Ukraine war: 25 of the most haunting photos show utter brutality of Russia’s invasion

Alex Mead

featured

Feb 24, 2023

1 of 25

Olena Kurylo, a 52-year-old teacher, stands outside a hospital after the bombing of the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv on February 24, 2022, as Russian armed forces attempt to invade Ukraine from several directions, using rocket systems and helicopters to attack Ukrainian position in the south.

Olena Kurylo, a 52-year-old teacher, stands outside a hospital after the bombing of the eastern town of Chuguiv on Feb. 24, 2022, as Russian forces invaded Ukraine from several directions, using rocket systems and helicopters. Russian tanks and other heavy equipment crossed the border in the dead of the night in several northern regions, as well as from the Kremlin-annexed peninsula of Crimea in the south.

AFP via Getty Images

2 of 25

Ukrainian soldiers attend to a group of civilians, including Tatiana Perebyinis, 43, and her two children, her 18-year-old son Mykyta and 9-year-old daughter Alisa, who were mortally wounded by a Russian mortar round while they evacuated on March 6, 2022 from Irpin.

Ukrainian soldiers attend to a group of civilians, including Tatiana Perebyinis, 43, and her two children — 18-year-old Mykyta and 9-year-old Alisa, who were mortally wounded by a Russian mortar round while they evacuated on March 6, 2022 from Irpin. Perebyinis was chief accountant at a Silicon Valley tech company living in Ukraine. A volunteer helping the family was also killed.

Lynsey Addario/Getty Images

3 of 25

Emergency personnel work at the site where an apartment block was heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine January 15, 2023.

Emergency personnel tirelessly work at the site where a huge apartment block housing 1,700 residents was heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Dnipro on January 15, 2023. The attack by a Kh-22 supersonic cruise missile killed some 46 civilians and injured at least 80 others.

REUTERS

4 of 25

A young woman with a pained yet defiant expression on her face weeps during the funerals of Andriy Melnyk, Andriy Shufryn and Oleksandra Ankratov — three Ukrainian military service members who were killed in the east of the country, in Lviv, on May 14, 2022.

5 of 25

The body of an unidentified man lies on a road barrier near a village recently retaken by Ukrainian forces on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022.

The body of an unidentified man lies on a road barrier near a village retaken by Ukrainian forces on the outskirts of Kharkiv in April 30, 2022. Kharkiv, located just 20 miles from the Russian border, has seen its landmarks and neighborhoods decimated by Russian missiles. In September, it became the site of a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive that snatched the military initiative from the enemy.

6 of 25

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at Russian positions near Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on Nov. 20, 2022.

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at Russian positions near the city of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on Nov. 20, 2022. Bakhmut – dubbed a “fortress” by Kyiv — has seen some of the bloodiest fighting of the war over the winter months as Russian forces have been trying to capture the strategically important city at an enormous cost in lives.

7 of 25

Serhii, father of teenager Iliya, cries on his son's lifeless body lying on a stretcher at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward during the war with Russia in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022.

In the first days of the war, a gut-wrenching photo emerged showing a grieving father, Serhii, sobbing over the dead body of his son, Iliya, covered with a blood-soaked hospital sheet in a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward. The teenager was killed in early March in the city of Mariupol, which was later captured by Russian forces after a brutal months-long siege.

8 of 25

The body of a man who was killed with his hands tied behind his back lies on the ground in Bucha, Ukraine, April 3, 2022. The quiet suburb of Kyiv has become synonymous with Russia’s alleged war crimes after Moscow’s troops withdrew from the city, leaving behind evidence of a mass murder targeting hundreds of civilians. Ukrainian forces who liberated the town found mass graves filled with hundreds of people who had been killed, some after enduring torture, during Bucha’s occupation.

9 of 25

In this photo taken on April 2, 2022, bodies of civilians lie on Yablunska street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, after the Russian army pulled back from the city. The first body on the picture has been identified as Mykhailo Kovalenko.

In this photo taken on April 2, 2022, bodies of some 20 men lie on Yablunska Street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, after the Russian army pulled back from the city following a failed attempt to encircle the capital. The first body in the picture has been identified as Mykhailo Kovalenko, 62, who was shot dead by Russian soldiers. His relatives said Kovalenko got out of his car with his hands up to present himself at a checkpoint. Still, the Russian troops manning the checkpoint opened fire, killing him. The man’s wife and daughter survived by fleeing.

AFP via Getty Images

10 of 25

A Ukrainian soldier, heavily wounded in conflicts within Russian-Ukrainian war, waits to receive medical treatment at Bakhmut Hospital in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on December 5, 2022.

An unnamed Ukrainian soldier, badly wounded and covered in blood, waits to receive medical treatment at Bakhmut Hospital in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on December 5, 2022. Both Russia and Ukraine have referred to Bakhmut as a “meat grinder” that has claimed thousands of lives through Moscow’s incessant attempts to capture the key city. Mercenaries fighting on Moscow’s behalf have led the fight for Bakhmut, spending months trying to encircle it and cut off Ukraine’s supply lines.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

11 of 25

Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee crossing the Irpin river in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022.

Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee crossing the Irpin river in the outskirts of Kyiv on March 5, 2022. After Russian forces’ monthlong occupation of Irpin, Ukrainian troops took control of the city after fierce street battles, discovering evidence of suspected war crimes perpetrated by the occupiers.

12 of 25

People cross a destroyed bridge as they evacuate the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling and bombing, 10 days after Russia launched a military invasion on Ukraine, on March 5, 2022.

Desperate civilians cross a destroyed bridge as they evacuate the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, during heavy shelling and bombing, 10 days after Russia invaded Ukraine. A steady stream of Ukrainian civilians made their way out of Irpin while being shelled by Russians, as Ukrainian soldiers tried to hold back enemy forces from entering Kyiv in the first days of the war.

AFP via Getty Images

13 of 25

For more than 80 days, Russian forces mercilessly blasted Mariupol before crushing Ukrainian resistance in May.

For more than 80 days, Russian forces mercilessly blasted Mariupol with bombs and ground-penetrating artillery, turning the once-peaceful port city into a desolate hellscape where terrified residents huddled in basements without food or water. In May, the invading troops finally brought the city to heel after forcing its Ukrainian defenders at the Azovstal steelworks to lay down their arms.

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

14 of 25

Bodies are lowered into a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9, 2022.

Bodies are lowered into a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol, on March 9, 2022, as people cannot bury their dead because of the heavy shelling by Russian forces. The United Nations confirmed the deaths of 1,348 civilians in the occupied city, but the true death toll is likely significantly higher.

15 of 25

A Ukrainian policeman walks by a pit in the village of Motyzhyn in the Bucha region on April 3, 2022, where the bodies of four people were found.

A Ukrainian policeman walks by a pit in the village of Motyzhyn in the Bucha region on April 3, 2022, where the bodies of the village’s mayor, Olga Sukhenko, 50, her husband and son, and that of a man believed to be a Ukrainian soldier were found. The victims’ killings appeared to be executions from close range in retaliation for not collaborating with the occupiers.

16 of 25

Black smoke billows from a fire on the Kerch bridge that links Crimea to Russia, after a truck exploded, near Kerch, on October 8, 2022.

Black smoke billows from a fire on the key Kerch Bridge that links the annexed Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia, after a truck exploded on the span on October 8, 2022. The bridge cost $3.7 billion to build and was the pet project of President Vladimir Putin. After months of repairs in the wake of the blast, which Moscow has blamed on Kyiv, the bridge fully reopened to traffic on the eve of the first anniversary of the war.

AFP via Getty Images

17 of 25

A Russian soldier patrols at the Mariupol drama theatre, bombed on March 16, 2022. The concert venue had been used as a bomb shelter during the siege of the port city, and the blast that annihilated the building killed an estimated 600 civilians. About a week before the bombing, the theater’s set designer used white paint to inscribe the word “CHILDREN” in Cyrillic letters on the pavement outside, in the hope of staving off an attack from above.

AFP via Getty Images

18 of 25

Marianna Vyshemirsky stands outside a maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

Pregnant woman Marianna Vyshemirsky, her face covered in bleeding cuts, stands outside a maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol on March 9, 2022. The 29-year-old beauty blogger survived and gave birth to her daughter Veronika. Russia later falsely accused the new mom of being a crisis actor, using her viral photo in a sickening disinformation campaign.

19 of 25

Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from a maternity hospital damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from a maternity hospital that was hit by a Russian missile in Mariupol on March 9, 2022. The mom-to-be in the viral photo, identified as Irina Kalinina, later died, along with her newborn baby son, who was delivered by a Caesarean section. Kalinina’s husband, Ivan, later said that he and Irina, who worked as a manager at a clothing store, were excited to welcome their first child and had named him Miron, from the Russian word “mir,” which means “peace.”

20 of 25

A view shows a kitchen inside an apartment block heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine January 15, 2023.

A striking yellow kitchen is seen exposed after a Russian missile destroyed a huge apartment building, housing some 1,700 people, in Dnipro on January 15 — killing 46 residents. The brightly-hued kitchen belonged to Mykhailo Korenovsky, the head coach of the Dnipropetrovsk region’s boxing team, who died in the blast. His wife Olha, 38, and their two daughters were talking a walk outside at the time and were unharmed. The coach’s widow later shared a heartbreaking home video showing a joyful birthday celebration for one of her kids that was recently held in the family’s sunny kitchen.

REUTERS

21 of 25

Stanislav says goodbye to his 2-year-old son, David, and wife, Anna, after they boarded a train that will take them to Lviv, from the station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3.

A Ukrainian man named Stanislav says goodbye to his 2-year-old son, David, and wife, Anna, after they boarded a train that will take them to Lviv, from a station in Kyiv on March 3. 2022. Stanislav stayed to fight as his family sought refuge abroad. The latest data released by the United Nation shows that some 8 million refugees have fled Ukraine a year into the conflict.

22 of 25

Servicemen of the Ukrainian National Guard take positions in central Kyiv, after Russia launched a massive military operation against Ukraine, February 25, 2022.

Servicemen of the Ukrainian National Guard take positions in central Kyiv on February 25, 2022, a day after Russia invaded Ukraine from multiple directions, pouring hundreds of thousands of troops and military equipment into the neighboring country. Russia has referred to the conflict as a “special military operation” and claimed that it was necessary because its national security was being threatened.

REUTERS

23 of 25

Destroyed Russian tanks are seen on a main road after battles near Brovary, north of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 10, 2022.

Destroyed Russian tanks are seen on a main road after battles near Brovary, north of Kyiv, March 10, 2022. According to the Ukrainian military, since the first day of the war, Russian forces have lost more than 3,350 tanks, as well as 6,500 armored personnel carriers. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are now awaiting the arrival of the first modern battle tanks pledged by Western allies.

24 of 25

Nina Nikiforovа, 80, sobs outside a church in Kyiv on Feb. 11, 2023, at the funeral of her son Volodymyr, a Ukrainian serviceman who was killed in action in the eastern part of the country, which has seen some of the most brutal fighting of the war. Some experts warn that the war, which already has killed tens of thousands on both sides and reduced entire cities to piles of rubble, could drag on for years as Russia is said to be gearing up for a large-scale offensive.

25 of 25

An apartment building explodes after a Russian army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022.

An apartment building explodes after a Russian army tank fires in Mariupol on March 11, 2022. Before the war, the port city situated on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov was home to more than 446,000 people.

Comments

Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy