Two years of Putin’s struggle in pictures: From wounded heroes to destruction
Saturday marks two years since February 24, 2022 – when Vladimir Putin ordered his armies to invade Ukraine.
In these 730 days, 1000’s of troopers and civilians have been killed in brutal warfare – the likes of which has not been seen in Europe because the finish of the Second World War, nearly 80 years in the past.
The first 12 months noticed Russian tanks attain the gates of Kyiv. Many feared the worst, however Ukraine’s forces expelled the invaders from the north and – with lighting counteroffensives – pushed Putin’s armies again east.
While photographs from Ukraine on the time revealed the true brutality Putin’s struggle, in addition they projected hope as Kyiv’s troopers marched ahead – liberating swathes of their nation that had fallen beneath Russian occupation.
The similar can’t be stated of images from the second 12 months. With the summer season counteroffensive of 2023 stalling, troopers on either side at the moment are dug into trenches that stretch throughout tons of of miles of japanese Ukraine, a lot of which has been changed into a battle-scarred wasteland.
Fatigue is setting in amongst Ukraine’s troopers and considerations develop over dwindling provides of ammunition, waning optimism within the West and limitless waves of Russian troopers used as canon fodder by Putin’s cruel generals.
But hope stays. Kyiv’s armies have nonetheless dealt vital blows to their Russian advisories over the past 12 months, and the Ukrainian individuals proceed to defend their homeland in opposition to the aggressor from the east.
From the ultimate days of the battle of Bakhmut, audacious strikes deep into Russian-held territory, the autumn of Avdiivka, an tried coup in opposition to Moscow, and the continued bravery of the Ukrainian individuals – MailOnline at the moment seems to be again at a number of the most memorable photographs from the second 12 months of struggle in Ukraine.
FEBRUARY 2023
FEBRUARY 24, 2024: A Ukraine Army serviceman rests laying on a mattress at a relaxation and restoration base after coming back from the entrance line within the Donetsk area
FEBRUARY 26: Ukrainian serviceman of the ’68 separate looking brigade named after Olexa Dovbush’ sits within the trench on the entrance line place at an undisclosed location
FEBRUARY 26: Ukrainian servicemen of the 68th Separate Jager Infantry Brigade ‘Oleksa Dovbush’ hearth a howitzer in the direction of Russian positions, at an undisclosed location within the Donetsk area, japanese Ukraine
FEBRUARY 27: A Ukrainian tank destroys a home used as cowl by Russian troopers in Bakhmut in Ukraine in footage launched by the 93rd separate mechanised brigade
FEBRUARY 28: An aged girl stands in her yard after shelling in Chasiv Yar, close to Bakhmut
MARCH 2023
MARCH 8: A Ukrainian serviceman takes cowl in a trench throughout shelling subsequent to a 105mm howitzer close to the town of Bakhmut, as US intelligence claimed on the time that Putin was joyful for struggle to hold on for years
MARCH 10: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) lays a bouquet of flowers on the open coffin as he attends a memorial service in Kyiv for Dmytro Kotsiubailo, a Ukrainian serviceman who was killed in fight on the entrance line in Bakhmut
MARCH 10: Local residents of the village of Bohorodychne cross the Siversky Donets river at a destroyed bridge to retrieve bread from the opposite financial institution, in Bohorodychne, Donetsk Oblast
MARCH 14: A serviceman wipes away tears as he sits close to a person holding an image of his son on the ‘Memory Wall of Fallen defenders of Ukraine within the Russian-Ukrainian War’ throughout a ceremony in Kyiv
MARCH 19: Russia’s President Putin (left) speaks with residence block residents as he visits the Ukrainian metropolis of Mariupol on his first go to to the territory captured from Ukraine at the beginning of Moscow’s offensive
MARCH 22: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (entrance) hugging a servicewoman as he visits the superior positions of the Ukrainian navy within the Bakhmut path, throughout a working journey to the Donetsk area
MARCH 23: Ukrainian navy paramedics evacuate a wounded serviceman from the entrance line close to Bakhmut
MARCH 26: A tank by the Ukrainian eightieth Brigade fires within the path of Bakhmut, abandoning clouds of smoke and mud
APRIL 2023
APRIL 1: Pro-Ukrainian activists trample a photograph of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch of Moscow and Russia Kirill outdoors the historic Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv
APRIL 3: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky leaves the basement of a college, the place the villagers had been stored for nearly month by Russian troops, throughout a go to within the village of Yagidne, north of Kyiv, to mark the primary anniversary of the liberation of the settlement
APRIL 9: A Belarusian volunteer soldier from the Kastus Kalinouski regiment, a regiment made up of Belarusian opposition volunteers fashioned to defend Ukraine, fires a 120mm mortar spherical at a entrance line place close to Bakhmut within the Donetsk area
APRIL 10: Two boys stand subsequent to a constructing destroyed by shelling within the Ukrainian village of Novohryhorivka, within the Mykolaiv area
APRIL 26: Smoke rises from buildings in Bakhmut, Ukraine, the positioning of heavy battles between Ukrainian and Russian troops
APRIL 29: A nonetheless picture taken from a handout video made out there by the Governor of Sevastopol’s Telegram channel exhibits a fireplace at an oil depot in Sevastopol, Crimea
APRIL 29: An enormous cloud of smoke is rising after an alleged drone assault in Sevastopol, Crimea
MAY 2023
MAY 3: A wounded man sits outdoors of a neighborhood grocery store following Russian strikes within the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, which killed 16 individuals in line with native authorities
MAY 15: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hugs Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Aylesbury, Britain, throughout a state go to
MAY 15: Ukrainian troopers hearth a cannon close to the japanese metropolis of Bakhmut, as a Banksy portray left on a constructing in Irpin, Ukraine, was moved to a unique location
MAY 19: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, proper, throughout a face-to-face assembly with Kuwait Crown Prince Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (left) on the sidelines of the Arab League Summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
MAY 20: Zelensky with the UK’s Rishi Sunak (left) and different world leaders in Hiroshima, Japan, in the course of the G7 summit on the Grand Prince Hotel to press largely Western-aligned nations for additional navy, in addition to set out a imaginative and prescient for a path to peace within the area
MAY 28: A Ukrainian soldier fires a mortar at Russian positions on the entrance line close to Bakhmut, Ukraine
JUNE 2023
JUNE 4: A satellite tv for pc picture exhibits Nova Kakhovka Dam, amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, in Kherson area, Ukraine
JUNE 7: Residents of southern Ukraine, some who spent the night time on rooftops, braced for a second day of swelling floodwaters, after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed and destroyed total villages
JUNE 8: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (centre) speaks to Ihor Klymenko (centre proper), head of the National police of Ukraine, throughout a go to to Kherson, Ukraine
JUNE 13: The physique of a Russian soldier is seen, amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, close to the entrance line in Donetsk, as Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin continued his public feud with Putin within the days earlier than he led a column of tanks as much as Moscow
JUNE 14: The physique of a Russian soldier is seen close to a destroyed Russian tank, amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, close to the entrance line within the newly liberated village Storozheve in Donetsk area
JUNE 16: Local residents take shelter in a metro station within the centre of Kyiv throughout a Russian missile assault. Ukraine stated afterwards that it downed 12 Russian missiles over Kyiv
JUNE 22: Members of the Espanola particular power unit pose throughout a coaching session on the wild seashores on the Azov Sea outdoors Mariupol. The group was fashioned by soccer ultras who got here to Mariupol, the place they prepare and patrol the stands on the predominant soccer stadium
JUNE 23: A Ukrainian artilleryman fires a 2A36 Giatsint-B area gun towards Russian positions close to Avdiivka within the Donetsk area
JUNE 24: Servicemen from personal navy firm (PMC) Wagner Group journey a tank studying ‘Siberia’ on a road in downtown Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia
JUNE 24: Members of the Wagner Group put together to depart from the Southern Military District’s headquarters and return to their base in Rostov-on-Don, Russia
JUNE 29: Rescues and law enforcement officials attend anti-radiation drills for case of an emergency scenario at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
JULY 2023
JULY 2: A Ukrainian serviceman of the third Assault Brigade fires a 122mm mortar in the direction of Russian positions on the entrance line, close to Bakhmut, Donetsk area, Ukraine
JULY 4: Two ladies and a lady run away from Palace of Culture ‘Chemist’ in Pervomaiskyi, Ukraine, the place they had been gathering for the funeral of a fallen soldier, after a missile hit close by
JULY 4: A pair lead a lady beneath the palms from broken residential constructing on July 4, 2023, in Pervomaiskyi, Ukraine. People had been gathered on the primary sq. for the funeral ceremony of a fallen soldier when a missile hit on a close-by car parking zone subsequent to residential high-rise buildings. As a results of the shelling, 38 individuals had been injured, together with 12 youngsters
JULY 6: Rescuers stand in entrance of a residence constructing partially destroyed by a missile strike within the western Ukrainian metropolis of Lviv. The missile hit an residence block in Ukraine’s Lviv, killing 4 individuals
JULY 11: President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky and the primary woman of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska stand collectively on the stage in the course of the Raising the Flag for Ukraine NATO occasion in an indication of solidarity, simply 5 days after now-dead Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led a column of tanks as much as Moscow
JULY 17: This video seize taken from a crimea24TV footage exhibits the broken Kerch bridge – linking Crimea to Russia – which was closely broken following an assault the Russians declare concerned two Ukrainian drones
JULY 20: A firefighter works at a web site of an administrative constructing closely broken by a Russian missile strike in Odesa
JULY 23: Church personnel examine damages contained in the Odesa Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa, Ukraine
JULY 31: A toy automobile lies between destroyed vehicles at a web site of an residence constructing closely broken by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine
AUGUST 2023
AUGUST 3: Prisoners eat lunch within the cafeteria contained in the Russian prisoner of struggle detention camp within the Lviv area, western Ukraine
AUGUST 9: Ukrainian troopers capturing from a SPG-9 grenade launcher within the Serebrianskyi forest on Russian place close to Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine
AUGUST 10: This image exhibits the aftermath of shelling by shock drones on an oil depot within the Rivne area, Western Ukraine. No injured individuals had been reported, in line with native authorities
AUGUST 14: Rescuers work on the place of rocket particles falling on a hypermarket within the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Odesa
AUGUST 15: A handout image exhibits a burning constructing after a rocket assault within the western Ukrainian metropolis of Lviv. Ukraine was attacked in a single day with 28 rockets of various courses, 16 of which had been shot down in line with a press release from the Ukrainian Air Force
AUGUST 20: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (proper) sit in a F-16 fighter jet at Skrydstrup Airbase in Vojens, Denmark
AUGUST 30: Firefighters work on the web site of a missile strike in Kyiv. Russian forces attacked Kyiv in a single day killing two individuals and injuring one other, Kyiv City Military Administration Head Serhii Popko reported
SEPTEMBER 2023
SEPTEMBER 3: A portrait of Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is displayed subsequent to an indication studying ‘Thank you uncle Zhenya’ at an off-the-cuff memorial in his tribute in Moscow. Prigozhin was buried on August 29 close to his father’s grave throughout a quiet ceremony on the Porokhov cemetery on the outskirts of St. Petersburg
SEPTEMBER 13: Putin-appointed governor of annexed Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, is trying on the harm brought on by a missile assault on the port
SEPTEMBER 14: Children and their lecturers wait in a kindergarten’s basement used as a bomb shelter throughout an air strike alarm in Kryvyi Rih, southern Ukraine
SEPTEMBER 16: An amputee Ukrainian serviceman Andriy, 20, rests after climbing Mount Klyuch, 927m, close to the village of Trukhaniv, Lviv area
SEPTEMBER 18: Physiotherapist Roksolana Shmilo (left) talks with Vasyl Grytsenko (proper), 29, a Ukrainian amputee soldier after a physiotherapy session at Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv, western Ukraine
SEPTEMBER 19: Russian prisoners of struggle queue for lunch at a camp for Russian POWs in western Ukraine. The centre is the final cease for detainees first held in different cities earlier than being exchanged. Ukrainian officers gave a tour of the camp which opened in 2022 for Russian prisoners of struggle to journalists
SEPTEMBER 20: Volodymyr Zelensky (left) seen getting ready for a speech to members of the UN Security Council, asking them to take away Russia’s skill to veto resolutions put ahead to the physique
SEPTEMBER 22: Ukraine hit the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol in a missile assault, inflicting clouds of smoke to rise from the constructing
SEPTEMBER 23: Ukrainian navy medics deal with a wounded Ukrainian soldier in a Ukrainian stabilization level in an undisclosed location close to Bakhmut
SEPTEMBER 25: Oleksiy, a Ukrainian serviceman, kisses his spouse Maryna, who arrived on a prepare from Kyiv to go to him, on the railway station in Kramatorsk, Donetsk area
SEPTEMBER 29: Young Ukrainian cadets of Kyiv’s ‘Cadets Corp’ navy faculty dance after the commencement ceremony on the Monument to Prince Volodymyr in Kyiv
SEPTEMBER 29: People waving Russian flags attend a live performance devoted to the primary anniversary of the annexation of 4 areas of Ukraine Russian troops management – Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, at Red Square in central Moscow
OCTOBER 2023
OCTOBER 3: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (proper) rewards Ukrainian servicemen throughout to his go to to navy positions on the entrance line between Lyman and Kupiansk in Ukraine
OCTOBER 5: People carry the coffin of late Ukrainian serviceman Spartak Yarkin who was killed by a Russian sniper in Bucha in March 2022, throughout a reburial ceremony at Heroes’ Alley within the city of Irpin, close to Kyiv
OCTOBER 5: Spain’s appearing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (left) and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (proper) arrive for the opening ceremony of the third European Political Community (EPC) Summit on the Congress Hall in Granada, Spain
OCTOBER 6: Rescuers work on the web site of a rocket assault on Kharkiv. According to the State Emergency Services of Ukraine, a baby was killed and greater than 20 different civilians had been injured within the assault
OCTOBER 22: A view exhibits a gap within the roof after a strike on a postal terminal within the Korotych settlement close to Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine. At least six individuals had been killed and 16 others injured after a Russian missile hit the Nove Poshta postal terminal
OCTOBER 27: A serviceman of Separate 14th Regiment of Armed Forces of Ukraine, call-sign Kyiv, prepares to launch a FPV drone on a place on the entrance line in Zaporizhia area
OCTOBER 28: Schoolchildren sporting gasoline masks and fits attend a coaching within the military-patriotic program ‘School of Future Commanders’ in Russian-occupied Sevastopol. The coaching performed beneath the steerage of navy personnel embody disciplines corresponding to multi-sport racing, tactical drugs, and weapons dealing with
OCTOBER 30: A serviceman, sporting prosthetic legs, walks previous the Ukrainian flags symbolising the fallen troopers on the Independence Square in Kyiv
NOVEMBER 2023
NOVEMBER 1: Ukrainian servicemen look their smartphones as they wait, shelting from the autumn rain as they stand subsequent frescos in St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv
NOVEMBER 8: Members of Ukraine’s National Guard Omega Special Purpose hearth a SPG-9 anti-tank grenade launcher towards Russian troops within the entrance line city of Avdiivka
NOVEMBER 8: A girl holds her cat outdoors her closely bombed residential constructing in Avdiivka which has been focused by Russian navy airstrikes
NOVEMBER 8: Buildings have been closely bombed in Avdiivka. Moscow’s forces have been intensifying air bombardments and attempting to maneuver ahead with floor forces
NOVEMBER 11: Ukrainian troopers take shelter of their combating place within the path of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast
NOVEMBER 15: Rescuers work to succeed in potential victims within the aftermath of an in a single day shelling within the Selodove village, Donetsk area, Ukraine
NOVEMBER 16: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) welcomes Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron previous to a gathering in Kyiv. Cameron traveled to Kyiv for his first abroad go to to ‘underline the UK’s steadfast help for Ukraine’ amid the Russian invasion, the British authorities stated in a press release
NOVEMBER 18: Ukrainian troopers hearth artillery from their combating place within the path of Bakhmut, Ukraine
NOVEMBER 23: Zelensky met with the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen (left) in Kyiv, welcoming a ‘coalition’ of 20 nations, often called the ‘Ramstein Group’, which offered a lift to Ukraine’s air defences
NOVEMBER 25: People view the rubble of a kindergarten broken throughout drone strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine
DECEMBER 2023
DECEMBER 12: A Ukrainian Cultural Forces musician performs for sick troopers at a restoration centre in an undisclosed space within the Donetsk area, providing troops an opportunity to unwind and clear their heads of warfare
DECEMBER 12: Zelensky meets US president Joe Biden within the White House in an try and rescue a crucial $61 billion help bundle that’s nonetheless being held up in Congress
DECEMBER 15: Ukrainian tank crews apply the evacuation of a comrade throughout a drill not removed from the entrance line within the Bakhmut path, as EU leaders formally agreed to open accession talks to being Ukraine into the bloc
DECEMBER 24: Ukrainian troopers of the 14th separate mechanized brigade attend a Christmas Eve meal close to the entrance line outdoors Kupiansk area as Ukrainians have fun their first Christmas in line with a brand new calendar, amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine
DECEMBER 26: People stroll previous a New Year ornament – Kremlin Star, bearing a Z letter, a insignia of Russian troops in Ukraine, in entrance of the Monument devoted to Heroes of the WWI, in western Moscow
DECEMBER 28: A Ukrainian soldier fires in the direction of the Russian place because the Ukrainian troopers from the artillery unit anticipate ammunition help on the frontline within the path of Avdiivka because the Russia-Ukraine struggle continues in Donetsk
DECEMBER 31: Rescuers reply on the web site of a missile strike on a financial institution constructing in Kharkiv, Ukraine. For the second night time in a row, Russian troops attacked Kharkiv from the air, ensuing within the destruction or harm of a number of buildings and injuring 26 individuals
JANUARY 2024
JANUARY 2, 2024: Fire and burnt-out vehicles are seen after a missile strike in Kyiv whereas a fireplace ball erupts
JANUARY 9: Ukrainian troopers on armoured personnel carriers put together to shoot at Russian positions by finishing up counter-attack actions, shelling the positions of the Russian military and firing from a large-calibre machine gun in Lyman district, Ukraine
JANUARY 12: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (left) takes an image of a wounded struggle veteran with President Volodymyr Zelensky (proper) throughout a go to to a hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine
JANUARY 12: A black bear named Yampil, who was rescued from a Ukrainian village with the identical title, was rehomed at Five Sisters Zoo in West Calder, West Lothian. Ukrainian troopers found an deserted zoo within the village of Yampil once they arrived in July 2022. The black bear was one among solely 200 animals to outlive the invasion
JANUARY 17: A neighborhood resident walks previous a destroyed automobile within the courtyard of a residential constructing broken following a drone assault in Odesa
JANUARY 24: A girl rests on a mattress subsequent to her new child child in a maternity hospital in Pokrovsk, Donetsk area. This maternity hospital is the one one in the whole Donbas area with a neonatal unit and incubators for infants born prematurely. Despite air raid alerts and shelling, it has labored continually since Russia’s invasion in 2022
JANUARY 25: Military medics give first help to wounded Ukrainian troopers close to Bakhmut, Ukraine
JANUARY 26: Ukrainian troopers stand in entrance of a constructing destroyed by a Russian rocket assault as Russia-Ukraine struggle continues in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
JANUARY 27: This aerial {photograph} exhibits a destroyed bridge and homes within the village of Bohorodychne, Donetsk area. Bohorodychne is a village that got here beneath heavy assault by Russian forces in June 2022, and captured on August 17, 2022. The Armed Forces of Ukraine introduced on September 12, 2022, that that they had taken again management over the village
JANUARY 31: A Ukrainian soldier is wiping away tears after he was free of captivity as a prisoner of struggle in Russia
JANUARY 31: A Ukrainian former prisoner of struggle is getting emotional after returning to Ukraine as a part of a prisoner change. Russia’s defence ministry stated 195 of its troopers had been freed, whereas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated 207 individuals – each troopers and prisoners – had returned to Ukraine
add pics of downed airplane
FEBRUARY 2024
FEBRUARY 1: A seize from a video purporting to point out Ukrainian drone boats sinking the Russian battleship Ivanovets. The official X (previously Twitter) account of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine posted the video footage seemingly taken from the uncrewed floor vessels (USVs).
FEBRUARY 1: Ukrainian servicemen make a trench close to Bakhmut, as Russia and Ukraine exchanged tons of of POWs, with Russia getting again 195 troopers and Ukraine getting again 207
FEBRUARY 3: Ukrainian servicemen of the Skala battalion carry out a medical evacuation throughout a area navy train within the Donetsk area
FEBRUARY 4: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (centre) poses for {a photograph} with servicemen throughout a go to to frontline positions close to Robotyne village, Zaporizhzhia area, southeastern Ukraine
FEBRUARY 4: Ukrainian servicemen stroll on the highway towards their base close to the frontline within the Donetsk area, As Russia slammed a EU-Ukraine summit the place nations pledged one other spherical of sanctions in opposition to Russia
FEBRUARY 7: Ambulance employees assist an injured girl to go away the positioning of a missile assault in Kyiv after Russia fired 44 missiles and 20 drones at Ukraine in a wave of morning aerial assaults
FEBRUARY 8: A girl takes an image of creation by England-based road artist Banksy, as she walks previous an open air exhibition of graffiti created by International and Ukrainian artists which had been painted on the ruins of destroyed buildings within the city of Borodyanka, Kyiv area
FEBRUARY 9: Ukrainian troopers prepare at a firing vary throughout navy coaching in Donetsk, as Ukraine accused Russia of usig chemical weapons greater than 200 occasions in January alone
FEBRUARY 11: Smoke rises after tank firing within the path of Bakhmut, the place clashes between Russia and Ukraine proceed to happen as NATO’s secretary basic referred to as on Europe to extend its arms manufacturing to help Ukraine
FEBRUARY 14: Ukrainian troopers play with cats as they wait to D20 Artillery gun in opposition to Russian positions within the path of Bakhmut, amid extra bickering inside the US over a proposed navy help bundle for Ukraine
FEBRUARY 15: A college director inspects a classroom broken because of a missile assault in Lviv, a western Ukrainian metropolis
FEBRUARY 15: Firefighters work to extinguish a fireplace at a Russian oil depot within the Kursk area, which Russian authorities declare was brought on by a night-time Ukrainian drone assault
FEBRUARY 17: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris shake palms on the finish of a joint press convention on the Munich Security Conference
FEBRUARY 17: An aerial view of the Ukrainian flags wave over 1000’s of graves of servicemen in Kharkiv
FEBRUARY 19: A Ukrainian soldier of the ‘Tsunami’ regiment fires artillery within the path of Bakhmut, as Alexei Navalny’s widow Yulia vowed to select up the place he left off following his dying
FEBRUARY 20: The Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant that was lately captured by Russian troops in a bloody battle that Ukrainian commanders estimate killed or injured 47,000 Russian troopers
FEBRUARY 21: A civilian watches the destruction following a missile assault at Ocheretyne settlement of Pokrovsk City, as Russian troopers got medals for capturing the town of Avdiivka
FEBRUARY 22: Ukrainian troopers observe a Ukrainian helicopter, in its combating place within the path of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
