Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago brought death, destruction and hardship to the country, and awakened fears of a new Cold War.
The Feb. 24 attack resulted in more than 8 million Ukrainians fleeing their country in what was the greatest exodus of refugees Europe has witnessed since World War II.
Moscow’s war machine has bombarded civilian infrastructure. Missiles, rockets and artillery shells have indiscriminately hit homes, hospitals and other public buildings, killing and wounding thousands.
In some areas, the ruins of apartment buildings and crumbled bridges are now the prominent features of Ukraine’s new war-ravaged landscape. Bodies lie in the streets, in gardens, in houses. Fire-gutted cars and armored vehicles dot the roads.
In Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, where hundreds of civilians were found dead after a Russian withdrawal from the city last March, Ukrainian officials allege atrocities. Some corpses had their hands tied. Mass graves have been found.
In Mariupol, attacks on hospitals, schools, residential areas and other civilian structures and sites protected under international humanitarian law became the norm.
Ukrainians are often confined for hours in makeshift bomb shelters. Many have been in dire need of food and other aid.
Russian attacks on the power supply during winter left many without heat and running water.
At funerals for soldiers, civilians and children, Ukraine’s yellow-and-blue flag is a familiar sight.
Associated Press photographers were there. This is a selection of their work.
(AP/Evgeniy Maloletka)*
Emergency workers clear the rubble Jan. 14 after a Russian rocket hit a multistory building leaving many people under debris in the southeastern city of Dnipro, Ukraine.
(AP/Felipe Dana)
A man runs March 25 after recovering items from a burning shop following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
(AP/LIBKOS)
Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery Nov. 20 toward Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine.
(AP/Francisco Seco)
Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffin of Volodymyr Losev, 38, on May 16 during his funeral in Zorya Truda in the Odesa region of Ukraine. The 38-year-old Ukrainian volunteer soldier was killed May 7 when the military vehicle he was driving ran over a mine in eastern Ukraine.
(AP/Emilio Morenatti)
Stanislav says goodbye to his 2-year-old son, David, and wife, Anna, on March 3 after they boarded a train that would take them to Lviv, from the station in Kyiv, Ukraine. Stanislav stayed to fight as his family sought refuge in a neighboring country.
(AP/Felipe Dana)
A child in a stroller is lifted across an improvised path March 9 as people flee Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine.
(AP/Emilio Morenatti)
Anastasia Ohrimenko, 26, is comforted by relatives Aug. 31 as she cries next to the coffin of her husband, Yury Styglyuk, a Ukrainian serviceman who died in combat Aug. 24 in Maryinka, Donetsk, during his funeral in Bucha, Ukraine.
(AP/Vadim Ghirda)
An elderly woman is assisted March 5 while crossing the Irpin River on an improvised path under a bridge that was destroyed by Ukrainian troops designed to slow any Russian military advance while fleeing the town of Irpin, Ukraine.