Kherson, Ukraine, December 2, 2023 – Residents gather outside their apartment building to receive meals provided by a Ukrainian charity foundation called “Peaceful Heaven”, at a residential neighbohood in Kherson, in southern Ukraine.
Kyiv, Ukraine, June 5, 2023 – Relatives and friends of late Ukrainian soldier Vitaliy Koroviakovskyi, 47, attend his funeral ceremony held at the cemetery in Kyiv, in north-central Ukraine. Mr. Koroviakovskyi died hit by a sniper while fighting Russian forces on the front line near Dvorichna, Kharkiv region, on May 29. He left a wife, Zina, and three young children, Maggy, Tymur and Damir. CREDIT: Photo by Mauricio Lima
NYTUKRAINE *** To follow a story on an abandoned body of a Russian soldier by Maria Varenikova *** Synykha, Ukraine, April 8, 2023 – The body of a dead Russian soldier near Henadiy’s home in Synykha, in eastern Ukraine. Henadiy found a long abandoned, decayed body of a Russian soldier, who was 49, and had been a sergeant and platoon commander, while walking to his cow that was grazing on a tether in a field nearby his house. CREDIT: Photo by Mauricio Lima for The New York Times
NYTUKRAINE *** To follow a story on residents fleeing occupied territories by Carlotta Gall *** Sumy, Ukraine, April 28, 2024 – Oleksiy, 16, left, the eldest son of Oleksii and Olena (out of frame), waits among other Ukrainians who fled Russian-held occupied areas of Ukraine inside a minibus to be taken to a internally displaced people’s center after being registered at a reception center upon their arrival back into Ukraine by bus from Russia, in Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine, just 25 miles from the border with Russia. To return and live a normal life in their home country, Ukrainian residents fleeing the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine are forced to make a long and tiring journey back to their country, which includes crossing into Russia from the occupied territories in the east and in the south, having to endure a long and exhausting journey along Russian highways through dozens of checkpoints, often facing humiliation and mistreatment from Russian security forces, until reaching the Kursk region in Russia, where they are finally allowed to cross back into their country through the border in the Sumy region of Ukraine. CREDIT: Photo by Mauricio Lima for The New York Times
Kyiv, Ukraine, November 21, 2024 – A rose lying on the snow that partially covers some of the thousands of Ukrainian flags symbolizing each Ukrainian soldier killed in the conflict with Russia since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, placed in a garden at Maidan Square in central Kyiv, in north-central Ukraine, the day Ukraine celebrates the 11th anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity. CREDIT: Photo by Mauricio Lima for The New York Times
Preobrazhenka, Ukraine, June 15, 2023 – Among relatives, Asia, 81, bottom, and her husband, Petro, 72, second right, parents of late Ukrainian soldier Ruslan Serenkov, 37, wait for lunch to be served in the garden of their home, after Mr. Serenkov’s funeral ceremony, in the small village of Preobrazhenka, in Dnipropetrovsk region, in southeastern Ukraine. Mr. Serenkov, a machine gunner who was mobilized to join the military in March 2022, died on June 5, 2023 among other comrades after stepping on a mine during an assault mission on the outskirts of Bakhmut. He left his wife Nadiia, 34, after 12 years of marriage, and their two children, Sophia, 8, and Illia, 12.
Preobrazhenka, Ukraine, June 15, 2023 – Neighbors of late Ukrainian soldier Ruslan Serenkov, 37, say goodbye to him after his coffin was placed in the grave during his funeral ceremony held in the small village of Preobrazhenka, in Dnipropetrovsk region, in southeastern Ukraine. Mr. Serenkov, a machine gunner who was mobilized to join the military in March 2022, died on June 5, 2023 among other comrades after stepping on a mine during an assault mission on the outskirts of Bakhmut. He left his wife Nadiia, 34, after 12 years of marriage, and their two children, Sophia, 8, and Illia, 12.
NYTUKRAINE *** To follow a story on villages in Kherson region by Carlotta Gall *** Southern Ukraine, Ukraine, April 19, 2024 – A huge plume of black smoke rises on the horizon coming out of an agricultural products factory hit by Russian shelling, in southern Ukraine. CREDIT: Photo by Mauricio Lima for The New York Times
Kherson, Ukraine, December 5, 2023 – A Ukrainian rescue ambulance medic and a soldier prepare to evacuate a wounded man minutes after a rocket came in through the roof of his compound while explosions could still be heard nearby, in Kherson, in southern Ukraine. At least three people died and two were wounded by the attack, according to local authorities.
Kamyanka, Ukraine, July 2, 2023 – Svitlana Spornyk, 60, pauses as she surveys the ruins of what used to be her home, destroyed last year during an Ukrainian military offensive against Russian forces in the small village of Kamyanka, near Izium, in eastern Ukraine. The very few residents of Kamyanka who have returned to their ruined homes depend on food distribution to survive, and are running without water and electricity services.
More than three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has been a test of endurance for the country’s civilian population, who continue to endure relentless Russian shelling and missile attacks. Preobrazhenka is a small village in southeastern Ukraine that at first glance appears serene — a typical Ukrainian village with abundant fields and carefully tended gardens. But it has not been spared from the war.
The southern city of Kherson, captured by Russian forces at the beginning of the war and liberated by Ukrainian troops two years ago, holds a special place among Ukraine’s cities: it exists in a purgatory between liberation and occupation, free of Russian troops but still within reach of much of Moscow’s arsenal. While Ukrainian soldiers have stepped up their assault on the east bank of the Dnipro River, controlled by Russia, Moscow has responded with heavy shelling on the Ukrainian side.
Kherson’s residents have endured week after week of indiscriminate violence since the Russian troops fled, hoping for true liberation but not finding it, as the city and its surroundings remain a hotspot of bloody tension. Less than 20% of Kherson’s residents remain in the city, scattered across several neighborhoods. The population has dropped from 280,000 to about 60,000 and is expected to decline even further as winter approaches, especially if Russia resumes bombing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as it did last year, when strikes were at their worst and both electricity and heating were scarce.
After months of brutal fighting and heavy casualties, Russian forces have made significant advances on the front lines since late 2024, particularly in the east of the country. Russia currently controls about 18% of Ukraine — a stretch of territory larger than Switzerland. This includes Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine, which they have occupied since 2014.
