KHERSON — Housed in a grand imperial building with a view out onto the Dnipro River, the Kherson Fine Arts Museum once hosted one of the richest collections in all of Ukraine. As with the rest of Kherson, which had its electricity infrastructure destroyed by withdrawing Russian forces in early November,
In the Kyiv office of the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion, two flags hang on the wall next to each other: the yellow-and-blue flag of Ukraine and the green-white-and-red flag of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. The battalion, named for the first president of the short-lived Chechen republic, Dzhokhar Dudayev, who led
KHERSON — As Maksym Nehrov sat in the back of a vehicle, tied up, with a bag over his head, he overheard the Russians talking and he knew at once where he was headed. They’d hunted him all over Kherson, kicking down doors and tearing through the apartments of his
When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed his 10-point peace plan to G20 leaders in Bali on Nov. 15, he had only recently returned from a historic visit to Kherson, the liberation of which marks another great step towards the return of all Russian-occupied territory. Touching on factors such as food
KHERSON – When liberation came, many Kherson residents could barely believe the ordeal was over. Kherson was the only regional capital that Russians managed to capture, back in the first days of the full-scale invasion. A brutal occupation then ensued, with many residents being suppressed, robbed, abducted, tortured or killed. In
Russia's gradual retreat reached a sudden climax on Nov. 9, when Moscow announced the withdrawal of its forces from the right bank of the Dnipro River, including the city of Kherson. Upon the recommendation of Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the
In the early hours of Oct. 29, the famous naval harbor of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, was rocked by a series of mysterious explosions. Details were scarce at first, but with the coming of dawn, remarkable footage was released of sleek, black maritime
SVIATOHIRSK, Donetsk Oblast – For centuries, the gleaming whitewashed walls of the Sviatohirsk Dormition Lavra, peeking out of the hilly forest above the Siverskyi Donets River, attracted pilgrims from across the Eastern Orthodox world. Now, in an obscene imitation of a Jackson Pollock painting, they stand in many places splattered with
PERSHOTRAVNEVE, Kharkiv Oblast – Less than two kilometers from front-line positions on the border with Luhansk Oblast, silence is deceptive and never lasts long. In one moment, the scene in any given village in this gray zone can be described as almost peaceful, as children play on sunny streets and flocks
LYMAN, Donetsk Oblast – On a quiet road lined by pine forest leading into the city of Lyman, the remains of a frantic but unsuccessful escape clutter the roadside. Four repurposed civilian cars, burnt-out and upturned, mark the spot where the flight of Russian soldiers met an abrupt end. Just beside
KYIV — The morning of Oct. 10 in Kyiv was like no other since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Starting just after 8 a.m., explosions were heard throughout Ukraine’s capital, and it was soon apparent that not all incoming missiles were being shot down
On the morning of Oct. 10, Russian missiles and kamikaze drones struck central Kyiv and other major cities in Ukraine in the largest-scale coordinated missile attack against Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24. Dozens of other explosions were reported across Ukraine, including in Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, Lviv,
ZAPORIZHZHIA – On Sept. 30, residents of Zaporizhzhia woke up to the horrendous news of a bloody Russian strike on a convoy of civilian cars in their city overnight. The attack with S-300 missiles killed 31 civilians and wounded 88 more. Though the deadliest to date, it wasn’t the first
ZAPORIZHZHIA — Guarding a quiet turnoff from the road heading south out of Zaporizhzhia city to the territories occupied by Russia, two Ukrainian police officers were approached by a middle-aged woman in a state of near despair. “My friend was killed here yesterday,” she said to the officer as she got
KUPIANSK, Kharkiv Oblast — For the handful of Ukrainians left in the center of Kupiansk, life since liberation from Russian occupation has been reduced to an exercise in survival. The city in Kharkiv Oblast is shelled throughout the day by Russian artillery on the other side of the Oskil River, where
WARNING: This article contains very graphic scenes that readers may find disturbing. KOZACHA LOPAN, Kharkiv Oblast — Ten days have passed since his town was liberated from Russian troops, but Vitaliy Oliia is still afraid to leave his home at night. “I never go any further than the next house, that’
IZIUM, Kharkiv Oblast – Six months into the occupation of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces announced a mysterious strict 24-hour curfew on Sept. 8. Roman, a bread vendor at the local market who declined to give his last name, drove north the following morning on an errand in defiance of
Four days into Ukraine’s surprise counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces have retreated from the key cities of Kupiansk and Izium, signaling a near-total collapse of the Russian line of defense in the area. Reports are also circulating on social media and Telegram channels indicating that Russian troops have
In August, Russia's war against Ukraine returned to where it all started, to Crimea. Starting with the attack on the Saky air base in Novofedorivka on Aug. 9 that destroyed around a dozen Russian fighter aircraft, military targets were hit on a regular basis on the peninsula over the next
NIKOPOL – On nights when he hears them, Mykhailo Kling runs to his panoramic ninth-floor balcony in Nikopol to watch Russian rockets being fired at his hometown. “See the reactor buildings there,” he said, pointing across the wide expanse of the Dnipro River at the eerie shapes of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear
