The Russian Invasion of Ukraine

On the early morning of February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation led by Vladimir Putin launched the largest invasion of a sovereign country since World War 2. His target, Ukraine. The invasion was proceeded by months of troop buildup along Ukraine’s border as well as an 8-year-long low-level conflict in the country’s eastern Donbas Region. While reminiscent of massive wars of the early to mid-20th century, immediately the invasion was also a showcase in the horrific power of modern weaponry. With both sides employing, tanks, fighter jets, long range artillery, drone strikes, cyber warfare, and naval warfare, the scale of destruction is of that not seen since the Europe of World War 2.

The first months of the conflict saw Russia attempt to seize the capitol, Kyiv, in a multi-pronged attack aimed at surrounding key cities and submitting them with air strikes and artillery. Both sides suffered massive casualties, in the suburbs surrounding Kyiv, massacres and war crimes were committed by Russian troops. In a blow to Putin, the Ukrainian military withstood and repelled the first wave of the invasion, regaining territory and putting Russian losses of men and equipment into the tens of thousands.

As the war drags on through its first year, one thing has become clear, those who will suffer most are the civilians. Since the beginning of the invasion 8.2million Ukrainians have fled their homeland for the safety of nearby countries such as Romania and Poland. Many chose to stay as well, with almost every man and woman picking up arms or volunteering to help in the fight against Russia.

The war has shifted to Ukraine’s east, where fighting reminiscent of world war 1 is taking place in a battle fought with artillery and Trenches with a horrific modern twist. There is no end in sight to the fighting, with both sides committed to total victory, though Russia has seemingly given up overthrowing the capitol for the time being.

War is a gruesome and costly endeavor, its cost is not easily measured, and continues for generations to come. The Russian invasion has reshaped the modern world as we know it, and with every passing day tensions rise between the west and Russia and its allies, whether the world will see another world war is a question that hangs over the world.

Smoke rises over Lviv, Ukraine following a Russian missile attack that killed 11 people on April 18, 2022. The city of Lviv which is located in the western part of the country near the border with Poland has served as a hub for refugees and humanitarian aid coming into the country.

A woman prays while attending mass at the ‘Church of the Most Holy Apostles Peter and Paul’ in Lviv, Ukraine on March 10th, 2022. The church, one of the oldest in Ukraine, serves as the site for many funerals for Ukrainian civilians and soldiers killed on the frontlines and in the onslaught of Russian missile and drone attacks.

A young girl cries as she waits to board a train with her mother and siblings headed to the Polish border at the Lviv-Holovnyi railway station in Lviv, Ukraine on March 11th, 2022. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians pass through the rail station as they flee the Russian Invasion and seek refuge in neighboring European countries, millions have fled sparking the largest European refugee crisis since the second world war.

Civilians return to the flooded town of Demidiv, Ukraine after Ukrainian forces pushed out Russian troops from the Kyiv region on April 5, 2022. Heavy fighting during the battle of Kyiv destroyed many of the towns and villages surrounding the capital. The local administration flooded Demidiv to prevent Russian troops from advancing closer to Kyiv.

A Ukrainian family collects belongings from their apartment in a destroyed building that was hit by a Russian missile during heavy fighting in Chernihiv, Ukraine on April 14th, 2022. Chernihiv, a city in the northeast saw fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops with entire neighborhoods destroyed and the city left without power, food, or clean water for weeks.

A man rides his bike past a destroyed apartment block in a town on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine on April 7, 2022. The villages and towns on the outskirts of Kyiv saw fierce fighting and major destruction during the battle of Kyiv as Russian forces attempted to surround and capture the capital city.

Ukrainian soldiers walk down a street in Bucha, Ukraine that has been annihilated and is crowded with dead Russian soldiers and destroyed armored vehicles on April 3, 2022. Bucha, a small village on the outskirts of Kyiv saw some of the fiercest fighting of the battle of Kyiv. After being recaptured by Ukrainian forces mass graves and the corpses of civilians bearing signs of torture and execution were discovered.

A Ukrainian soldier walks past the corpse of a dead Russian soldier at the scene of an ambush on a Russian armored column on the outskirts of Bucha on April 3, 2022. Ambushes like this by Ukrainian volunteer units and soldiers armed with Javelin missile launchers claimed massive casualties for the Russian troops trying to capture the capital city Kyiv and eventually forced the Russians to pull out of the region.

A child holds up a shell casing for a picture in Bucha, Ukraine on April 3, 2022. The child and his family hid in the basement of their apartment building during the heavy fighting and occupation of the town. Following the liberation by Ukrainian troops, the bodies of civilians and mass graves were discovered, over 1,000 Ukrainian civilians were killed during fighting in the Kyiv suburbs.

Ukrainian soldiers carry a machine gun and other equipment stripped from destroyed tanks in Bucha, Ukraine on April 3, 2022. Fierce fighting in the suburbs of Kyiv eventually forced the poorly trained and unprepared Russian forces to withdraw to the north back into Belarus.

Ukrainian soldiers strip a Russian tank following an ambush that wiped out a column of Russian armored vehicles on April 3, 2022. Well-placed ambushes, javelins, and Ukrainian knowledge of the area eventually forced Russian troops to withdraw from the areas surrounding Kyiv amid staggering casualties.

The body of a Ukrainian civilian lies next to his bicycle where he fell on the side of a road near Bucha, Ukraine on April 3, 2022. After Ukrainian forces liberated the villages and towns surrounding Kyiv, mass graves and the bodies of civilians were discovered, in all, over 1,000 Ukrainian civilians were found to have been killed during Russian occupation of Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel, and other villages on the outskirts of the capital.

A man weeps by the grave of his brother who was killed by a Russian missile strike on Lviv, Ukraine on March 11, 2022. Despite Lviv being in the far western part of the country, Russian missile and drone attacks continue to claim casualties in areas far from the frontlines.

Soldiers carry the coffin of a fallen comrade following a funeral service at the Church of the Most Holy Apostles Peter and Paul on March 14, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. The far western city continues to come under missile and drone attacks despite being hundreds of miles from the frontlines of the war.

The daughter of Rostyslav Romanchuk, eight-year-old Viktoria, cries as her father's casket is lowered into his grave at the Lychakivske Cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine. Romanchuk was one of 35 killed in an airstrike on a military base near the Polish border.

Mourners gathered in Lychakivske cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine for the burial of four Ukrainian soldiers ( Oleh Yaschyshyn, Sergiy Melnyk, Rostyslav Romanchuk, and Kyrylo Vyshyvany) who were killed by a Russian airstrike on the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, a military base in Yavariv near the Polish border earlier in the week.

A woman walks past the portraits of soldiers and civilians killed by Russian troops and Russian-backed separatists in the Church of the Most Holy Apostles Peter and Paul during mass on March 10th, 2022. The church serves both as the site of frequent funerals as well as holding mass specifically for soldiers heading to the frontlines of the war.

A woman crosses herself after paying her respects to a soldier killed by Russian forces during a missile attack on Lviv, Ukraine on March 11th, 2022. Despite being in the far west of the country, Lviv continues to be targeted by missile and drone attacks as international aid moves through the region.

A portrait of a young girl lay amid the rubble along with other personal belongings near a destroyed apartment block in Borodyanka, Ukraine on April 8th, 2022. Borodyanka, a town to the North East of Kyiv, saw heavy fighting and missile strikes, one of which hit a residential building in which civilians were sheltering, rescue crews stated that at least 100 civilians were killed in the attack.

A woman and her grandson stand in the ruins of their home in Chernihiv, Ukraiine on April 15, 2022. Chernihiv, a city in the northeast of Ukraine saw heavy fighting which destroyed much of the city and its infrastructure leaving many without homes, electricity, food, or clean water.

Soldiers are seen from a destroyed apartment building window exiting a bus to man positions in Chernihiv, Ukraine on April 15, 2022. Chernihiv saw intense fighting that destroyed much of the city and its infrastructure.

A young girl amidst the sea of refugees trying to board trains bound for Poland at the Lviv-Holovnyi railway station in Lviv, Ukraine on March 10, 2022. Millions of Ukrainians fled their homes as Russia launched is invasion on Ukraine, sparking the greatest refugee crisis in Europe since WW2.

A woman waits for food distribution in a small town near the Russian-Ukrainian border north of Chernihiv on April 15, 2022. With supply lines severely interrupted due to the war many smaller villages found themselves short of necessities such food, medicine, gas and electricity.

A man walks his bike through a destroyed neighborhood in Chernihiv, Ukraine on April 14, 2022. Chernihiv, a city in northeast Ukraine saw massive destruction amid heavy fighting leaving the city without electricity or access to basic necessities.

A street is littered with glass and debris following a Russian missile strike on a shopping district in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 15, 2022. Missile attacks on Kyiv claimed the lives of civilians and soldiers alike as Russia attempted to encircle the city in a multi-pronged assault launched from neighboring Belarus.

A Ukrainian civilians goes through his belongings after a missile struck the courtyard of his apartment building and destroyed multiple structures on March 15, 2022. As Russia attempted to encircle Kyiv they continually launched drone and missile strikes often hitting residential areas.

A Ukrainian soldier looks out over the flooded fields of Demydiv, Ukraine a suburb north of Kyiv on April 6, 2022. Residents of Demydiv intentionally flooded the city and destroyed bridges to prevent Russian forces from crossing the nearby river on their way to capture Kyiv.

A makeshift grave dug for a Russian soldier killed during fighting near Demydiv, Ukraine on April 5, 2022. Heavy fighting occurred in the suburbs surrounding Kyiv as Russian forces attempted to encircle the Ukrainian capital, fierce resistance from volunteer and military Ukrainian units forced Russian troops to pull out of the northern region of Ukraine.

Civilians walk the long road towards Demydiv following Russian troops’ retreat back to Belarus on April 5, 2022. After Russian forces pulled out of Kyiv Oblast, Ukrainian civilians began to return to the homes they had fled at the outbreak of the invasion.

A photograph of a woman on the railroad tracks of the Lviv-Holovnyi Railway Station in Lviv, Ukraine on March 11, 2022. As millions fled Ukraine at the start of the Russian invasion many lost or left behind belongings at the railway stations.

A woman and her children wait for their train to depart towards the Polish border from the Lviv-Holovnyi Railway station on March 12, 2022. Millions of Ukrainians fled to Poland, Romania, and other neighboring countries as Russian troops crossed the border in a full scale invasion.

A church on the outskirts of Bucha, Ukraine bears the scars of war following liberation by Ukrainian troops on April 3, 2022. Throughout Kyiv Oblast in towns that had been occupied by Russian forces, civilians reported numerous incidents of war crimes including rapes, murders, and torture.