Russia’s war on Ukraine - in pictures

An Azov regiment soldier smokes a cigarette

Ukranian cities and infrastructure have been destroyed during the six-month battle

(Image credit: Andrey Borodulin/AFP via Getty Images)

published 23 August 2022

Almost six months after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, a senior Russian diplomat has said that it would be “impossible to forecast how long the conflict could last”.

Ukraine How long will the Ukraine-Russia grain deal last? How Ukraine and Russia are both breaking the law on prisoners of war

Speaking to the Financial Times, Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, said this week: “Now, I do not see any possibility for diplomatic contacts. And the more the conflict goes on, the more difficult it will be to have a diplomatic solution.”

His comments “come despite a flurry of shuttle diplomacy in recent weeks” and are “a blow to negotiators” who had hoped that a recent deal on grain exports from Ukrainian ports “could form the basis for a broader deal”.

The countries’ forces are at “a near-operational standstill”, said Bloomberg, “with both sides more conscious that they face a marathon rather than a sprint”.

Russia is facing “an acute shortage of munitions and is struggling to replace lost personnel”, Western officials told the news site, but Ukraine “continues to be outgunned in the artillery duels of the Donbas, while the city of Kharkiv has again come under heavy bombardment”.

Russia has not said how many of its troops have been killed or wounded during the war, but Western officials believe the toll is between 70,000 and 80,000, said the BBC. The head of Ukraine’s armed forces said yesterday that the embattled nation has lost almost 9,000 military personnel.

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1/9

7 March, Irpin

The majority of Irpin’s 110,000 residents were evacuated in March as shelling destroyed the city, France 24 reported. Elderly people, their carers and people who had initially “decided to sit the battle out” were among the last to leave.

2/9

11 March, Lviv

Millions of people evacuated Ukraine in the first weeks of the war, with hundreds of thousands of people converging on Lviv before they travelled on to Poland. Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said that around 50,000 people were passing through the station per day in early March.

3/9

12 April, Mariupol

Mariupol has been a strategically significant city in the war, providing Moscow with “a bridge” between Crimea and separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, said NBC News. This battle was “an anachronistic siege – a Guernica tableau of fireballs from Russian missiles in night skies” that resulted in a “near-total levelling” of the city, said The Washington Post.

4/9

22 May, Lysychansk

Russia stepped up attacks on infrastructure in western parts of Ukraine in late April, “striking targets that keep both the war effort and national economy running”, said The Guardian. An oil refinery in Lysychansk was struck by shells in May, damaging its production facilities, the region’s governor said.

5/9

5 June, Zaporizhzhia

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s popularity ratings “surged” in the first months of the war, said The New Statesman. The comedian-turned-politician reportedly refused an offer from the US to evacuate from the country, and has frequently broadcast messages to the public throughout the invasion.

6/9

28 June, Kharkiv

A soldier from the Azov regiment smokes a cigarette during a training exercise. The “far-right all-volunteer infantry military unit” was initially formed in 2014, and fought against pro-Russian separatists in the eastern region of Donetsk, said Al Jazeera. The group has become part of Ukraine’s armed forces.

7/9

3 July, Sloviansk

A firefighter tries to extinguish a blaze in Sloviansk after the eastern Ukrainian city was hit with “powerful shelling from Russian multiple rocket launchers”, Reuters reported. Six people were killed and 15 people were reportedly wounded. The attack was the “worst shelling to hit the front line city” in recent months.

8/9

5 August, Odesa

Beachgoers wave as the Navistar vessel transports corn cargo from the port of Odesa, Ukraine. Ukraine’s grain exports “slumped” since the war broke out due to key ports being closed, said Reuters. The Turkish Defence Ministry said that the vessel, and two others that left the port on 5 August, carried around 58,000 tonnes of corn between them.

9/9

22 August, Kyiv

A young boy poses for a photograph while standing inside a burnt-out Russian tank in Kyiv ahead of the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence this week. The city’s military has banned “mass events” as President Zelenskyy warned that Russia may have been planning to attack the capital.

Julia O'Driscoll is the engagement editor. She covers UK and world news, as well as writing lifestyle and travel features. She regularly appears on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast, and hosted The Week's short-form documentary podcast, “The Overview”. Julia was previously the content and social media editor at sustainability consultancy Eco-Age, where she interviewed prominent voices in sustainable fashion and climate movements. She has a master's in liberal arts from Bristol University, and spent a year studying at Charles University in Prague.