Russia-Ukraine War

Forensic medical expert Inga Gerbst in Kharkiv, Ukraine on Jan. 22, 2026.
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As Ukraine war deaths mount, Kharkiv morgue strains to identify the truth

by Asami Terajima

KHARKIV, KHARKIV OBLAST — A blonde-haired woman walks through a slim pathway between corpses lying against walls and autopsy tables inside Ukraine's oldest morgue. The main autopsy room, connected with two additional rooms and equipped with an elevator to lift the corpses from the basement, is busy with forensic experts like her going through three bodies on the table. One belongs to a Ukrainian soldier, while the other two are civilians — an elderly lady and a middle-aged man. "It's most lik

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Russia's war is erasing Kostiantynivka's Soviet-era mosaics — this is why it matters

The mosaics covering the facades of factories, cultural centers, and apartment blocks across eastern Ukraine were designed with a specific kind of permanence in mind. They survived the Soviet collapse, the chaos of the 1990s, and decades of post-industrial neglect. What these mosaics couldn't survive was Russian artillery. As Russia’s full-scale war enters its fifth year, the fighting is erasing art that was meant to be indestructible. Photographer Oleg Petrasiuk has captured not just images o

Mosaics in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on Dec. 4, 2025.

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