted across an improvised path as people flee Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv
A child in a buggy is lifted across an improvised path as people flee Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv. [Felipe Dana/AP Photo]
Ukrainian emergency personnel and police officers evacuate injured pregnant woman Iryna Kalinina, 32, from a maternity hospital that was damaged by a Russian airstrike in Mariupol
Ukrainian emergency personnel and police officers evacuate injured pregnant woman Iryna Kalinina, 32, from a maternity hospital that was damaged by a Russian air strike in Mariupol, Ukraine. "Kill me now!" she screamed, as they struggled to save her life at another hospital even closer to the front line. The baby was born dead, and a half-hour later, Iryna died, too. [Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo]
Bodies are placed into a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine
Bodies are placed into a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol. [Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo]
A woman reacts as she waits for a train trying to leave Kyiv
A woman reacts as she waits for a train trying to leave Kyiv. [Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo]
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An explosion erupts from an apartment building at 110 Mytropolytska St., after a Russian army tank fired on it in Mariupol
An explosion erupts from an apartment building at 110 Mytropolytska Street, after a Russian army tank fired on it in Mariupol. On the seventh floor, two elderly women, Lydya and Nataliya, were stuck in their apartment because they couldn't make it down to the shelter, and were killed in the explosion. The two heavily burned bodies were buried by neighbours in front of the building. [Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo]
Destroyed Russian tanks sit on a main road after battles near Brovary, north of Kyiv
Destroyed Russian tanks sit on a main road after battles near Brovary, north of Kyiv. [Felipe Dana/AP Photo]
Residents prepare tea in a basement being used as a bomb shelter in Irpin
Residents prepare tea in a basement being used as a bomb shelter in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv. [Felipe Dana/AP Photo]
A woman takes shelter in a basement with no electricity in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv
A woman takes shelter in a basement with no electricity in Irpin. [Felipe Dana/AP Photo]
A man runs after recovering items from a burning shop following a Russian attack in Kharkiv
A man runs after he has recovered items from a burning shop following a Russian attack in Kharkiv. [Felipe Dana/AP Photo]
An elderly woman is assisted while crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge that was destroyed by Ukrainian troops designed to slow any Russian military advance, while fleeing the town of Irpin
An elderly woman fleeing the town of Irpin is assisted while crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge that was destroyed by Ukrainian troops in an effort to slow any Russian military advance. [Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo]
A man and child ride a bicycle as bodies of civilians lie in the street in the formerly Russian-occupied Kyiv suburb of Bucha
A man and child ride a bicycle as bodies of civilians lie in the street in the formerly Russian-occupied Kyiv suburb of Bucha. [Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo]
Children look out of the window of an unheated Lviv-bound train, in Kyiv
Children look out the window of an unheated Lviv-bound train, in Kyiv. [Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo]
A civilian wears a Vladimir Putin mask as a spoof, while a Ukrainian soldier stands atop a destroyed Russian tank in Bucha
A civilian wears a Vladimir Putin mask as a spoof, while a Ukrainian soldier stands atop a destroyed Russian tank in Bucha, Ukraine, outside of Kyiv. [Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo]
Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffin of Volodymyr Losev, 38, during his funeral in Zorya Truda in the Odesa region of Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffin of Volodymyr Losev, 38, during his funeral in Zorya Truda in the Odesa region of Ukraine. The 38-year-old Ukrainian volunteer soldier was killed on May 7 when the military vehicle he was driving ran over a mine in eastern Ukraine. [Francisco Seco/AP Photo]
Nila Zelinska holds her granddaughter's doll found in her destroyed house in Potashnya on the outskirts of Kyiv
Nila Zelinska holds her granddaughter's doll found in her destroyed house in Potashnya on the outskirts of Kyiv. Zelinska had just returned to her hometown after escaping war to find out she is now homeless. [Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo]
Anastasia Ohrimenko, 26, is comforted by relatives as she cries next to the coffin of her husband
Anastasia Ohrimenko, 26, is comforted by relatives as she cries next to the coffin of her husband, Yury Styglyuk, a Ukrainian serviceman who died in combat on August 24, in Maryinka, Donetsk, during his funeral in Bucha, Ukraine. [Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo]
A resident wounded after a Russian attack lies inside an ambulance before being taken to a hospital in Kherson, southern Ukraine
A resident wounded after a Russian attack lies inside an ambulance before being taken to a hospital in Kherson, southern Ukraine. [Bernat Armangue/AP Photo]
A woman transporting the coffin holding the body of her son, a soldier who was killed in fighting with Russians
A woman transporting the coffin holding the body of her son, a soldier who was killed in fighting with Russians, sits in a boat crossing the Siverskyi Donets River near Staryi Saltiv in the Kharkiv region. [Erik Marmor/AP Photo]
Ukrainian military doctors treat an injured comrade who was evacuated from the battlefield at the hospital in Donetsk region
Ukrainian military doctors treat an injured comrade who was evacuated from the battlefield at a hospital in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The serviceman did not survive. [Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo]