War in Ukraine: Conflict Destroys Lives as Leaders Measure Forces

March 26, 2022

Robert

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Moscow troops were still trying to get close to Kiev, in a raid ordered by President Vladimir Putin two weeks earlier to pressure Ukraine to hand over its weapons, recognize the autonomy of pro-Russian territories and ensure it would not align itself with the West. The objectives, still far from being achieved one month after the invasion of the former Soviet republic began, mobilized the main world leaders to mitigate a conflict that could be one of the biggest since the Second World War and that, whatever the outcome, promises to change global geopolitics.

But on that March 10, an elderly woman who was chopping firewood in the backyard of her home on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital was killed by shrapnel from a bombing. The Russians were intensifying their air strikes in the region, and her property was the only one hit on the entire block.

The story was told by photojournalist André Liohn, 47, sent by sheet to Ukraine. Experienced in conflict coverage, with internationally awarded work, he highlighted the moment as a symbol of the impact of war on everyday life.

“What threat did this lady pose to the Kremlin? None. War is a horrendous thing because people like that die. Empty buildings being destroyed mean nothing,” Liohn said in a conversation for this newsletter.

With text, photo and video reporting, Liohn helps us understand the scale of the suffering of Ukrainian civilians. Stories of those who lose their own lives, grieve, try to hide or run away or take risks to save relatives or strangers. Something the numbers can’t show:

1,081 is the number of civilian dead estimated by the UN, including at least 90 children — a figure that is known to be underestimated due to the lack of reliable information from governments and the very difficulty of rescues;
1,351 Russian servicemen were killed, according to the official calculation. It is the biggest casualty for Moscow since World War II;
there are no clear estimates of military deaths from Kiev.

This Friday, the prefecture of Mariupol, a city besieged by Russia, said that the death toll in a theater bombed on March 16 could reach 300. The place served as a shelter for the population. The estimate is based on witness information. Russia denies attacking the site.

Do not get lost

Three moving stories told by the envoy to Ukraine in sheet show how war survivors try to protect themselves from war and help relatives and strangers:

wholesale shelter

Interned in a hospital in Zaporijía, which has been receiving refugees from Mariupol, Haliana Ivanivna said that she had turned her hostel for workers into a war shelter that was attacked. She received around 170 people, who she had to protect in a basement, and had to melt snow due to a lack of water supply. “If I could, I would come back to help them. I dream every night that the children are fine, that the mothers are fine, that they all survived,” she said.

search for relatives: When he spoke as a reporter, Oleg, 47, who did not want to disclose his surname, was trying for the third time to return to Mariupol to look for his ex-wife and son. “The only thing on my mind is that I need to get there. It doesn’t matter how.” He said he worked for a humanitarian organization and that he would try to get through Russian control without any official permission. “I don’t know where they are, whether they’re alive or not,” he reported.

Elderly rescue: Liohn also followed the functioning of the humanitarian corridors in Irpin, which, as he reported, showed little of the humanity that the name carries. There, civilian volunteers took advantage of the temporary ceasefire to rescue elderly people from a nursing home, braving the snow and obstacles of bombing debris to help those unable to walk out of the city.

What happened this Friday (25th)

Putin signed into law a law that censors disclosure of ‘false information’ about the war;
Biden traveled to Poland and said the conflict is between democracy and autocracy;
Russia says it has created a partial corridor between Crimea and Donbass and considers it has completed almost the entire ‘1st phase’ of the war;
US says Moscow has lost control of Kherson, 1st city besieged.