2023 Photojournalist of the Year, Large Market

R.A. shows the scares around his nick and chest that he sustained while being in IS military captivity in a village near Pemba, Mozambique, Friday, September 2, 2022. R.A. was abducted and tortured by the IS military’s because he refused to fight for them. He witnessed several beheadings including the execution of his uncle. He was able later to escape. "He was begging for help, but I could do nothing. I was too scared. I could hear the machete striking him. I could hear his screams,” R.A. recalls. In northern Mozambique, one of the Islamic State's newest branches is fueling a brutal insurgency that has raged out of sight in small villages and remote forests since late 2017. Women are kidnapped and kept as sex slaves, boys are forced to become child soldiers, beheadings are weapons of terror. The conflict has claimed about 4,000 lives; nearly 1 million people have fled their homes, separating countless families.

Bodie Means throws hay to feed his horses at his ranch in Valentine, Texas, Sunday, January 16, 2022. Means owns a ranch with his wife near the U.S. - Mexico border wall and is less philosophical about the increase in crossings through his land. He wants the government to deploy more autonomous towers, as well as a military presence, to stop smugglers and groups of migrants transiting through his family’s 70,000-acre ranch.

Anya, 16, folds her clothes after packing a bag with her older foster sister in case they need to evacuate amid fears of a possible full-scale invasion by Russia in Zolote, Ukraine, Monday, February 21, 2022. Yuri and Svetlana Pechenii run a foster home with eight children. They live in the front line village of Zolote, where they said they experienced shelling from Russian-backed separatists in recent days. But like many in eastern Ukraine’s war-battered Donbas region, the Pecheniis aren’t sure where is safe to move to in Ukraine now as the country could face a potential multi-pronged attack. The bus they would use to evacuate the big family is 19 years old. For now, they’re staying in Zolote.

An aerial view of the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Thursday, June 23, 2022. The historic flooding this summer forced the national park to shut down for a few weeks and it is one of the worst flooding disasters in the park's 100 years. National parks sit on the front lines of a warming planet, increasingly vulnerable to wildfires, drought, rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers, and more intense storms. One recent study found that 223 national parks, or more than half of all parks in the Lower 48, are at risk.

Migrants are apprehended on Mount Cristo Rey by the Border Patrol agents in Sunland Park, New Mexico, Tuesday, January 18, 2022. The group of migrants, mainly from El Salvador, crossed on foot through a gap in the U.S. - Mexico border wall and was tracked by a helicopter until they were detained by Border Patrol agents.

Africa Black Rhino Story Slide

Summary: The perilous 1,000-mile journey to save Africa’s endangered black rhinos. Rhino poaching is on the rise again in South Africa, feeding appetites in Asia and the Middle East, where rhino horns are often used in traditional medicines or as cultural artifacts. South African and Asian governments, as well as Interpol, have struggled for decades to curb this illicit global trade, where each horn can fetch tens of thousands of dollars. Now, animal conservationists are trying to save South Africa's rhinos by moving them out of threatened areas and into new habitats with strong security and strategic conservation methods. The hope is that this will allow the rhinos to seed large breeding herds, protecting the species for future generations. Some are being sent to neighboring countries such as Mozambique - part of an extraordinary, Noah's ark-like effort to create cross-border sanctuaries, repopulate depleted national parks and restore ecosystems that can fight climate change and attract tourists.


For the first time, Mozambique has the so-called Big Five — rhinos, lions, elephants, leopards, and buffalo. Eight years ago, Zinave National Park was so silent that not even the sound of chirping birds could be heard. Today, there are about 6,000 animals. Rhinos are a keystone species, which means they help hold an ecosystem together. White rhinos restore grasslands as they graze, and black rhinos eat specific plants that act as natural fertilizers when cycled back into the earth as waste.

A park ranger checks on the endangered black rhinos early morning while they rest in their compounds, known as bomas. A long and wide wooden platform stretched atop, allowing park rangers to observe the rhinos at the Manketti reserve, owned by Exxaro, South Africa’s largest coal producer that’s also involved in animal conservation in Lephalale, South Africa, Monday, August 22, 2022.

Endangered black rhinos walk through their bomas at the Manketti reserve, owned by Exxaro, South Africa’s largest coal producer that’s also involved in animal conservation before being transported in Lephalale, South Africa, Monday, August 22, 2022.

Blood trickled down Cecil an endangered black rhino calf after a tranquilizer dart had pierced his rough, leathery skin, above the ear into and loaded into a transport crate at the Manketti reserve, owned by Exxaro, South Africa’s largest coal producer that’s also involved in animal conservation in Lephalale, South Africa, Monday, August 22, 2022.

A conservationist saws off the horns of one of the endangered black rhinos inside a boma at the Manketti reserve, owned by Exxaro, South Africa’s largest coal producer that’s also involved in animal conservation in Lephalale, South Africa, Monday, August 22, 2022.

A team of conservationists and park rangers guide one of the endangered black rhino in a boma after it was sedate to load it into a transport crate at the Manketti reserve, owned by Exxaro, South Africa’s largest coal producer that’s also involved in animal conservation in Lephalale, South Africa, Monday, August 22, 2022.

Veterinarian Peter Rogers administered a tranquilizer Cecil an endangered black rhino calf from a boma after it was sedate to load it into a transport crate at the Manketti reserve, owned by Exxaro, South Africa’s largest coal producer that’s also involved in animal conservation in Lephalale, South Africa, Monday, August 22, 2022.

A conservationist collects the horns of one of the endangered black rhinos inside a boma after it was sawed off at the Manketti reserve, owned by Exxaro, South Africa’s largest coal producer that’s also involved in animal conservation in Lephalale, South Africa, Monday, August 22, 2022. The horns, like fingernails, would grow back in a few months. But for now, by removing the horns, the rhinos won’t harm themselves inside the crates during the journey. They would also be less of a target for poachers.

Workers load one of the endangered black rhinos in a transport crate on a truck at the Manketti reserve, owned by Exxaro, South Africa’s largest coal producer that’s also involved in animal conservation in Lephalale, South Africa, Monday, August 22, 2022.

An anti-poaching unit armed with AK-47 semi-automatic weapons and trained by South African rangers, on their afternoon patrol in Zinave National Park, Mozambique, Friday, August 26, 2022. They spotted fresh white rhino droppings and tracks moving away from them. The men deduced that the rhinos had relieved themselves while they were walking.

Pauline and her calf Cecil, endangered black rhinos, right before they were set free to roam a fenced area in a sanctuary at Zinave National Park, Mozambique, Friday, August 26, 2022.

Russia’s War on Ukraine Story Slide

Summary: In early 2022, Russia invaded its neighboring country Ukraine and upended millions of lives this year. Civilians and soldiers were killed, whole cities were destroyed and went dark, families were separated as men stayed behind to fight, fathers and mothers turned to soldiers overnight, children celebrated their birthdays in bomb shelters, and parents buried their children after they were killed on the battlefield defending their countries and millions of people were made refugees.

As the fighting rages on, its grinding length and scale risk blotting out or blurring together the passing moments of trauma, resilience, mourning, exhaustion, and camaraderie that punctuate the lives of a people under invasion.

A resident is woken by the sounds of sirens and explosions at dawn in downtown Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, February 26, 2022.

Hundreds of people, including many women and children take shelter inside a metro station as explosions are heard in downtown Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, February 24, 2022.

Ukrainian soldiers salute as the national anthem is played during a military service for 5 Ukrainian soldiers in Odessa, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Four of the soldiers were killed on March 18th during a Russian airstrike that hit the 36th Ukrainian Naval Infantry Brigade killing more than 40 Ukrainian soldiers in the city of Mykolaiv.

Georgy Keburia says goodbye to his wife Maya and children as they board a train to Lviv at a train station in Odesa, Ukraine, Saturday, March 5, 2022. As the fight in Eastern Ukraine intensify, hundreds of Ukrainian women and children who escaped cities like Mariupol, Kherson and Mykolaiv, were trying desperately to board a train and leave before the violence of the war reaches the city. Men, like Georgy, went with their family to say their final goodbye because they have to stay and fight the Russians. As of December of 2022, Georgy is still in Odesa, part of the army reserve and his family took refuge in France after leaving Ukraine.

Diana, 5, with her dad Vitaly inside a basement, that is being used by residents as a shelter in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 14, 2022. Diana celebrated her 5th birthday inside the shelter with her parents and relatives. The apartment building complex which is in southeastern part of the city, is in the firing range of Russia’s multiple-launch rocket systems located in nearby Kherson, the first major city Moscow’s military captured since its invasion of Ukraine started nearly three weeks ago.

Anna Churilyana, 90, is photographed at her apartment in Odessa, Ukraine, Sunday, March 6, 2022. Churilyana is blind and has difficulty walking so has scarcely left her apt in the past five years. She listens to the news every day and is worried about what’s happening to her niece’s children in Kharkiv.

Katya, center, joins other Ukrainians as they attend a training on how to use weapons in the event of the Russians attack the city of Odessa, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022.

Volunteers put sandbags around the Monument to the Duke de Richelieu for protection from a possible Russian attack on the city of Odesa, Ukraine, Thursday, March 10, 2022.

A Ukrainian solider stands in front of a building that was hit by a Russian rocket in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022.

A Ukrainian solider who is on patrol on the beach looks through his binoculars in Odessa, Ukraine, Thursday, March 24, 2022.

Family of Ukrainian soldier Ivan Lipskiy grieving at his casket during a military service of 5 Ukrainian soldiers in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Lipskiy was killed on March 18th during a Russian airstrike that hit the 36th Ukrainian Naval Infantry Brigade killing more than 40 Ukrainian soldiers in the city of Mykolaiv.

A cloud of smoke is rising at cemetery due to the Russian shelling in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022.

Cartel Rx: Fentanyl’s Deadly Surge Story Slide

Summary: Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49. During the past seven years, as soaring quantities of fentanyl flooded into the United States, strategic blunders and cascading mistakes by successive U.S. administrations allowed the most lethal drug crisis in American history to become significantly worse. Presidents from both parties failed to take effective action in the face of one of the most urgent threats to the nation’s security, one that claims more lives each year than car accidents, suicides, or gun violence. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the country’s premier anti-narcotics agency, stumbled through a series of missteps as it confronted the biggest challenge in its 50-year history. The agency was slow to respond as Mexican cartels supplanted Chinese producers, creating a massive illicit pharmaceutical industry that is now producing more fentanyl than ever. The Department of Homeland Security, whose agencies are responsible for detecting illegal drugs at the nation’s borders, failed to ramp up scanning and inspection technology at official crossings, instead channeling $11 billion toward the construction of a border wall that does little to stop fentanyl traffickers.

Across the border in Tijuana, Mexico, it has long been a major transit point for illicit goods into the U.S.: alcohol during Prohibition, waves of marijuana and cocaine after that. Now, it is a city of fentanyl. It is the most prolific trafficking hub into the United States for the drug and, increasingly, a city of users. It is their lifeless bodies that paramedics find on the streets. They are just as frequently victims of overdoses as violence. The turf war between local drug dealers has provoked a nightly shock of killings. There have been over 1,900 homicides in 2022, making it the deadliest city in Mexico. It is a place where language has adapted to new forms of violence, macabre and hyper-specific. Seizing labs and narcotics would be a monumental task for any law enforcement agency. But in parts of Mexico, where organized crime often has more power than the government, the more important question has become: Are authorities even trying? The government’s garage of seized narcotics, federal authorities say, is proof of their efforts to stop the flow of drugs and secure evidence for ongoing trials. It fills so quickly that once a month, to make more room, they take thousands of pounds of drugs to a desolate military outpost and set them on fire.

A body of a man in his 50s was found along Mission Beach in San Diego, California, Saturday, November 12, 2022. Lt. Ken Impellizeri of San Diego Police and officers believe it was a fatal overdose on fentanyl after examine the crime scene. Across the road, bars were filled with people partying who were unaware of a person who overdosed.

Deportees who have become addicted to fentanyl smoke it in the Zona Norte neighborhood of Tijuana, Mexico, Thursday, October 20, 2022.

Makai Adams, 20, center, along with his fellow EMT try to save a woman in her 30s outside her apartment after she overdosed on what they think is fentanyl in San Diego, California, Friday, November 11, 2022. “It’s has been crazy in San Diego’s downtown,” said Adams. “I see at least 6 to 7 overdoses a night.”

Members of Medik 2000, a volunteer group of medics assist a man that was beat up and tide to a poll in the Miramar neighborhood of Tijuana, Mexico, Thursday, October 20, 2022. The volunteer group believe the man was a drug user and his injury are associated with a deal that went wrong.

Officials from the Mexican attorney general’s office raid the home of a suspected human smuggler and drug trafficker on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico, Thursday, July 28, 2022. The suspects appear to have fled before law enforcement agents arrived.

San Diego Narcotic Enforcement Team SDNET allows German Alonzo to say goodbye to his son as he was arrested in a raid of a large methamphetamine seizure after the his car was flagged for carrying drugs by a K9 and scans at the border crossing in San Diego, California, Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

Officials from Mexico’s attorney general’s office unload hundreds of pounds of fentanyl and meth seized near Ensenada in October at their headquarter in Tijuana, Mexico, Tuesday, October 18, 2022. No one was arrested in connection with the seizure.

San Diego Police officers try to revive a woman who overdosed on fentanyl in San Diego, California, Friday, November 11, 2022. The woman was revived and transport to a nearby hospital.

Jose Gonzalez, who was deported after growing up in California, shoots fentanyl with a friend in the Zona Norte neighborhood of Tijuana, Mexico, Friday, October 21, 2022. José, who grew up in San Bernadino and remained in Tijuana after being deported to be close to his daughter in California. He woke up next to a pile of trash two blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border, on a patch of sidewalk that has been claimed by this city’s fentanyl addicts, almost all of them deportees from the United States. It was a Friday morning. Children in their school uniforms walked by José’s encampment on their way to school. He had just enough fentanyl to avoid the ache of withdrawal. Because he’d run out of visible veins, he asked a friend to inject the needle in his neck. He bent down to receive it and put his hands on his knees while the high rushed in. In another five hours, he would be strung out, hurting for another hit. He needed to make 100 pesos (about $5) to buy enough drugs to fill another syringe. He started loading his backpack full of scavenged items to sell in downtown Tijuana: iPhone cases, a calculator, a dictionary, a used pair of shorts. “Why would my daughter want to visit her drug addict father?” he asked. She had visited him once and never came back. “What the hell am I doing here?”

Locals watch as members of Medik 2000, a volunteer group of medics and firefighters assist a man that was inured during a hit and run in the Nueva Aurora neighborhood of Tijuana, Mexico, Thursday, October 20, 2022. The neighborhood is known for violent acts connected to gangs and cartel activity.

An area where it’s known for human and drug trafficking along the U.S. Mexico border wall in Tijuana, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. The view shows how close some of the most violent neighborhood to the border with the U.S.

Emmanuel Ibarra, head of the attorney general’s tactical unit in Tijuana, left, and Daniel Espinoza Alcántara, head of the country’s attorney general’s office in northwestern Mexico, stand along other officials from the Mexican attorney general’s office as they burn thousands of pounds of drugs, including tens of thousands of counterfeit fentanyl pills, at a military outpost near Tijuana, Mexico, Thursday, July 28, 2022. The burnings now occur about once a month as more drugs are seized.

Soldiers and loved ones attend a funeral for fallen comrade Denys Anatskyi in Kharkiv, Ukraine on June 24, 2022. He died near Chuhuiv from mortar fire while fighting during the Russian invasion. His wife and daughter are now under occupation in Melitopol.

Many sorrowful funerals are held here for fallen Ukrainian troops killed in the war and the wails of weeping loved ones echo on the walls as war crimes investigations continue.

Maria embraces the body of her son, Didykh Taras as a funeral is held for three soldiers killed in the Russian invasion at Church of the Most Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Lviv, Ukraine on March 11, 2022. Many sorrowful funerals are held here for fallen Ukrainian troops killed in the war and the wails of weeping loved ones echo on the walls.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky gets a standing ovation as he departs after speaking to a joint meeting of Congress during a historic visit at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on December 21, 2022. He spoke about the Russian invasion of his country, presented a flag signed by troops on the frontline of Bakhmut, was gifted an American flag and thanked the United States for their assistance.

Nadia Panasivna Yerukhymovych, 89 years old, had been bedridden for three months as the Russian invasion began and life was altered at her apartment in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 26, 2022. Sounds of shelling on the outskirts of the city echo on her walls and an airstrike recently hit the neighborhood.

They are charming, strong-willed elderly babushkas. In the face of adversity, they are ladies that stayed. They are vulnerable targets of random shelling. But they can’t - or simply won’t - leave. They deal with not only the brutal existence of a war zone, but the daily struggles of aging with few available services or medications. Her son Misha, 54 has not evacuated to care for his mother.

She is grateful for his devotion. 'I have a good son because there are those who leave their parents and go.’ As an artist Misha is still making paintings but he complains about a loss of creativity, ‘When guns speak, muses are silent.’

She receives food and medicine from a group of residents that formed a humanitarian network called Angels of Kyiv to deliver supplies to elderly and infirm. Most compare the invasion to WWII. ‘I am worried about the youth - I don't have much time left.’

She sang all her life in amateur clubs.and shyly performs a moving folk ballad called Mother's Braid. It sounds like a whisper of peace.

Her secret to longevity? She declares, ‘The main thing is that the soul is filled with light, goodness and love.’,

Sgt. Misha Varvarych, 28, an 80th Assault Brigade commander and his fiancé Ira Botvynska, 19, navigate an altered destiny after he lost both legs fighting during the Russian invasion amid a growing number of war wounded amputees. Their unflinching romance speaks not of life interrupted but rather adapted and embraced.

They hold hands as they awake to a new day at Truskavets City Hospital in western Ukraine on November 12, 2022. In an age-old adage, love transcends adversity.

At a tender age, Ira was forced to mature quickly. She plays footsie with his prosthetic leg and stands by her man, even when he can’t. ‘I was in love with his legs, especially his tattoos,’ says Ira wistfully. They said: Face your fear. Accept your war.

In a country with a shattered economy, it’s a challenge for hospitals, also under attack and understaffed, to provide adequate care.

Misha displays not an ounce of self-pity. His ammunition is humor. When asked his weight and height he quips, ‘With or without legs?’

He faces a new profound battle - to walk again.
But freed from the confines of a wheelchair they swim together fluidly as one body.

They both believe marriage itself is more important than a big wedding, but someday will get that piece of paper. For all intents and purposes, they feel married, even wearing the rings after a mutual decision to spend their lives together rather than a proposal. ‘It’s a good thing,’ jokes Misha. ‘I can’t get down on one knee now.

They explain how most couples would get on each other’s nerves while living in such a small space for over 6 months, 24/7. ‘You should see us fight. Like cats and dogs,’ laughs Misha. Then Ira clarifies, ‘I love everything about him but sometimes I want to choke him.’

Conversation turns serious when Putin’s name comes up. Misha, the warrior, talks with benevolence. His demure bride says she wants to murder the Russian leader.

He will receive state-of-the-art prosthetics in the US.

‘God has plans for me’, states Misha confidently. ‘I need bionic legs to be able to lift my child off the ground in the future.’

Sgt. Misha Varvarych, 28, an 80th Assault Brigade commander and his fiancé Ira Botvynska, 19, navigate an altered destiny after he lost both legs fighting during the Russian invasion amid a growing number of war wounded amputees. Their unflinching romance speaks not of life interrupted but rather adapted and embraced.

They hold hands as they awake to a new day at Truskavets City Hospital in western Ukraine on November 12, 2022. In an age-old adage, love transcends adversity.

At a tender age, Ira was forced to mature quickly. She plays footsie with his prosthetic leg and stands by her man, even when he can’t. ‘I was in love with his legs, especially his tattoos,’ says Ira wistfully. They said: Face your fear. Accept your war.

In a country with a shattered economy, it’s a challenge for hospitals, also under attack and understaffed, to provide adequate care.

Misha displays not an ounce of self-pity. His ammunition is humor. When asked his weight and height he quips, ‘With or without legs?’

He faces a new profound battle - to walk again.
But freed from the confines of a wheelchair they swim together fluidly as one body.

They both believe marriage itself is more important than a big wedding, but someday will get that piece of paper. For all intents and purposes, they feel married, even wearing the rings after a mutual decision to spend their lives together rather than a proposal. ‘It’s a good thing,’ jokes Misha. ‘I can’t get down on one knee now.

They explain how most couples would get on each other’s nerves while living in such a small space for over 6 months, 24/7. ‘You should see us fight. Like cats and dogs,’ laughs Misha. Then Ira clarifies, ‘I love everything about him but sometimes I want to choke him.’

Conversation turns serious when Putin’s name comes up. Misha, the warrior, talks with benevolence. His demure bride says she wants to murder the Russian leader.

He will receive state-of-the-art prosthetics in the US.

‘God has plans for me’, states Misha confidently. ‘I need bionic legs to be able to lift my child off the ground in the future.’

Misha’s prosthetic legs await his new profound battle - to walk again. He and Ira begin the daily routine at the hospital where they live in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 11, 2022.

‘I was in love with his legs especially his tattoos,’ says Ira wistfully. The tattoos above his knees once said: Face your fear. Accept your war.

On May 29 Misha was on patrol during a combat mission in Bilohorivka when the lethal blast of an anti-personnel mine savagely ripped apart both his legs. He immediately realized he would lose them. The grueling evacuation took over four hours and one of his comrades did not survive. He was carried by six people 2.5 km to the hospital during which he was resuscitated three times. Russians shot at the road the entire trek. The tourniquets that saved him from bleeding out, also starved his legs which were amputated at the hospital.

With assistance from a fundraiser, they plan travel to the U.S. where he will receive state-of-the-art bionic legs.

Ira carries Misha’s legs to rehab at their hospital in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 11, 2022.

At a tender age, Ira was forced to mature quickly, offering unconditional love and support to her man. In an age-old adage, love indeed transcends adversity.

He lost track of the number of surgeries he has had – 18? Maybe 19. As cartilage keeps growing, so will that amount. But Misha treats the amputation as an ordinary disease that can be cured and is temporary.

In a country with a shattered economy, it is a challenge for Ukrainian hospitals, also under attack and understaffed, to provide adequate care for the increasing demand. There is no concise count of amputees, but the surge is growing daily.

Shrapnel pierced the contents of Misha’s pockets when the anti-personnel mine blew up and Ira shows his ID card with an eerie hole where his eye should be that they keep in a drawer in their room at a hospital in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 30, 2022.

It took both his legs and a fellow soldier but Misha misses the excitement – the life & death adrenaline of war. He felt a purpose fighting for his country. Misha embodies a common refrain with most soldiers - given the choice he would return to fight. Even if he had at least one leg or a knee he insists he would definitely go back. Ira, on the other hand exclaims, ‘No, no, no, no! I already told him I would break his arms (since he has no more legs to break) to not let him go again.’

An avid bodybuilder, Misha still works out every day at the hospital in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 9, 2022. He displays not an ounce of self-pity or self-consciousness. His ammunition is humor (at times the self-deprecating dark kind popular with military).

When asked his weight and height he quips, ‘With or without legs?’

He still proudly shows off his physique. ‘We should be happy and live with ourselves and not care about anyone else’s opinion.’ But some amputees risk falling into depression and issues of emotional trauma are also addressed at Truskavets.

His jokes are nonstop, but not so funny was the chilling premonition he had last year that the war started, soldiers in his battalion died in shelling and he lost his legs. Yet he has no regrets and would do it again even knowing the dire outcome.

Nurse Diana Prysiazhna and Ira assist Misha with rehab in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 11, 2022.

They explain how most couples would get on each other’s nerves while living in such a small space for over 6 months, 24/7. ‘You should see us fight. Like cats and dogs,’ laughs Misha. Then Ira clarifies, ‘I love everything about him but sometimes I want to choke him.’ When she is visibly angry and distant some days, he has learned to grovel as a good spouse does. And she forgives.

Ira plays footsie with Misha’s prosthetic leg during rehab in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 14, 2022.

They transverse obstacles and navigate a new terrain in this altered reality while still savoring joy with playful affectionate abandon. She wipes his brow, endures his relentless passion for video games and endlessly kisses his lips. She stands by her man, even when he can’t.

Misha and Ira take part in therapeutic swimming activity with other wounded warriors in a growing legion of amputees at Sanatorium Carpathians, a pool in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 27, 2022.

Conversation turns serious when Putin’s name comes up. Misha, the warrior, talks with benevolence. His demure bride says she wants to murder the Russian leader.

Misha and Ira embrace during a therapeutic swimming activity at Moldova pool in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 16, 2022. Freed from the confines of a wheelchair, they swim together fluidly as one body. Their unflinching romance speaks not of life interrupted but rather adapted and embraced.

At their first meeting in person, his jaw was wired shut after being involved in a fight in Odesa. ‘If she can accept me with all my scars then she will accept me in every way.’ A prophesy that proved accurate.

Their first kiss? ‘Marvelous.’ Even though he had two seams holding his mouth together.

Is she proud of him? Yes
What do they like to do? Sex
Future plans: Build a house to live. Make children. Maybe work with others that lost limbs.

They are grateful for every moment they spend together. He made it back from the frontline to her arms. With no legs, but alive.

Misha plays volleyball with other wounded warriors at a local gym in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 10, 2022.

Misha and Ira are not merely existing, they are living their lives. They attend volleyball games, weekend mountain trips and dinners made more romantic as they tenderly feed each other by the candlelight necessary during blackouts from recent shelling.

Misha believes Russian citizens are lost sheep. ‘They sit home drinking vodka and listening to propaganda on TV and think Russia is best and all others are evil. They live in a barrel of shit but believe it’s a better barrel.’

With a little help from his friends, Misha and Ira attend a fundraiser event with other wounded warriors in in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 12, 2022. In a poignant moment recently, members of Misha’s military unit met to award him a medal for courage.

Misha has no fear of death and believes destiny decides. He feels life still has plans for him since he could have died a hundred times already. He still has some mission.

His thoughts on the alleged war crimes and atrocities committed by Russian soldiers: ‘Everyone has a conscience and knows exactly what they are doing. They will receive their due punishment.’

In Misha’s opinion, what could end the war? ‘Definitely no negotiations - no steps back because people died and made so many sacrifices. Even if there is a pause now, Russians will attack again. Only victory to the end.’

Misha and Ira go for strolls during frequent blackouts from Russian shelling across the country in Truskavets, Ukraine on November 29, 2022.

Their daily life before war? Ira is nostalgic for their promenades in Rivne. Now ‘walks’ consist of her pushing a wheelchair and occasionally resting on his lap. They didn’t drink or go to nightclubs before, preferring quiet moments. They never danced together. But Misha chuckles, saying they never really got out of bed.

They feel the war changed them in some ways for the better with new priorities and a realization that the only thing that matters is human life.

For now, they kiss and cuddle and hold onto hope.

In sickness and in health…

‘God has plans for me’, states Misha confidently. ‘I need bionic legs to be able to lift my child off the ground in the future.’

Investigators begin the grim task of exhuming bodies from a mass grave behind the Church of St. Andrew and All Saints, while assessing evidence of war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine on April 8, 2022. Families gather in sorrow while trying to identify their loved ones.

Wreckage of war and bodies littered the streets of Bucha, recently liberated from invading Russian troops in the suburbs of Kyiv where atrocities have been reported. Every body bag is later opened and forensics recorded at a nearby cemetery.

The ghostly sight of hands and legs protrude from the earth as investigators begin the grim task of exhuming bodies from a mass grave behind the Church of St. Andrew and All Saints, while assessing evidence of war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine on April 8, 2022.

Wreckage of war and bodies littered the streets of Bucha, recently liberated from invading Russian troops in the suburbs of Kyiv where atrocities have been reported. Every body bag is later opened and forensics recorded at a nearby cemetery. Families gather in sorrow while trying to identify their loved ones.

Family members see the body of their loved one as investigators begin the grim task of exhuming bodies from a mass grave behind the Church of St. Andrew and All Saints, while assessing evidence of war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine on April 8, 2022.

Wreckage of war and bodies littered the streets of Bucha, recently liberated from invading Russian troops in the suburbs of Kyiv where atrocities have been reported. Every body bag is later opened and forensics recorded at a nearby cemetery.

Volunteer gravediggers use a door and crane to lift corpses from the earth where they were stacked together in a mass grave behind the Church of St. Andrew and All Saints in Bucha, Ukraine on April 8, 2022 Some had signs of torture and hands tied or shot in the head.

Investigators begin the grim task of exhuming bodies to investigate war crimes as families gather in sorrow while trying to identify their loved ones.

Wreckage of war and bodies littered the streets of Bucha, recently liberated from invading Russian troops in the suburbs of Kyiv where atrocities have been reported. Every body bag is later opened and forensics recorded at a nearby cemetery.

Volunteer gravediggers use a door and crane to lift corpses from the earth where they were stacked together in a mass grave behind the Church of St. Andrew and All Saints in Bucha, Ukraine on April 8, 2022. One rises with the surreal resemblance to a crucifix. Some had signs of torture and hands tied or shot in the head.

Investigators begin the grim task of exhuming bodies to investigate war crimes as families gather in sorrow while trying to identify their loved ones.

Wreckage of war and bodies littered the streets of Bucha, recently liberated from invading Russian troops in the suburbs of Kyiv where atrocities have been reported. Every body bag is later opened and forensics recorded at a nearby cemetery.

A mother weeps during countless days of searching for her son’s body while exhumations took place at the mass grave behind the Church of St. Andrew and All Saints in Bucha, Ukraine on April 8, 2022. Sorrowful weeping echoes as families gather trying to identify their loved ones. This mother was eventually able to bury her boy.

Storm clouds gather as investigators continue the grim task of exhuming bodies from a mass grave behind the Church of St. Andrew and All Saints, while assessing evidence of war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine on April 11, 2022. Body bags are lined up awaiting forensics. Families stand in sorrow while trying to identify their loved ones.

Wreckage of war and bodies littered the streets of Bucha, recently liberated from invading Russian troops in the where atrocities have been reported.

Eyes of death stare from a body bag begging the question what was his final sight before life ended. Investigators begin the grim task of exhuming bodies from a mass grave behind the Church of St. Andrew and All Saints, while assessing evidence of war crimes from the Russian invasion in Bucha, Ukraine on April 6, 2022. Every body bag is painstakingly opened and forensics recorded.

Wreckage of war and bodies littered the streets of Bucha, recently liberated from invading Russian troops where atrocities have been reported. Families gather in sorrow while trying to identify their loved ones in the hope they will finally lay them to rest with a proper burial.

Body bags of people recovered from a mass grave and throughout the town are lined up at a cemetery as investigators begin the grim task of assessing evidence of war crimes from the Russian occupation in Bucha, Ukraine on April 9, 2022.

Wreckage of war and bodies littered the streets of Bucha, recently liberated from invading Russian troops where atrocities have been reported.

Families gather in sorrow while trying to identify their loved ones.

A woman stands over the body of her son that was killed as body collectors move bodies to the city morgue as investigators begin the grim task of assessing evidence of war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine on April 12, 2022. Wreckage of war and bodies littered the streets of Bucha, recently liberated from invading Russian troops in the suburbs of Kyiv where atrocities have been reported.

A funeral for family members killed in the Russian invasion takes place in Bucha, Ukraine on April 23, 2022 where war crimes investigations continue.

Many sorrowful funerals are held for fallen Ukrainian troops and civilians killed in the Russian invasion. The wails of weeping loved ones echo throughout the land. Soldiers are not the only casualties of war as its toll reaches far from the frontline and families bury their dead, dealing with the tragic aftershocks of loss.

A mother weeps at her son’s gravesite during the funeral after finding his body during countless days of searching while exhumations took place at the mass grave in Bucha, Ukraine on May 7, 2022. ‘He’s in the sky,’ she cries, feeling only a small peace that he is finally at rest with a proper burial.

Every body bag was opened and forensics recorded at a the cemetery as investigators continued the grim task of exhuming bodies from a mass grave behind the Church of St. Andrew and All Saints, while assessing evidence of war crimes.

Wreckage of war and bodies littered the streets of Bucha, recently liberated from invading Russian troops where atrocities have been reported.

Many sorrowful funerals are held for fallen Ukrainian troops and civilians killed in the Russian invasion as war crimes investigations continue. The wails of weeping loved ones echo throughout the land. Soldiers are not the only casualties of war as its toll reaches far from the frontline and families bury their dead, dealing with the tragic aftershocks of loss.

Birds fly past a war-damaged tombstone in Bucha, Ukraine on May 8, 2022. Bucha was liberated from Russian forces where atrocities have been reported and war crimes investigations continue.

Many sorrowful funerals are held for fallen Ukrainian troops and civilians killed in the Russian invasion. The wails of weeping loved ones echo throughout the land. Soldiers are not the only casualties of war as its toll reaches far from the frontline and families bury their dead, dealing with the tragic aftershocks of loss.

What Remains…

Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin, Borodianka and Kharkiv, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, merely termed ‘collateral damage’.

The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in bittersweet homecomings to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by fickle destiny.

Others will never return.

SHADOWS OF LIFE.
Borodianka, Ukraine. April 17, 2022.


SUMMARY: What Remains…

Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin, Borodianka and Kharkiv, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, merely termed ‘collateral damage’.

The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in bittersweet homecomings to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by fickle destiny.

Others will never return.

LIFE, INTERRUPTED.
Borodianka, Ukraine. April 21, 2022.


SUMMARY:
Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin and Borodianka, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, they are merely termed ‘collateral damage’.

The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of Renaissance fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns. Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in a bittersweet homecoming to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by destiny.

Others will never return.

LAST SUPPER.
Borodianka, Ukraine. May 8, 2022.


SUMMARY:
Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin and Borodianka, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, they are merely termed ‘collateral damage’.

The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of Renaissance fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns. Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in a bittersweet homecoming to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by destiny.

Others will never return.

MELTED MICROWAVES.
Borodianka, Ukraine. April 17, 2022.


SUMMARY:
Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin and Borodianka, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, they are merely termed ‘collateral damage’.

The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of Renaissance fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns. Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in a bittersweet homecoming to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by destiny.

Others will never return.

UNSWEET DREAMS.
Borodianka, Ukraine. May 9, 2022.


SUMMARY:
Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin and Borodianka, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, they are merely termed ‘collateral damage’.

The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of Renaissance fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns. Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in a bittersweet homecoming to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by destiny.

Others will never return.

DEATH’S BALLET
Borodianka, Ukraine. June 11, 2022.


SUMMARY:
Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin and Borodianka, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette. Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, they are merely termed ‘collateral damage’.


The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of Renaissance fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns. Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in a bittersweet homecoming to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by destiny.

Others will never return.

FRAGMENTED LIVES.
Irpin, Ukraine. June 12, 2022.


SUMMARY:
Eerie paintings in shades of burnt sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness at the precise moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s dwellings in liberated towns of Irpin, Borodianka and Kharkiv. Baby cribs and wheelchairs. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. Precious mementoes reduced to dust. Yet Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Lives interrupted. Or extinguished. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, they are merely ‘collateral damage’.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversation over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors, saved from the bombardment by a fickle destiny of circumstance, visit in bittersweet homecomings to pick through pieces of their former reality.

Others will never return. Their life’s breath now a faded memory among precious keepsakes scattered in living rooms of ash.

FADED MEMORIES.
Kharkiv, Ukraine. May 22, 2022.

SUMMARY:
Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin, Borodianka and Kharkiv, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, merely termed ‘collateral damage’.

The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in bittersweet homecomings to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by fickle destiny.

Others will never return.

EMPTY CHAIRS
Borodianka, Ukraine. April 21, 2022.


SUMMARY:
Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin and Borodianka, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette. Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, they are merely termed ‘collateral damage’.


The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of Renaissance fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns. Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in a bittersweet homecoming to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by destiny.

Others will never return.

THE MOMENT TIME STOPPED.
Kharkiv, Ukraine. May 31, 2022.


SUMMARY:
Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin and Borodianka, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, they are merely termed ‘collateral damage’.

The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of Renaissance fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns. Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in a bittersweet homecoming to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by destiny.

Others will never return.

ECHOES OF EVERYDAY.
Irpin, Ukraine. June 12, 2022.


SUMMARY:
Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin and Borodianka, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, they are merely termed ‘collateral damage’.

The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of Renaissance fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns. Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in a bittersweet homecoming to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by destiny.

Others will never return.

SYMBOL OF PEACE.
Borodianka, Ukraine. June 11, 2022.

The sunflower is an unofficial national symbol of peace in Ukraine and has been used worldwide to show support since the invasion. In 1996 sunflowers were planted by Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. defense ministers in a ceremony at a missile base commemorating Ukraine giving up nuclear weapons.



SUMMARY:
Eerie still life paintings in shades of Burnt Sienna. Remnants of everyday life, frozen in a macabre stillness the moment time stopped when Russian bombs rained down on Ukraine’s residential dwellings in the liberated towns of Irpin, Borodianka and Kharkiv, Ukraine. Exquisite light kisses the scorched palette.

Baby cribs and wheelchairs. Charred cameras that once held tender family photos. A coffee cup sits on a table near a recliner, singed and flaking. A kitchen table still holds food left uneaten. What were they cooking that last day of normal?

Lives led, now put on hold. Or extinguished. Precious mementoes reduced to ash. Twisted metal, empty chairs, melted microwaves. Too painful to ponder what the power of these weapons of destruction does to human flesh at the point of impact.

Civilian things. Not the stuff of combatants. Humanity’s hopes, dreams, loves – in war, merely termed ‘collateral damage’.

The scorched buildings hold ethereal scenes reminiscent of fine art. Abstract, impressionistic patterns.

A popular cat café is in ruins, once the scene of camaraderie and conversations over cappuccinos.

Broken glass becomes a metaphor for shattered lives. Survivors visit in bittersweet homecomings to pick through the pieces of their former reality, saved from the bombardment by fickle destiny.

Others will never return.

Farewell. Oksana Gonishuk and her children Any, 9, and Illa, 13, says goodbye to their husband and father Yevgeni Gonishuk in the first weeks of the war. The family has fled their home in Kharkiv, where the fighting is getting worse every day. Through a cold train window at the railway station in Lviv, the family says their last goodbyes before the train sets off for Poland and safety from the war.
Yevgeni Gonishuk can’t follow his family and might never see them again. According to Ukrainian martial law, he, and all other men between the ages of 18 and 60 must remain in the country and fight the Russians invaders.

A hospital bed with blood stains from a badly wounded Ukrainian soldier who had his leg amputated.

A Ukrainian military hospital near the front line in Donetsk, Donbass region. Most of the soldiers who arrive here have been wounded by Russian artillery in the battles outside of Bakhmut.

Weronika Sierogodskaya, 17, and Liza Kochan, 18, have fled from Kharkov, but have now been waiting in this queue for almost 24 hours. They hope to board a train soon and reach safety in Poland.

In the first weeks of the war, the train station in Lviv was an important hub for the millions of refugees trying to escape the war in Ukraine. Buses and trains come from all over the country, and tens of thousands of women and children had to wait for 8, 12 and 24 hours in long queues, despite the freezing cold. More than 7 million Ukrainians have left the country since 24. February 2022.

Kalina heard a loud noise. That's all he remembers. Then only confusion, pain and blood.
Fragments from artillery have pierced the leg and torso of the 26-year-old Ukrainian soldier Andriyn, nicknamed Kalina. The pain is hard, and he fears the doctors will need to amputate his left leg. His leg was saved, but the many fragments need to be taken out of his body. While lying on the operating table Andriyn takes his phone and calls: "Mom I'm hurt - but I'm okay. I'll come home safe and well - nothing more will happen to me now..."

A Ukrainian soldier in front of what he claims is a pile of Russian rockets that have dropped cluster bombs on their fortress and trenches here on the Mykolaiv frontline.

Wounded Ukrainian soldiers step off a bus as it arrives at a field hospital on a secret location near the front line in Donetsk, Donbass region.
Most of the soldiers have been wounded by Russian artillery in the fighting outside of the city of Bakhmut. No one can feel safe here, as the military hospitals can be targeted at any time. But at least for a few moments the soldiers can stay here, receive treatment, and take a deep breath. Before returning to the battlefield once again.

A residential building in the city of Bakhmut have been hit by a Russian rockets while people were still living inside. For months the two sides have been fighting fiercely over the control of the city which is largely destroyed by now.

A Ukrainian soldier, who prefer to stay anonymous, is being transported for treatment at a hospital in Dnipro.

An overcrowded train with families from eastern Ukraine has just arrived in Lviv. Thousands pour out, crossing train tracks with their heavy suitcases, pets and children to seize the first opportunity out of the country.

In the first weeks of the war, the train station in Lviv was an important hub for the millions of refugees trying to escape the war in Ukraine. Buses and trains come from all over the country, and tens of thousands of women and children had to wait for 8, 12 and 24 hours in long queues, despite the freezing cold. More than 7 million Ukrainians have left the country since 24. February 2022.

Roman Ruschyshyn was killed on March 7, 2022, fighting against the Russian invasion forces in the Luhansk region of Ukraine. He was 44 years old.
Beside the coffin stands his wife Oksana Ruschyshyn surrounded by their three children Nazar, Anastasia and the youngest Roman in his mother's arms.
The whole village is gathered for a final farewell, and Roman Ruschyshyn's portrait is carried in a parade of honour through the town before he is laid to rest surrounded by Ukrainian national songs, flags, and a gun salute.

... med Kasper Foss, trommeslager i mange forskellige orkestre. Han har skrevet en bog om at spille trommer i forskellige bands igennem mange år.

One meal a day is given to the drug addicts who must eat it sitting down in long rows. Those who do not comply with the rules from the Taliban's supervisors, can be punished by not receiving any food. The guards also amuse themselves with daily humiliations and indiscriminate beatings of the prisoners.
The 'Ibn Sina Drug Addiction Treatment Hospital' is made for 1000 patients but currently 3000 people stay here. It is called ‘patients’ and ‘a hospital’ but is more reminiscent of a prison with inmates.

Nabi and Mohammad have been incarcerated for 70 days now, and in the middle of an overcrowded dormitory, warm and humid from hundreds of men, the two friends revels how thin and emaciated they have become while staying here. They blame the lack of food, which is also so nutrient-poor and unhygienic that many have diarrhea, they say and continues: "The world needs to see this".
All around the dormitory a desperate sound of nails tearing and scratching against skin is heard. The many lice and scabies make it impossible to rest neither body nor mind, the inmates agree.

The captured drug addicts walk in their prison uniforms through the snow to receive their daily meal. The drinking water in the prison is so unstable and dirty that it causes diarrhea, inmates say, so many of the men use the opportunity to get cleaner water from the newly fallen snow, which they pick up with their hands and suck between their lips despite the coldness.

Outside the walls of the drug prison, opium is cheap and easily accessible. Under a bridge in central Kabul, hundreds of people with drug addictions live huddled together to keep warm and relatively safe. In the darkness, small lamps are used while the opium is smoked on foil trays and in small pipes.

Sleeping with dogs. Outside the walls of the drug prison, a group of men are sleeping under a bridge in central Kabul. More than hundred Afghans with addictions gather and seek shelter here.
The reasons behind Afghanistan's massive dependency are many. The opium may dull the trauma of years of war and violence, but for many the drugs are introduced to them by their own employers, offering a quick relief from hunger, pain, and exhaustion. After a short time, people are hooked.

”My name is Joe”, he says, in a strong American accent. He used to work as a translator for the US Marines before they left the country in August 2021. He followed the Marines into countless of missions and battles in the war-torn Helmand province, he explains, but the US suddenly left, and the years of war started to simmer in his head. The drugs offered Joe a false escape, and under a bridge in central Kabul another Afghan life, with great personality and talent, is now being wasted in the smoke.

A man with a drug addiction rummages through garbage near the sewer. But in a land on the brink to famine little eatable can found.
Outside the walls of the drug prison, opium, and heroin, seems to offer a way out for those with little where else to go.

Lice - and worst of all – scabies - Mohammad Omin, 35, displays some of the hundreds of bite marks he and many other prisoners have from the prison's vermin that feed on the 3,000 emaciated prisoners. Due to lack of space and heating, the prisoners sleep close together on the floor in large humid dormitories where the lice and scabies thrive - and drive everyone to the brink of madness. ‘Ibn Sina Drug Addiction Treatment Hospital’

The prisoners are captured by Taliban in the streets of Kabul, those who do not follow orders are beaten and several have died during the captures. In the prison – or the hospital as it’ being called - they are shaved, washed, and given a bit of medicine. Except from that, the so-called treatment of the ‘Ibn Sina Drug Addiction Treatment Hospital’ is just time… Time and a so-called 'cold turkey'. Of course, not all bodies can survive such an abrupt end with drugs or medicine.

Drug addicts in a corridor into a dormitory. The combination of lack of drugs, hunger and the constantly gnawing lice and scabies on the body, is a severe mental challenge for everyone.
The reasons behind Afghanistan's massive dependency are many. The opium may dull the trauma of years of war and violence, but for many the drugs are introduced to them by their own employers, offering a quick relief from hunger, pain, and exhaustion. After a short time, people are hooked.

... med Kasper Foss, trommeslager i mange forskellige orkestre. Han har skrevet en bog om at spille trommer i forskellige bands igennem mange år.

The War on Drugs - soldiers from the Colombian army in at a large coca-plantation that they have just destroyed.

No other place in Colombia, and therefore no place on the planet, produces as much cocaine as the provinces of Tumaco and Catatumbo in Norte de Santander. Catatumbo is a remote countryside with valleys and mountains covered in dense vegetation and with an unusual and unpredictable climate with tropical storms and a world record in lightings. The place is not only home to cocaine-production, but also to a variety of illegal armed groups and smuggling routes to the ports of the Caribbean coast and in the neighbouring country Venezuela. From those ports the cocaine is being shipped to Europe and USA.

One kilogram (2.2 pounds) of 100% pure, uncut cocaine on offer for just 1250 USD by a local cocaine producer. With the street value of 127 USD for a single gram in London, it is obvious that it’s not the local Colombian farmers who are getting rich from the business.

Cocaine laboratory. Three men cooking cocaine-base in a village in the Cauca-region where coca is grown extensively.
Besides 600 kilos of coca-leaves, the production of 1 kilo of cocaine-base requires large amount of chemicals such as cement, ammonium, sulphuric acid, sodium permanganate, caustic soda, and liters and liters of gasoline. The cocaine-base is being sold to a middleman or directly to a drug-cartel who runs another and more sophisticated laboratory, where the cocaine powder, or crystal, is being made.

Jesus Bautista, 25, a soldier for the Colombian army, was badly wounded when he stepped on a landmine on April 26th 2021 in the region of Catatumbo, where he was fighting an armed group involved in the drug business. He lost all sight on his left eye and the left leg had to be amputated from the knee and down. The region of Catatumbo is known for its lucrative coca plantations and production with a different ‘capo’ or armed group operation on almost every hillside.
Colombia is one of the most landmine contaminated countries in the world and have some of the highest amounts of landmine victims per year. The landmines are closely connected to the cocaine production, as they are widely used by armed groups to protect the destruction of crops and laboratories.

Police setting up explosive in a cocaine laboratory. The special anti-narcotic police force ‘Comando Jungla’ are attacking and destroying cocaine laboratories across the country, this time on a remote mountainside in Playa Rica, Sipí, Chocó. This laboratory is estimated to produce about 500 kilos a week. At the time of the operation the process was still in the making with large quantities cooking in the barrels. In this area, during a couple of hours, the Comando Jungle destroyed five laboratories of coca paste and then this one producing cocaine ready for exporting (cocaine hydrochloride). The operation acquired 54 soldiers around the sites, including 4 helicopters. But as the soldiers say: “Already tomorrow they can start producing coca paste again.”

The special anti-narcotic police force ‘Comando Jungla’ are attacking and destroying a cocaine laboratory in Playa Rica, Chocó. The area is largely controlled by the ELN guerrilla, who protect and benefit economically from the coca growing and the production of cocaine. Lately the Clan De Golfo cartel are moving to fight for the control. In this area, during a couple of hours, the Comando Jungle destroyed five laboratories of coca paste and then this one producing cocaine ready for exporting (cocaine hydrochloride). The operation acquired 54 soldiers around the sites, including 4 helicopters. But as the soldiers say: “Already tomorrow they can start producing coca paste again.”

Casualty of the war on drugs. A boot and a nametag mark the spot where Wilson de Jesús Martínez Jaraba, 37, a soldier from the Colombian army, was killed by a land mine on July 15. 2015.
The landmines are closely connected to the cocaine production. This area near El Orejon, Antioquia is known for its lucrative coca plantations and production, and the land mines are mostly placed on the hillsides to protect the destruction of coca crops and laboratories.
Colombia is one of the most landmine contaminated countries in the world and have some of the highest amounts of landmine victims per year.

Mule. X-ray images of Juan Pablo Mejía, 26, reveals 13 capsules of 20 gram of cocaine each that the young man is smuggling inside stomach.
Juan Pablo Mejía destination was Madrid in Spain, but at the Eldorado International Airport in Bogotá he was profiled by the anti-narcotic police and taken to the body-scanner where unusual spots on the picture can reveal the so-called ‘mules’ – cocaine smugglers.
Juan Pablo works at pharmaceutical company, but he is the only provider for him and his 70-year-old mother, and during covid-19 lock down he didn’t receive any payment and had to borrow money. He paid back most, but when he failed to deliver about 1000 USD fast enough, he received a clear warning that something “very bad” would happen to him any time. But the loan sharks also offered him another way out: bring these bags of cocaine to our client in Madrid and your dept is paid. And so, Juan Pablo decided to go.

A recent catch of 602 kilos of cocaine caught inside a container aiming for Spain are being stored while waiting to be burned.
Most of Colombia’s cocaine is shipped out either in so-called Go Fast Boats, narco-submarines or hidden inside cargo, which are then shipped out in containers to the rest of the world. The port city of Buenaventura is the biggest in the country and here anti-narcotic police are trying to find the needles in the haystack, and searching containers using a mix of data, profiling, x-ray, ultrasound, dogs, and their own intuition to catch the cocaine.
Each kilo of cocaine is marked with logo, this time of the Heineken beer. These marks of Apple, Nike, Heineken etc. is the common way by the cartels to show the producer who guarantee the quality of the product.

Diney Alexandra takes a nab on the floor of her father’s cocaine laboratory, while he is processing the leafs into cocaine-base. The entire process from the leaf to cocaine base is usually made in two days. The cocaine base is then sold to a middleman or directly to the cartels who will make the final product in a second phase laboratory.

Like thousands of small scale farmers across Colombia Martín Osorio is running his own little laboratory where he processes the coca leafs from his own 25 hectares and what he might buy from the neighbours. A variety of illegally armed groups operates in the region, but on these hills it’s dissidents from the former FARC-guerilla who controls the market. Recently the paramilitary group called Los Mesas are pushing to get in.

Black smoke from a cocaine laboratory that is being blown up by the special anti-narcotic police force ‘Comando Jungla’.
The ‘Comando Jungla’ are attacking and destroying cocaine laboratories across the country, this time on a remote mountainside in Playa Rica, Chocó.
This laboratory is estimated to produce about 500 kilos a week. In this area, during a couple of hours, the ‘Comando Jungle’ destroyed five laboratories of coca paste and then this one producing cocaine ready for exporting (cocaine hydrochloride). The operation acquired 54 soldiers around the sites, including 4 helicopters. But as the soldiers say: “Already tomorrow they can start producing coca paste again.” The area is largely controlled by the ELN guerrilla, who protect and benefit economically from the coca growing and the production of cocaine. Lately the Clan De Golfo cartel are moving to fight for the control.

... med Kasper Foss, trommeslager i mange forskellige orkestre. Han har skrevet en bog om at spille trommer i forskellige bands igennem mange år.

Khalil Ahmad kidney was sold to support his family.
The parents of Khalil Ahmad, age 15, couldn’t afford to buy food for their eleven children anymore, so in a desperate attempt to save the family, they decided to sell the left kidney of their oldest son.
15-year-old Khalil Ahmad used to be good at football and cricket – and to tease his siblings a bit. But after his parents sold away his kidney, the boy has completely changed. He feels pain every day and doesn’t have the same strength and joy as before.
Since the collapse of Afghanistan's economy, the illegal trade in organs appears to have increased dramatically. Khalil Ahmad's family was paid US$3,500 for the kidney, an amount that would have taken his father years to earn even if there was work for him - but there isn't.

Woman and children beg for food outside a bakery in central Kabul. Before the Taliban took power in august 2021, at most a few women were sitting here begging, but as the months passes, desperation increases, and more and more people are now relying on the compassion of other poor people.

A heavily armed Taliban check point in Khoje Ali just outside Bamiyan. After waging guerrilla warfare against foreign troops and the Afghan army, it is now in the hands of the Taliban to create peace and stability in Afghanistan. But Taliban already have a strong enemy within – The Islamic State - who is fighting in the shadows with attacks, IEDs and suicide missions similar to what the Taliban used to do themselves.

Despite his only 11-months Hojatullah is already suffering from severe malnutrition. Like many of Afghans children not only his physical and mental development is at risk – but even his very life.
In a small clinic managed by UNICEF, children from the village of Alibeg and surroundings are being medically examined for malnutrition. Malnutrition is very common here and most family must survive on a daily diet of mostly a bit of white bread and tea.

A family burning plastic in a camp to make themselves a little food. This camp is placed in the outskirts of Herat city and is home to about 1000 people who have all moved from their villages and farms in the countryside due to the food-crisis.
The growing number of people are living -and dying- in these tents under subhuman condition, with the only hope that the local Taliban government or an NGO will come and help them with a bit of food, medical care, and maybe even warmer tents. But so far nothing has

The wall of the former US-embassy in Kabul is now covered by a huge Taliban propaganda mural. In front of the former security wall, street vendors are now selling Taliban posters and merchandise.

Lunch at the home of Afisas, 25, who is sitting surrounded by her family members, some heavily weakened due to the food crisis, and her son Hojatullah who is also severely malnourished.
‘The nurses thought he was too quiet, he did not try to crawl, and when he was measured and weighed, they said he was severely malnourished. I breastfeed him, but I do not get enough to eat myself, so the milk is not worth much.”, explains Afisa. In the village of Alibeg malnutrition is very common and most family must survive on a daily diet of not much more than a daily meal consisting of a bit of white bread and some tea with sugar.

Friday prayer at a mosque in central Kabul. Sohalullah Hajrat,19-year-old, is keeping guard at the site protecting it from attacks of any kind. He has already been with the Taliban for about three years despite his on 19 years.

In the middle of the busy streets of Kabul, Pacha and his daughter Bebe Aisa are trying to earn enough money for Today’s food by cleaning and polishing shoes. It costs 5 afghani to get a pair of shoes fixed, but fewer and fewer can afford it these days. For 10 afghani, the father and daughter can buy one single bread to take home.

LVIV, UKRAINE - Ballet dancers are seen onstage before the ballet performance Giselle begins June 10, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. The Lviv National Opera house started performances last month for both ballet and opera.The bomb shelter can only hold 300 people so tickets are limited incase a siren goes off during the performance.
(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

LOSOVA, UKRAINE - Galina Rybak and daughter Milana 10, look out from a refugee bus headed to the western city of Lviv on April 27, 2022 in Losova, Ukraine. They were forced to leave their after their home was damaged by shelling fearing the worst was to come.

(Photo by Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images)

IRPIN, UKRAINE - A Ukranian girl looks at a huge pile of destroyed cars left behind after Russians occupied the Kyiv suburbs on May 8, 2002 in Irpin, Ukraine. The area located outside a cemetery has become a war tourism site frequently visited by dignitaries and celebrities.

(Photo by Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images)

IRPIN, UKRAINE - Residents of Irpin desperately escape the Russian invasion making their way along a destroyed bridge on March 13, 2022 in Irpin, Ukraine as Russians continue their military incursion of the Kyiv suburb.

(Photo by Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images)

KHERSON, UKRAINE - Kherson residents fight the crowds for humanitarian aid from World Food Program on November 18, 2022 in Kherson, Ukraine. During the Russian withdrawal after nine months of occupation, Russian military destroyed the TV tower along with the power grid, leaving no electricity or water, regardless the mood is celebratory.
(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

At the Ohmatdyt general hospital Vovo, age 13, lost his father in the car when they were attacked, and still has a bullet lodged in his back that needs surgery.

KHARKIV, UKRAINE - A military investigator looks at the roof of sports complex destroyed on June 24, 2022 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. One of the most common targets for Russian artillery, missiles, and airstrikes have been schools, over a 115 have been hit since the war began.

(Photo by Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images)

BUCHA: Bodies are seen in the back of a building with their hands tied killed execution style.
Photo Paula Bronstein for The Times

KHARKIV, UKRAINE - As rain clouds approach at a Kharkiv cemetery, soldiers and relatives attend a military funeral for Denys Anatskyi, 26, who was killed near Chuhuiv on June 20,2022 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

(Photo by Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images)

ZAZYMYA, UKRAINE - Friends and relatives mourn the death of Volodymyr Chovgun, 34, during his funeral at the St. Elizabeth New MartyrÕs Convent on October 15, 2022 in Zazymya, Brovary district, Ukraine. Volodymyr was killed in Kyiv on October 10th by a Russian missile attack on his way to work, his brother survived with severe injuries currently still hospitalized. At least eight people were killed and 51 injured in Kyiv during the attack. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

LVIV, UKRAINE - Relatives and family mourn during the funeral of soldier Yuri Bohdnanovich Guk, 41, as daughter Alexia, 8, (left) holds the Ukranian flag and her mother Katerina embraces her on May,16, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. Yuri was killed on May 9 in the Donetsk, with the 68th brigade.
(Photo by Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images)

KHERSON, UKRAINE - Ukranian soldier Nikolai Skelsarov from the 79th Air assault battalion hugs his mother Elena Skelsarova returning home after 8 months on the battlefield on November 15, 2022 in Kherson, Ukraine. He rarely spoke to her by phone finally taking tine off to go to Kherson for the reunion. Explosions were heard in many major cities on Tuesday in Ukraine after Russia’s rather humiliating withdrawal from Kherson.

(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

KYIV, UKRAINE - Iryna Dubovyk,35, gives birth to her second child,Tymophiy seen moments after birth at the Isida maternity hospital on March 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Given the war many pregnant women left the country to have their babies in a safe environment. Isida is a high quality private maternity hospital that is offering free medical care for all women in need.

(Photo by Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images)

TRUSKAVETS, UKRAINE - Mykhailo Varvaric, 27, from Lviv, a commander with the 80th Assault Brigade works out his upper body in a small gym at the Truskavets City hospital on November 1, 2022 in Truskavets, Ukraine. Mykhailo lost both legs on May 29, in Luhansk from an anti-personnel mine along with 3 other soldiers who were injured, one was killed. He has been living at the hospital since late June going through rehabilitation.
During war time,Truskavets City Hospital is now specializing in treating military amputees as a rehabilitation facility so far 173 soldiers have been treated in hospital, including 152 amputees. The hospital in western Ukraine provides free medical care giving soldiers a new home after their mental and physical traumatic experiences.

(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

TRUSKAVETS, UKRAINE - Taras Volochyi, 54, is seen at the Truskavets City hospital on October 31, 2022 in Truskavets, Ukraine. He lost his leg from shelling near Lysychansk in late June. During war time, Truskavets City Hospital is now specializing in treating military amputees as a rehabilitation facility so far 173 soldiers have been treated in hospital, including 152 amputees. The hospital in western Ukraine provides free medical care giving soldiers a new home after their mental and physical traumatic experiences.
(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

Ukranians hold flares during a ceremony for Roman Ratushny who was killed on June 9th at the age of 24, a well-known civic activist. He was serving as a military intelligence officer for the 93rd Mechanised Brigade ‘Kholodny Yar’ when killed near Izyum in Kharkiv. Roman Ratushny represented everything that the Russian regime is trying to destroy in Ukraine.

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - A soldier with serious head and eye wounds is seen after an operation at a hospital where military are treated on October 8, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - In the emergency trauma room vascular surgeon Dmytro ( far right) uses Ultrasonography to do a FAST exam on a patient with a head injury along side anesthesiologists Ihor ( left) and Oleksandr ( back right ) as the team tries to stabilize the soldier on October 7, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - A seriously inured soldier with multiple wounds is seen in the emergency trauma room at a hospital where military are treated on October 8, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - Injured military sit outside waiting to be medically treated for their injuries after a motor vehicle accident on October 8, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - An Injured soldier waits to be medically treated for head injuries after a motor vehicle accident on October 8, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - In the operation room soldier Evgeniy, 24, gets preparation for a traumatic amputation to his foot from a mine injury at a hospital where military are treated on October 7, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - In the operation room doctors get ready to preform a traumatic amputation on a soldier’s left arm at a hospital where military are treated on October 9, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - In the operation room an arm is seen after a traumatic amputation to a solderÕs hand at a hospital where military are treated on October 8, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - A traumatized soldier sits in the emergency room next to an injured military comrade who was injured from shelling at a hospital where military are treated on October 6, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - An injured soldier waits to be medically treated for his head injury after he was involved in a motor vehicle accident at a hospital where military are treated on October 8, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - Hospital worker Andriy talks to Vitaliy as he leaves for medical evacuation at a hospital where military are treated on October 6, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

DONETSK DISTRICT, UKRAINE - Evgeniy, 24, (right) smokes a cigarette, before his transfer onward to Dnipro along with other military patients after a traumatic amputation to his foot from a mine on October 7, 2022 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. Working according to NATO standards since 2014, doctors and nurses treat life threatening traumatic injuries, stabilizing patients, it is the second point in the chain of military evacuation. Most of the soldiers treated suffer from artillery wounds caused by shelling, along with mine injuries. Military doctors and nurses live and work at the facility. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

Thousands of Ukranian refugees wait in long lines for many hours near the Polish border at Budomierz to cross into Poland from Ukraine. Two million refugees have fled Ukraine, most into Poland.

(Photo by Paula Bronstein )

KHARKIV, UKRAINE - A military investigator looks at the roof of sports complex destroyed on June 24, 2022 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. One of the most common targets for Russian artillery, missiles, and airstrikes have been schools, over a 115 have been hit since the war began.

(Photo by Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images)

Elena Pomaz from Kherson, under Russian occupation cries as she holds her children, Liza, age 6, and Sofia ,4 months on July 1, 2022. The family got emotional after relatives came on board to visit them, saying goodbye was difficult. The train arrives daily to Dnipro from UkraineÕs war ravaged eastern region carrying refugees for a brief stopover en route towards Lviv.

KRASNOTORKA, UKRAINE - Leda Buzinna, 56, stands outside her home, that was seriously damaged by shelling overnight when two S-300 missiles hit a rural neighborhood on October 4, 2022 outside of Kramatorsk district in Krasnotorka, Ukraine. Leda has facial injuries that were treated in a local hospital and she was released, her husband injured his leg in the attack. They have been living in the home for 18 years. They will get help for home repair from the government. Leda was sleeping when the missile hit their bedroom..
(Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

BUCHA, UKRAINE - The remains of decomposing bodies, seen outside a building where men were brutally killed as the Russian soldiers left the corpses next to their garbage on April, 3, 2002 in Bucha, Ukraine. Bucha was the scene of the worst massacre of the Ukraine war, according to local authorities, 458 bodies have been recovered from the town, with corpses of civilians killed with their hands tied behind their back shot execution style.

BUCHA, UKRAINE - Valya grieves over the body of her husband Alexander Kudin on April 8,2022 in Bucha, Ukraine as body bags line the Bucha city cemetery. Dozens of bodies were taken to the morgue from the Bucha cemetery for forensic examination and eventual burial. Bucha was the scene of the worst massacre of the Ukraine war, according to local authorities, 458 bodies have been recovered from the town, with corpses of civilians killed with their hands tied behind their back shot execution style.

At a Kharkiv cemetery, a Ukranian commander says goodbye to Maxim Shcherbak, 29, who was killed on June 19th in the Donbas region.

A man rides his bicycle past a destroyed shopping center as a dead body lays on the road in Bucha on April 6, 2022. The Kyiv suburb was shelled during Russian occupation for over a month starting in late February.

KHARKIV, UKRAINE - At a Kharkiv cemetery, a Ukranian family grieves over the coffin of their son, Volodymr, who was a soldier killed in in the Donbas region on June 24, during his funeral on June 29,2022 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Hundreds of mourners pay their respects during the funeral for Roman Ratushny, 24, on June,18, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Roman was killed on June 9, he was a well-known civic activist who served as a military intelligence officer for the 93rd Mechanized Brigade called Kholodny Yar when he was killed in the Kharkiv region.

ZAZYMYA, UKRAINE - As the sunlight shines on his cross, Father Michael Hleba performs the funeral service for friends and relatives mourning the death of Volodymyr Chovgun, 34, at the St. Elizabeth New Martyrs Convent on October 15, 2022 in Zazymya, Brovary district, Ukraine. Volodymyr was killed in Kyiv on October 10th by a Russian missile attack on his way to work, his brother survived with severe injuries currently still hospitalized. At least eight people were killed and 51 injured in Kyiv during the attack. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

In the Kyiv suburb of Borodyanka, a man stares at the beauty of a rainbow in the skies after April showers brought sunshine, creating an extraordinary site over a destroyed apartment building, heavily damaged by aerial bombardment on April 9, 2022.