Photos: Harrowing reality for Ukrainians continues in, beyond embattled country

A Ukrainian serviceman stands in the cemetery after the funeral of his comrade Vladyslav Buvalkin, 42, on March 23, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Anastasia Vlasova, 2022 Getty Images)

As Russian forces continue their attempts at overtaking Ukraine, many of the people have moved out in masses, seeking safety.

A month into the invasion, the two sides traded heavy blows in what has become a devastating war of attrition. Ukraine’s navy said it sank a large Russian landing ship near the port city of Berdyansk that had been used to bring in armored vehicles. Russia claimed to have taken the eastern town of Izyum after fierce fighting.

Recommended Videos



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded with the Western allies at an emergency NATO summit via video for tanks, planes, rockets, air defense systems and other weapons, saying his country is “defending our common values.”

U.S President Joe Biden, who attended the summit in Brussels and other high-level meetings, gave assurances that more aid is on its way, though it appeared unlikely the West would give Zelenskyy everything he wanted, for fear of triggering a much wider war.

Earlier in the week, Russian troops carried on with their siege of Mariupol after the southern port city’s defenders refused demands to surrender. Fleeing civilians describing relentless bombardments and corpses lying in the streets. Russia’s army attacked Kyiv again, leaving a shopping center destroyed and at least eight people dead.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces are increasingly concentrating their air power and artillery on Ukraine’s cities and the civilians living there. Moscow’s invasion has driven nearly 3.5 million people from Ukraine, according to the United Nations, with another 6.5 million displaced inside the country. The U.N. has confirmed more than 900 civilian deaths, while saying the real toll is probably much higher. Estimates of Russian deaths vary, but even conservative figures are in the low thousands.

Warning: Some photos below are graphic in nature.

Yuri Vododymyrovych (C) stands next to the burial site of his twin brother Fedorchyk Ihor Vododymyrovych during his burial at the Lychakiv Cemetery on March 24, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. Mr. Vododymyrovych was a member of the Ukrainian Army and died fighting the Russians in the city of Nova Kakhovka. (2022 Getty Images)
A general view of the cemetery on March 23, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
A young girl cries as a man says goodbye to his daughter at the railway station on March 22, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. Lviv has served as a stopover and shelter for the millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, either to the safety of nearby countries or the relative security of western Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
Yulia (who didn't want to use last name) cries as she holds her baby Egor while staying at a relief center set up at the main train station on March 23, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
Workers sort through clothes that are being put together as aid packages for those in need as the city continues to prepare for the possibility of a Russian military attack on March 23, 2022 in Lviv, (2022 Getty Images)
A view of the aftermath of the Retroville shopping mall following a Russian shelling attack that killed eight people on March 21, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 dia images)
A view to the site of an explosion as a result of a missile strike into the shopping mall on March 21, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
A baby from a family who fled the war in Ukraine rests in a bed on March 21, 2022 in Staniatki, Poland. With the current invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, the Benedictine Nuns have been hosting refuges from Ukraine. The monastery is now hosting 80 refugees and their capacity can reach up to 100. Roughly two-thirds of the more than 3 million people who have fled Ukraine since Russia attacked the country on Feb. 24 have come to Poland. (2022 Getty Images)
A view of the aftermath of the Retroville shopping mall following a Russian shelling attack that killed eight people on March 21, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 dia images)
Iryna, a nurse, feeds a baby on March 20, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Nearly 20 surrogate-born babies, along with the surrogacy center's nursing staff, live in a makeshift basement shelter, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine made it unsafe for the baby's foreign parents to retrieve them. Ukraine has been a popular location for international surrogacy, in which women can be compensated for carrying and delivering a child belonging to foreign parents. (2022 Getty Images)
Ihor, 67 smokes while cleaning up around his destroyed home that was struck in a recent Russian attack on March 20, 2022 in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
People, mainly women and children, arrive at Przemysl train station on a evening train from war-torn Ukraine on March 20, 2022 in Przemysl, Poland. Nearly two-thirds of the more than 3 million people to have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion last month have come to Poland, which shares a 310-mile border with its eastern neighbor. (2022 Getty Images)
Pope Francis blesses a Ukrainian child receiving treatment at Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital on March 19, 2022 in Rome, Italy. Pope Francis travels to the Vatican’s Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital to visit a group of Ukrainian children receiving treatment after fleeing the war in their home country. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupts routine medical care in much of the country, the Bambino Gesù hospital has stepped into the breach to assist children in need of treatment. Around 50 children have arrived from Ukraine to the Pope’s hospital -- 19 of whom are hospitalized -- to receive quality care. (2022 Vatican Pool)
People look at damage at a school that was hit by a Russian attack 10 days ago on March 20, 2022 in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
Vova, a 13-year-old, recovering from a gunshot wound to the right side of his face after he and his family came under fire from Russian soldiers, killing his father and cousin while they were trying to flee Kyiv on February 26, rests in a hospital bed at a children's hospital, on March 19, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
Residents survey the wreckage after Russia fired missiles at Vynohradar housing estate in Kiev's Podilskyi district, on March 18, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. In the attack, one person was killed and 19 people were injured, including four children. (2022 dia images)
Milana, 6, who is recovering from leg injuries sustained after a Russian rocket hit her house on February 28, killing her mother, reacts to volunteers dressed as clowns at a children's hospital on March 19, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
Volunteers work to make food packages from donated goods from European countries to distribute to cities around Kyiv at an aid center on March 19, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
A damaged classroom in a preschool is seen after a residential apartment complex was hit by a Russian attack on March 18, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
A view of a flat that was destroyed as a result of a missile strike in a residential area on March 18, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
Residents survey the wreckage after Russia fired missiles at Vynohradar housing estate in Kiev's Podilskyi district, on March 18, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. In the attack, one person was killed and 19 people were injured, including four children. (2022 dia images)
Evheniya Horho cries as she speaks on the phone in the residential area which was hit by a missile on March 18, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)
Writing on a blackboard showing the last day of class before the invasion began is seen in a classroom of a school that was damaged after a nearby apartment block was hit by the debris of an intercepted Russian rocket in the early hours of the morning on March 17, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (2022 Getty Images)

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


About the Author:

Dawn Jorgenson, Graham Media Group Branded Content Managing Editor, began working with the group in April 2013. She graduated from Texas State University with a degree in electronic media.