! Child death warning !
The Russia-Ukraine war, now entering its fourth year as of April 2025, has evolved into a protracted and devastating conflict with significant human, economic, and geopolitical consequences. The conflict’s roots trace back to 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea following Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity. This move was widely condemned by the international community. Subsequently, Russian-backed separatists initiated a war in Eastern Ukraine.
On February 24, 2022, Russia escalated the conflict by launching a full-scale invasion, aiming to overthrow Ukraine’s government and reassert Russian influence over its neighbor. In the beginning of the war, chaos reigned. Grocery stores emptied. Roads clogged with people trying to flee west. Women and children evacuated with a train to Lviv, the men stayed behind to help organize civilian defenses. Within weeks, the men were wearing a uniform and holding a rifle.
Fig.1 Lifeless bodies of men, some with their hands tied behind their backs, lie on the ground in Bucha.
Fig.2 People trying to leave Zhytomyr for Kyiv were shot and burned right on the highway.
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Fig.10 Kyiv after Russian missile attacks on October 10, 2022.
Gone were routines. Sleep became a luxury. Ukrainian men rotated between basements and half-ruined buildings. Electricity was sporadic, clean water became precious, and food, when it arrived, came in convoys accompanied by sirens. Days blurred into nights, each marked by the distant—and sometimes terrifyingly near—thud of artillery. Family, friends, neighbours perished. The Russians didn’t distinguish between military and civilian. They didn’t care. If it moved, it was a target. If it breathed Ukrainian air, it was a suspect.
In early April 2025, Russia initiated a significant military escalation, dubbed the “2025 Russian Spring Offensive.” This offensive targeted multiple fronts, including Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Ukrainian intelligence reported the deployment of over 67,000 Russian troops to the Sumy border alone. The offensive has been characterized by intensified assaults, with daily combat engagements rising by approximately 30%, from 140 to 180 per day.
Reports indicate that North Korea has supplied approximately half of the artillery shells used by Russia in the war, with over 16,000 containers of munitions shipped over the past 20 months. Additionally, about 14,000 North Korean troops are aiding Russian forces in Russia’s Kursk region. There are also indications of Chinese mercenaries participating in Russian military operations, with Ukrainian forces capturing individuals identified as Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian soldiers in the Donetsk region.
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Fig.17 The body of a civilian, who according to residents was killed by Russian army soldiers in Bucha.
Fig.18 Civilians who wanted to evacuate from the Kyiv region were shot down and burned.
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Accurate casualty figures are challenging to ascertain due to the ongoing nature of the conflict and restricted access to certain areas. BBC News and Mediazona have confirmed the deaths of 101,883 Russian soldiers and contractors through open-source data. They estimate that this figure represents approximately 45% to 65% of the actual death toll, suggesting the true number of Russian military deaths could range between 146,194 and 211,169. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported in February 2025 that over 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with approximately 390,000 wounded. Some independent organizations estimate higher figures. For instance, UALosses reported in early 2025 that total Ukrainian military losses, including the dead, missing, and captured, exceed 130,000, with 68,000 confirmed dead.
As of April 17, 2025, the civilian toll from the Russia-Ukraine war remains devastating, with thousands of lives lost and many more injured. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has verified at least 12,910 civilian deaths and over 30,700 injuries since the full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022 . However, these figures are considered conservative estimates, as access to certain areas, particularly those under Russian control, is limited, and the actual numbers are likely higher.
The fate of fallen soldiers in the Russia-Ukraine war varies widely depending on the circumstances of their death, the location of the battlefield, and the capacity of either side to recover and identify the remains. The reality is often grim and heartbreaking. In numerous instances—especially during heavy shelling or when forces retreat quickly—bodies are left behind. Some are buried in mass graves, hastily and without markers. Towns like Bucha, Izium, and Mariupol have revealed horrific mass burial sites where both civilians and soldiers were dumped, sometimes after being left exposed for days or weeks.
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Fig.23 Animal scavenging on the corpse of a soldier.
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Unfortunately, many bodies—especially in contested zones or “gray zones” between front lines—are left to decay in the open. This leads to harrowing scenes. In warm weather, corpses can decompose rapidly. In winter, bodies may remain frozen for weeks or months. In some remote or abandoned areas, wild animals like dogs, foxes, boars, or birds do scavenge on human remains. There are confirmed accounts from Ukrainian soldiers and journalists of finding partially eaten corpses weeks after battles. This not only increases the trauma for anyone encountering them—civilians, medics, or recovery teams—but also highlights the inhumanity and brutality of modern trench and artillery warfare.
For Ukrainian communities and families, not recovering a loved one’s body means they cannot mourn properly or hold funerals. For soldiers, seeing comrades left behind—sometimes mutilated or burned—deeply affects morale and mental health. It’s a brutal reality of war: many soldiers die anonymous, alone, and far from their families, their bodies left to rot on contested soil.
Multiple credible sources have documented war crimes committed during the conflict:
- On April 13, 2025, Russian missiles struck Sumy during Sunday church services, killing at least 32 people, including two children, and wounding at least 99. The use of ballistic missiles and cluster munitions in this attack has been widely condemned.
- Reports indicate that surrendering Ukrainian soldiers have been executed by Russian forces. For example, on October 1, 2024, 16 prisoners of war were reportedly executed in Donetsk Oblast following their surrender.
- Russian forces have employed grenade-dropping drones to target civilians in Kherson, attacking individuals in parks, at bus stops, or while cycling and walking on the streets.
- In the occupied town of Volnovakha, Donetsk Oblast, two Russian soldiers executed nine members of the Kapkanets family, including children aged 5 and 9. The soldiers had previously demanded the family vacate their home to accommodate Russian troops. When the family refused, the soldiers returned days later and shot them in their beds.
- After Ukrainian forces regained control of Bucha at the end of March 2022, the extent of the atrocities became evident. Journalists and investigators discovered numerous civilian bodies in the streets, some with hands tied behind their backs, indicating execution-style killings. Mass graves were uncovered, and evidence of torture, including mutilation and rape, nine women became pregnant after being held captive in basements for weeks. The use of indiscriminate weapons, such as flechettes, further highlighted the brutality of the occupation.
Fig.31 Left: Makeshift morgue in a supermarket in Mariupol. Right: Russian missile strike hit the Kramatorsk railway station killing 63 civilians and 9 children.
Fig.32 A father kisses the dead body of his son who was killed during Russian shelling in the Saltivka neighborhood in Kharkiv.
Fig.33 Russian missile strike hit the Kramatorsk railway station killing 63 civilians and 9 children.
Fig.34 Communal workers carry a civilian in a body bag in the town of Bucha.
Fig.35 Russian soldiers executed nine members of the Kapkanets family, including children aged 5 and 9.
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Fig.38 Russian missile strike hit the Kramatorsk railway station killing 63 civilians and 9 children.
Fig.39 People attend the funeral ceremony of 7-year-old Emilia Bazylevich, 18-year-old Daryna Bazylevich, 21-year-old Yaryna Bazylevich and 43-year-old Yevgenia Bazylevich, who died during the Russian shelling of Lviv. The entire family died, except for the children’s father.
Fig.40 Liza Dmytriyeva, a 4-year-old with Down syndrome, died when a flash of fire and metallic shrapnel erupted near her and her mother during a walk in Vinnytsia.
Even now, in 2025, the danger is constant. Drones buzz like angry hornets overhead. You never know when a missile will come. Some fall silently—others scream like banshees seconds before impact. There’s no “front line” anymore. Every city is a front line. Sumy, Mykolaiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv—they all bleed. Civilians walk to work knowing they may not return. Children attend underground schools, learning by flashlight during air raid sirens. The elderly sit in apartments without windows, wrapped in blankets against the cold, surviving on whatever aid makes it through. There’s no normal anymore. Only adaptation.
And yet, despite everything—despite the death, the destruction, the sheer terror of it all—Ukrainians stand strong. The spirit of the Ukrainian people is unbroken. If anything, the war has forged something even stronger than before. They’ve learned how much they are capable of. Every village liberated, every Russian tank burned on their soil, every time the Ukrainian anthem is played—it reminds them: we are still here.
Morale swings like a pendulum. Some days, hope feels fragile—a whisper in the wind. Other days, it roars like a flame. Ukrainians now love more fiercely, because every kiss might be the last. And they dream—not foolishly, but stubbornly. They dream of rebuilding. Of justice. Of victory. Of bringing Putin and his generals to The Hague and seeing them answer for what they’ve done—for Bucha, for Mariupol, for every child buried under rubble or stolen across the border. The Ukrainians survive because they must. Because surrender means annihilation—not just of land, but of language, culture, memory. Russia doesn’t just want to control Ukraine—they want to erase it. But the Ukrainians won’t let them.
Fig.41 From the Bucha massacre.
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The Ukrainian soldiers fight not for territory, but for homes, for graves, for futures. The babushkas knit camouflage nets. Teenagers hack Russian communications. Teachers record lessons from bomb shelters. Everyone contributes. Even now, as Russian missiles rain down and international attention flickers, they remain resolute.
The international community has responded with widespread condemnation and sanctions against Russia. The European Union has implemented multiple rounds of sanctions, and the United States continues to provide military and economic support to Ukraine. High-level international talks have been held to discuss Ukraine’s security and the prospects for ending the war. For instance, on April 17, 2025, discussions in Paris included U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, French President Emmanuel Macron, and senior Ukrainian officials, focusing on forming a coalition to guarantee Ukraine’s security and enforce a potential peace agreement.
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The Western response to the Russia-Ukraine war has faced significant criticism on multiple fronts, encompassing political decisions, military support, economic sanctions, and media coverage. These critiques highlight perceived shortcomings and inconsistencies in the West’s approach to the conflict.
One of the primary criticisms centers on the West’s hesitancy and delays in providing military aid to Ukraine. Despite Ukraine’s urgent requests for advanced weaponry and defense systems, some Western nations have been slow to respond, fearing escalation or provoking Russia further. This cautious approach has, at times, left Ukrainian forces under-equipped to defend against Russian aggression.
Furthermore, internal political divisions within Western countries have impacted the consistency and reliability of support. For instance, former UK Defence Minister Grant Shapps expressed disapproval of U.S. President Donald Trump’s stance on Russia, accusing him of moral ambiguity and failure to clearly condemn Russian aggression. Some analysts contend that the West’s strategic decisions, particularly the expansion of NATO eastward, have contributed to escalating tensions with Russia. Political scientist John Mearsheimer argues that NATO’s enlargement and the West’s support for Ukraine’s integration into Western institutions provoked Russia’s aggressive response, viewing it as a threat to its national security.
Fig.61 A resident stands in her flat in an apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia.
Fig.62 Apartment blocks completely destroyed by the Russian army’s shelling in the city of Bakhmut
Fig.63 Ukrainian soldiers attend to a group of civilians who were mortally wounded by a Russian mortar round while they evacuated from Irpin.
Fig.64 Anton Gladun (22), a military medic, lies on his bed in hospital in Cherkasy, Ukraine, on 5 May 2022. He was injured on the front line.
Fig.65 A cemetery in Ukraine.
The Russia-Ukraine war remains a complex and evolving conflict with significant military, diplomatic, and economic dimensions. The international community’s role, the strategies of the involved nations, and the resilience of Ukraine will all influence the war’s future trajectory.
The Ukrainians don’t ask for pity. They ask for solidarity. They ask for help, yes—but more than anything, they ask to be seen. To be remembered. To be believed. The life of Ukrainians before the war feels like a photograph that’s faded in the sun—still visible, but distant. They may never return to who they were, but they know who they are now: a Ukrainian, forged in the fire of war, carrying both grief and pride.
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