The 16-meter-high bronze monument of Taras Shevchenko, the national hero of Ukraine, survived World War II. Ukrainians have protected it with countless layers of sandbags, hoping to withstand Russian attacks.
Shevchenko’s right arm is stretched, finally clenched with a fist, and the other hand holds the folds of the garment. The monument to Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, is one of many signs of Ukraine’s determination. It has endured for 32 days..
The word “Glory to Ukraine” is written next to a graffiti depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin in a store that was damaged in battle elsewhere in the country.
Images captured by the Associated Press also show a lonely walk between damaged buildings, piles of rubble, and vehicles on bullets. Others show collective sadness from both sides.
Five men leaning on the cemetery of Yuzne in the Odessa region of Ukraine use a rope to lower the casket holding the remains of Ukrainian soldier Oleksi Lunyov on the ground. Dozens of people are watching, including those who bowed their heads in front of each other and prepared earth shovels to fill the tomb of a man who was killed in a Russian missile attack.
In another photo taken in Kara Balta, west of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, a mother wearing a blue floral scarf clasps a handkerchief and cries at the farewell ceremony of her son, Russian Army soldier Rustam Zarifurin.