A team of graffiti artists from Kyiv paint camouflaged military cars for the front for free. During the war, this project replaced their usual street creativity. The "Erase the city" team opened their “garage” for us to show how it works to “mask” automobiles.

On August 24, Ukraine celebrated 31 years of independence. On this same day, exactly six months have passed since the full-scale invasion of Russia. Instead of a traditional military parade, destroyed Russian equipment was displayed on the central street in Kyiv. And instead of a festive concert, Ukrainians in all regions heard air raid alarms, a total of 189 times a day. This year, we all clearly realized that independence has its price. What does independence mean for Ukrainians today?

Young volunteers from the “Repair Together“ movement arrange techno parties where young people join forces for rebuilding Ukraine after the war. Now ravers gather hundreds of people to clean debris while dancing to DJ sets and rebuild houses that have been destroyed by Russian military. We spoke to Dmytro Kyrpa, the founder of the “Repair Together“ about the inspiring project.

Our lives do not wait for bombs to stop falling. Those whose homes have been destroyed are trying to build new ones in safer places. Others improve their skills abroad to return to rebuild their country. War is the worst thing that can happen. But sometimes a 180-degree turn of life reveals a bright side. Ukrainian refugees in different European countries share what they had to overcome and what they plan for the future…

Hundreds of graduating Ukrainian high-school students could not arrange a prom due to the large-scale destruction of their cities. Nevertheless, they decided to create their own memories of their school life and to show how it has been changed by the war. The background story to an unusual photo series.

Hungry, frightened and wounded cats and dogs wandering among the ruins of their former homes. Animals are forced to survive under shelling or run away from fires. Others, like prisoners without food and water, are waiting to be rescued in locked apartments. Sonia Sadovska and Dymtro Revnik had to do something. But how do you save animals in the midst of an ongoing war?

Russian forces arrived in Motyzhyn three days into the war. For a month, the occupiers controlled the village and part of the highway leading to Kyiv. People who were taken prisoner were severely tortured, killed and thrown in a mass grave. Oleg B. was held captive for three days and survived. He served in a church for many years and had never seen such evil before. This is the story of a man who went through hell and did not break.

Trigger Warning: The following article contains depictions of violence and death, which may cause emotional or physiological distress in readers and viewers.

Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra has won the Eurovision Song Contest with a record-setting 439 points from the public (631 overall points). Not just this outstanding result but also the time and context of it are different from any other events before. This overwhelming support from Europeans in what is most likely one of Ukraine’s darkest periods in history sounds like a message: war has no place in a civilized world.