PHOTOS: In the midst of war, life goes on in Ukraine
Nastasia Vladimirovna poses for a portrait from inside her home, destroyed by Russian attacks in Mostyshche on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, June 6, 2022. Vladimirovna said she lived here with 18 family members, but that now she and her husband are staying at a neighbor's home. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Life goes on in Ukraine. The war goes on, too.
In the span of two weeks that included the 100th day of the conflict with Russia, Associated Press photographers captured a country that is both a battleground and place where people try to go about their everyday lives.
They showed a man sitting peacefully with a child in Natalka Park in Kyiv. And a heartbroken woman standing in front of her ruined house in the outskirts of the capital, clinging to her granddaughter’s doll.
They showed fans celebrating a goal in a World Cup qualifying play-off soccer match between Ukraine and Scotland. And the inconsolable, black-veiled mother of an Army colonel, weeping at his funeral.
They showed eager children in train guard uniforms, about to board a special train for kids. And a man crying over the body of his girlfriend, killed by shelling in Donetsk.
Even as Ukrainians dig trenches, live amid ruins and tend wounds, others still tend the fields and women still park their bikes in the park to enjoy spring days.
But any escape is precarious. If today bombs are not exploding nearby, tomorrow may tell a very different story. Today, the blood that stains the stairs of a building damaged by a missile strike is that of an unknown victim; tomorrow, it may be yours.
Fans celebrate Ukraine’s Andriy Yarmolenko scoring the team’s opening goal at a World Cup 2022 qualifying play-off soccer match against Scotland, at a bar in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 1, 2022, amid Russia’s invasion. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Women talk in a park in Borodyanka on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, during the Russian invasion. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) British citizen Aiden Aslin stands behind bars in a courtroom in Donetsk, in the territory which is under the control of the pro-Russian Government of the Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, Thursday, June 9, 2022. Aslin is one of two British citizens and a Moroccan national who were sentenced to death by pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine for fighting on Ukraine’s side. The three men fought alongside Ukrainian troops and surrendered to Russian forces weeks prior. (AP Photo) Elena Holovko is attended to as she sits outside her home, damaged by a Russian missile strike, in Druzhkivka in eastern Ukraine, Sunday, June 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) A man cries over the body of his girlfriend, who was killed by shelling in the Kalininsky district of Donetsk, territory under control of the pro-Russian Government of the Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, Thursday, June 9, 2022, during the Russian invasion. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov) Nastasia Vladimirovna poses for a portrait from inside her home, destroyed by Russian attacks in Mostyshche on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, June 6, 2022. Vladimirovna said she lived here with 18 family members, but that now she and her husband are staying at a neighbor’s home. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY – A tombstone with the picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a derogatory message sits at a checkpoint in the Donetsk oblast region of eastern Ukraine, Sunday, June 5, 2022. The text reads “Putin ****head.” (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) Oleg tests a drone on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 8, 2022, during the Russian invasion. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Artillery techniques are drawn on a wall inside a house near the frontline of the Russian invasion in the Donetsk oblast region of eastern Ukraine, Thursday, June 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) An injured Ukrainian serviceman and an injured civilian wait for medical treatment in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine during Russia’s invasion, Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) Ukrainian servicemen dig trenches near the frontline during Russia’s invasion, in Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) Ukrainian soldiers talk during heavy fighting against Russia at the front line in Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Oleksandr Ratushniak) Farmers work in a field near Soledar in eastern Ukraine amid the Russian invasion, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) A resident sits on a sofa amid the rubble of a destroyed house after a Russian missile strike in Druzhkivka in eastern Ukraine, Sunday, June 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) A man looks at buildings destroyed during Russian attacks on Borodyanka on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, June 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) In this photo provided by the Ukrainian presidential press office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens to a report close to the front line in Donetsk region of Ukraine during Russia’s invasion, Sunday, June 5, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP) A man sits with a child at Natalka Park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 7, 2022, during the Russian invasion. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Children in train guard uniforms wait for the departure of a children’s train in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, June 4, 2022. The Children’s Railways, that lets children drive trains and learn about working the railways, started to run again Saturday around the Syretskyi Park rail track after being closed due to the war with Russia. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) A security member of a medical rescue team cleans his weapon in the Donetsk oblast region of eastern Ukraine, Saturday, June 4, 2022, during the Russian invasion. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) A Ukrainian serviceman takes a break after digging trenches near the frontline in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, June 8, 2022, during the Russian invasion. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) The mother of Army Col. Oleksander Makhachek mourns during his funeral service in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, Friday, June 3, 2022. According to combat comrades, Makhachek was killed fighting Russian forces when a shell landed in his position on May 30. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) A dog walks past shells used by a Ukrainian artillery unit in a village near the frontline in the Donetsk oblast region of eastern Ukraine, Thursday, June 2, 2022, during Russia’s invasion. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) Blood stains mark the stairs inside a building damaged during an overnight missile strike during Russia’s invasion in Sloviansk, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco) Valik Vladimirovich plays, dressed as a soldier, in Stoyanka on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Nila Zelinska holds her granddaughter’s doll that she recovered from her destroyed home during Russia’s invasion in Potashnya on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 31, 2022. Zelinska returned after escaping war to find out she is now homeless. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) The gutted remains of cars sit along a road during heavy fighting at the front line in Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Oleksandr Ratushniak)
