A local woman works in the garden of her destroyed house in Andriivka, a village 40 kilometers west of Kyiv, on April 6, 2022. The village had suffered from heavy artillery shelling by Russian forces. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
Kyiv Oblast was among the first regions hit by Russia's full-scale invasion. Starting from late February, towns and villages near the Ukrainian capital had been suffering from the Russian shelling and bombing, as well as atrocities of the Russian troops, including rape and summary executions.
The Russian troops withdrew from the region on April 1. Immediately, the extent of destruction and human suffering brought by the occupying forces was revealed. According to the Interior Ministry, 720 bodies of killed civilians have been found in the Kyiv Oblast alone, and over 200 people are missing.
Now, once peaceful villages around Kyiv lay destroyed, the lives of their residents ruined.
Dmytrivka
Dmytrivka is a village of 2,000 people located just 10 kilometers west of Kyiv's borders, and south of Irpin, a satellite city of Kyiv. Dmytrivka experienced heavy fighting. The village had been under the Russian occupation for nearly three weeks. Russian troops were forced out of the village after a Ukrainian offensive on March 31.
A Ukrainian serviceman shows a destroyed Russian tank not far from Kyiv on April 3, 2022. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
Ukrainian serviceman walk past the destroyed Russian tank in Dmytrivka, 10 kilometers west of Kyiv, on April 3, 2022. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
The body of a Russian soldier lies near the destroyed Russian tank in Dmytrivka, a village 10 10 kilometers west of Kyiv, on April 3, 2022. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
The burned body of a Russian soldier inside a Russian APC in Dmytrivka village near Kyiv on April 3, 2022. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
A woman stands in front of a destroyed Russian tank in Dmytrivka, a village near Kyiv on April 3, 2022. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
Stoyanka
The village of Stoyanka is right next to Kyiv's western border, close to Irpin and Dmytrivka. Home to over 500 people, and sitting on the Irpin River, the village was a favored site for middle and high-income Kyiv residents.
Russian troops shelled and bombed the village for days, then rolled in the tanks. To halt Russian advances on the capital, Ukrainian troops destroyed the bridge connecting Stoyanka with Kyiv, cutting once prosperous settlement from Ukrainian-controlled territory for weeks.
A car with the word “children” on the front window photographed on March 31, 2022 in Stoyanka, after being completely destroyed by the Russian troops. (Getty Images)
Ukrainian serviceman walks past the destroyed gas station in Stoyanka, on March 31. (Getty Images)
Two civilians killed in Stoyanka photographed on March 31, 2022. (Getty Images)
A fragment of the yard of a resident of Stoyanka whose house was ruined, photographed on March 31, 2022. (Getty Images)
A woman shows a damaged apple tree in her garden in Stoyanka on March 31, 2022. (Getty Images)
Andriivka
The village of Andriivka, home to over 1,000 people and located 40 kilometers northwest of Kyiv, was under Russian occupation for 34 days. The village had suffered from fighting, with many houses getting damaged or ruined. Local citizens say that the Russians stationed in the village were robbing the houses en masse, stealing flat-screen TVs and valuable home appliances.
A local villager welcomes Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces’ members after they have recovered from the Russian army the Nova Basan village on the eastern of Kyiv, Ukraine on April 01, 2022. (Getty Images)
Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces’ members walk around after they have recovered from the Russian army the Nova Basan village on the eastern of Kyiv, Ukraine on April 01, 2022. (Getty Images)
(Image depicts death) A dead body of Russian soldier is seen after Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces’ members have recovered from the Russian army the Nova Basan village on the eastern of Kyiv, Ukraine on April 01, 2022. (Getty Images)
Elder women weep as they meet with Territorial Defence Forces’ members after they have recovered from the Russian army the Nova Basan village on the eastern of Kyiv, Ukraine on April 01, 2022. (Getty Images)
Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces’ members walk around after they have recovered from the Russian army the Nova Basan village on the eastern of Kyiv, Ukraine on April 01, 2022. (Getty Images)
Buzova
Buzova, a village with a pre-war population of 1,500 people, was completely destroyed by Russian shelling, and later occupied. The U.K. Defense Ministry reported, citing Ukrainian intelligence, that a mass grave with the bodies of killed civilians was uncovered near Buzova after Russian troops had been driven out of the region.
Residents look at a destroyed Russian tank on the outskirts of Buzova village, west of Kyiv, on April 10, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)
A man walks past a destroyed high-rise building in Buzova village in Kyiv Oblast, on April 5, 2022. (Getty Images)
GRAPHIC: Ukrainian men wrap the body of their relative, discovered in a manhole at a petrol station on the outskirts of Buzova, on April 10, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)
A Ukrainian mother reacts after the body of her son was discovered in a manhole at a petrol station on the outskirts of Buzova, on April 10, 2022. Several bodies were discovered in the manhole. (AFP/Getty Images)
A damaged school in Buzova on April 5, 2022. (Getty Images)
Demydiv
Demydiv lies 10 kilometers north of Kyiv and was home to over 3,500 people before Russia launched the invasion. The village is now partly flooded due to the nearby Kyiv Reservoir being damaged by fighting.
Civilians cross the destroyed bridge over the Irpin River and walk the long road to Demydiv and adjacent villages. After the withdrawal of Russian troops from villages in Kyiv Oblast, civilians began returning home. (Getty Images)
A bomb crater and destroyed Russian military vehicles seen in Demydiv, near Kyiv, on April 4, 2022. (Getty Images)
People repair the destroyed bridge over the Irpin River in Demydiv. (Getty Images)
Residents of Demydiv, on April 6, assess the damage done to their neighbor’s house. (Getty Images)
A dog photographed running near a destroyed Russian military vehicle in Demydiv, on April 4, 2022. (Getty Images)
Some 56% of Americans believe that U.S. President Donald Trump is "too closely aligned" with Russia amid shifting U.S. foreign policy, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on March 13 found.
A large fire covering over 1,000 square meters engulfed the Tuapse oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai overnight on March 14, regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram.
Greenland's outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede criticized President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. could annex Greenland in a Facebook post on March 13.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called for a unified European approach to military procurement in order to avoid bureaucratic delays, Reuters reported on March 12.
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, was excluded from peace talks after the Kremlin said it did not want him present, NBC News reported on March 13, citing U.S. and Russian officials.
The United States is preparing to resume shipping long-range Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) to Ukraine, Reuters reported on March 13, citing sources familiar with the weapon.
Sweden will provide Ukraine with more than 1.4 billion Swedish kronor ($137.7 million) in humanitarian aid, the country's International Development Minister Benjamin Dousa announced on March 13.
The Trump administration has toughened sanction on Russia's oil and gas industry on March 13 by not renewing an exemption that allows Russian banks to access U.S. payment systems to conduct energy transactions.
The announcement from McDonald's Ukraine comes as more Western companies expand offerings to Ukrainian customers amid the full-scale war, with some companies choosing to reopen storefronts across the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks about a 30-day ceasefire indicate that he is preparing a rejection of the U.S. proposal, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 13.
Hungary’s ambassador to the EU demanded that Mikhail Fridman be removed from the sanctions list, threatening to block the extension of EU sanctions imposed on about 2,000 Russians otherwise, the Financial Times reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.
"We have been very clear that we will never agree to a frozen conflict. We are very much against it, and our positions align with our American partners," Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak said.
"We have been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost and all of the other elements of a final agreement," U.S. President Donald Trump said.
The Kyiv Independent’s Kate Tsurkan sat down with former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton to discuss why U.S. President Donald Trump considers Putin “a friend,” and why a ceasefire at this time would not be favorable for Ukraine.
Russia is ready to agree to the U.S.-proposed ceasefire in Ukraine but demands guarantees that Kyiv will not mobilize or train troops, nor receive military aid during it, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 13.
"Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukraine has received the first tranche of 2.5 billion Canadian dollars (about $1.7 billion) from Ottawa under the G7's Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) initiative.
The following officials are set to be dismissed: Ihor Dolinsky, director of the Kyiv Institute of Land Relations; Volodymyr Sharyi, director of the special housing fund; Viktor Pohrebnoi, director of the Financial Company Zhytloinvest; and Valentina Sviatina, deputy director of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture, Klitschko said.
