Fierce fighting continues in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk as Moscow-backed separatists and Russian forces attempt to take the key cities of Bakhmut and Avdiyivka. Russian artillery and missile strikes continue to indiscriminately kill and maim civilians. Dire warnings of a new Russian offensive in the south have prompted government officials to order a mandatory evacuation of the Donetsk region, causing more misery for its weary inhabitants. Many of them must now decide whether to flee or risk their lives. Here are some of the images captured on August 1–5.
In Photos: Daily Life In Ukraine Amid Concerns About A Russian Offensive
- By RFE/RL
1
Relatives and supporters of 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war who perished in the Russian-controlled prison camp at Olenivka gathered on August 4 in Kyiv, demanding that Russia be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. As Moscow tries to blame Ukrainian forces for the deaths, U.S. intelligence reports say Russia plans to fake evidence of an outside attack and that the destruction at the prison appears to have been caused by an incendiary weapon "from the inside."
2
Women are doing their part for the war effort, undergoing military training in the Lviv region on August 3.
3
A couple embrace at the scene of an explosion that rocked the city of Mykolayiv in the early hours of August 3, causing a fire and destroying a supermarket.
4
A children's ride sits empty at a shuttered amusement park in Kramatorsk on August 3.
5
A family pushes a baby carriage past a crater after a missile strike on the city of Kharkiv on August 3. Russian artillery continues to pound the shattered city, adding more misery to its inhabitants, many of whom have been forced to live for months underground.
6
Residents wait to pick up bags of food in the small village of Malaya Rohan on August 4. The village, located east of Kharkiv, was heavily damaged after it endured weeks of Russian shelling and occupation.
7
A couple carry water bottles after filling them up in a store in Pokrovsk on August 4. Many parts of the Donetsk region are without a regular supply of water.
8
A girl holds a doll as people wait to board an evacuation train to Dnipro from Pokrovsk on August 4. The evacuation order has been especially heartbreaking as families are being forced apart.
9
A woman crosses a bridge partially rebuilt by the Ukrainian military close to the village of Malaya Rohan, near Kharkiv on August 4. The two sides continue to target bridges and infrastructure, with the latest being a Ukrainian strike on a rail link between occupied Crimea and Kherson.
10
Bodies of people killed by a Russian military strike are seen near a public transport stop in the town of Toretsk on August 4.
11
A member of the Ukrainian National Guard eats apples during a lull in fighting at a position near the front line in the Kharkiv region on August 3.
12
People watch as the Razoni, the first ship loaded with Ukrainian grain to set off from a Ukrainian port since the beginning of the Russian invasion, departs from Odesa on August 1. Moscow and Kyiv agreed on a deal brokered last month by Turkey and the United Nations to resume shipments of wheat and other grain from three Ukrainian ports for the first time since Russia invaded in February.
13
Ukrainian soldiers fire a BM27 Uragan multiple-launch rocket system at Russian positions in the Kharkiv region on August 4.
14
The Ukrainian Army displayed its "Army of Drones" on August 2, which it had acquired thanks $20 million in foreign donations. The remote-controlled aircraft will be used for both surveillance and aerial strikes. They fly behind Russian lines, relaying target coordinates for artillery strikes, and dropping grenades onto enemy forces.
