30 August 2022

People in War

Half a year of the battle for independence memorialized in photos taken by Ukrainian photo journalists

Ukraine pays for its sovereignty in blood. This year, Independence Day on August 24 marks six months since the beginning of Russia’s attempt to occupy our country. But the Ukrainians are fighting bravely, defending their right for free life in a free country.

The Story of One Photo is our regular section where we look at a photo taken by a fellow reporter and tell its story. For the third issue of our printed magazine, we asked photographers to share their special photos from the war.

Ukrainian artillery gunners are warming themselves by the fire while waiting for orders at a firing position in the Luhansk region. Photo by Anatolyi Stepanov

Oleksandr, a territorial defense fighter in Irpin, protects The New York Times photo journalist Lynsey Addario from the fragments of a Russian shell. Thirty eight minutes later, whilst helping civilians escaping through the ‘green corridor’, Oleksandr is injured by shrapnel. This explosion kills a mother, her two children and a civilian man. Having recovered from his injury, Oleksandr will again defend Ukraine in the ranks of the Armed Forces. Photo by Andrii Dubchak

Evacuation of civilians from Irpin across a bridge damaged by the shelling. The bridge was blown up by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to prevent the enemy from entering Kyiv. On this day at 10 in the morning, women, children and the elderly were due to be evacuated from the city by train, but the Russians blew up the railway tracks. The people were asked to go to another location where buses would take them to the train station in Kyiv. Photo by Maksym Dondiuk

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the fighting in the Luhansk region has not stopped for a minute. The man in the picture is a wounded Ukrainian soldier called Vasyl with the call sign Leshyi. He had just left the battlefield. Vasyl recently lost his son, who had also served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Photo by Anatolyi Stepanov

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This photo of a pregnant woman who was injured during Russia’s shelling of a maternity hospital in Mariupol was featured in many publications around the world. Unfortunately, the mother died along with the child. The maternity hospital and the children’s hospital in Mariupol were shelled on March 9. Three people were killed, including a child. 17 people were injured. The Russian propaganda machine tried to convince the world that the hospital was not working at the time of the shelling and that the wounded women in the photo were actresses. Thanks to this and other pictures taken by Ukrainian photo journalists Yevhen Maloletka and Mstyslav Chernov, the crimes of the Russians in Mariupol were broadcasted to the world. Photo by Yevhen Maloletka

Medics remove shrapnel from the body of a Ukrainian wounded soldier. This is the operating room of the main military hospital in Zaporizhzhia, which treats the wounded from Mariupol, Donetsk and Kherson. Soldiers with the most serious injuries are sent here first where they stay until their condition stabilizes. After that, they are sent to other military hospitals. Photo by Maksym Dondiuk

Kharkiv rescuers put out a fire in a building following a Russian missile attack on 11 April 2022. According to Associated Press journalists who were present, at least five people, including a child, were killed. Missile attacks on Kharkiv continue to this day. Photo by Mstyslav Chernov

On May 14, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) concluded that the Russian military had most likely decided to completely abandon its positions around Kharkiv. The reason was the successful counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army and the continuing logistical problems experienced by the Russian units. In this picture taken at the end of March, Ukrainian soldiers are moving down a highway in the Kharkiv region. They are using enemy vehicles captured from the Russian army. Ukrainian soldiers repainted and hung their flags on the vehicles. The Russians left the body of their dead soldier on the road. Photo by Maksym Dondiuk

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 6.5 million Ukrainians have become refugees and temporarily left for neighboring countries, as reported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at the end of May. In the first days and weeks of the war, there were long queues of evacuees on the western borders of Ukraine. In this photo, people are trying to board a train at the Lviv railway station. Photo by Kostyantyn Chernichkin

A soldier who joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the first days of the war meets his family. His wife and their four kids hardly escaped from the occupied territory. They met in Zaporizhzhia in April 2022. Photo by Andrii Dubchak

Cover photo: On the evening of March 26, Russian troops struck two objects in Lviv—an oil depot and a factory. The city authorities reported five wounded people and substantial damage to the facilities. The missiles were launched from occupied Sevastopol. The State Emergency Service fought the fire throughout the night, finally extinguishing it at 7 the next morning. In this photo, locals are looking at the aftermath of the rocket attacks. Photo by Oleksii Filippov

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