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Its towering smokestacks once puffed out clouds of steam. In gigantic machine rooms, turbines whirled around the clock. In the Soviet era, the Kurakhove Heating and Power Plant gave rise to the town around it in Ukraine’s east, driving the local economy and sustaining the community with wages and heating for homes. “Our plant is the heart of our city,” said Halyna Liubchenko, a retiree whose husband worked his entire career in nearby coal mines that fed the facility. That heart is barely beating now, partly destroyed by artillery.

Persons: ”, Halyna Liubchenko Organizations: Power Locations: Soviet, Ukraine’s, Ukraine’s Donbas

☆ In Ukraine’s West, Draft Dodgers Run, and Swim, to Avoid the War
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Andrew E. Kramer | Nicole Tung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The roiling water can be treacherous, the banks are steep and slick with mud, and the riverbed is covered in jagged, hidden boulders. Yet Ukrainian border guards often find their quarry — men seeking to escape the military draft — swimming in these hazardous conditions, trying to cross the Tysa River where it forms the border with Romania. Lt. Vladyslav Tonkoshtan recently detained a man on the bank, where he was preparing to cross the river in the hope of reuniting with his wife and children, whom he had not seen in two years since they fled to another country in Europe. That thousands of Ukrainian men have chosen to risk the swim rather than face the dangers as soldiers on the eastern front highlights the challenge for President Volodymyr Zelensky as he seeks to mobilize new troops after more than two years of bruising, bloody trench warfare with Russia.

Persons: Vladyslav Tonkoshtan, Volodymyr Zelensky Locations: Romania, Europe, Russia

☆ ‘It’s a Way of Life’: Women Make Their Mark in the Ukrainian Army
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Nicole Tung | Photographs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When they reached their destination, a small village less than two miles from Russian lines, all that was left were destroyed houses, their shattered roofs visible in the moonlight. Her first experience in combat was in the outskirts of Kyiv that year, and much of what she has learned about weapons systems since has been self-taught and on the fly. Since early 2023, Witch has been with her platoon in the 241st Brigade in the area around Bakhmut, supervising all of the artillery systems. She is resolute about staying in the military even if the war ends. “People who want to join the armed forces must understand that it’s a way of life,” she said.

Persons: Witch, “, ” Organizations: Lada, 241st Brigade Locations: Bakhmut, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, Kyiv

☆ Both Sides Pay a Bloody Price for Coveted Ukrainian City
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Carlotta Gall | Nicole Tung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Beside it a sprawling slag heap juts into the sky, offering a high point overlooking the city of Avdiivka and surrounding villages. Yet within days this battle for Avdiivka was shaping up to be perhaps the costliest of the war for Russia. Ukrainian artillery destroyed Russian armored columns on the approaches to the city, and drones armed with explosives struck down infantry as they dismounted from vehicles and advanced on foot, according to Ukrainian soldiers and commanders, Russian military bloggers and independent military analysts. Waves of Russian soldiers scaled the industrial waste heap to gain its heights. Each time they were shredded by Ukrainian artillery.

Persons: Avdiivka Organizations: Avdiivka Locations: Avdiivka, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian

The situation has worsened recently. Last month, a U.N. resolution to allow cross-border aid from Turkey expired, putting much of the humanitarian support for the area in limbo. On Sunday, three U.S. Congress members, including Representative French Hill, a Republican from Arkansas, briefly visited the Syrian side of one of the border crossings. “A stable environment allows people to move back to their country and allows people to rebuild their lives and the economy here.”The recovery from the quake so far has been piecemeal and ad hoc — some restoration of schools, sidewalks and marketplaces and some light home repairs. For the most part, Syrians have been left to pick up the pieces alone.

Persons: French Hill, Hill Organizations: Congress, Republican Locations: Turkey, Arkansas, Syria, United States

☆ Russias-Ukraine War: Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | Nicole Tung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian drones again targeted the Moscow region early on Monday, Russian officials said. Two drones briefly suspended flights at two airports in the capital, amid an intensifying campaign apparently aimed at bringing the war home to Russia. But the regional governor, Andrey Vorobyov, said later that two people were injured when falling debris from a drone hit a cottage, Tass reported. On Friday, Russian officials said that a Ukrainian drone hit Moscow’s financial center and damaged a building. Ukraine’s drone attacks within Russia have caused relatively minor damage and few casualties, especially in comparison with Moscow’s deadly missile strikes and drone attacks in Ukraine.

Persons: Sergey Sobyanin, Andrey Vorobyov, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Russia’s Ministry of Defense Locations: Moscow, Russia, Domodedovo, Russian, Ukraine, Ukrainian

The two sisters were walking home when they spotted a metal orb about the size of a softball. It was this big,” one of the sisters, Duaa, 10, said recently, stretching the fingers on her left hand as wide as she could. She recalled how her sister Rawa’a, 11, then handed her the bomb while she was holding their seven-month-old brother, Mitib, on her hip. Rawa’a lost her left eye, and Mitib’s cheeks still bear scars from the explosion. Syria’s 12-year conflict — now largely at a stalemate — has wrought widespread destruction and killed more than 500,000 people while forcing millions more to flee their homes.

Persons: Rawa’a, Mitib, — Locations: Syria

☆ The Hidden Trauma of Ukraine’s Soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Nicole Tung | Photographs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

There is a crisis of wounded psyches, in addition to broken bodies, among Ukrainian soldiers. Exhausted physically and mentally, some soldiers have seen horrors on a daily basis that most civilians never do. A handful of centers uses an array of therapies, from talk to swimming and time with animals, to treat the invisible injuries. But those involved say the mental health needs of Ukraine’s troops are far greater than the available treatments, and will be around for years.

Persons: psyches

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, yet again with a missile attack in the early hours of Thursday, killing three people, including a mother and child who were not able to get into a shelter, officials said. Ukraine’s general staff headquarters said Kyiv had been attacked by a volley of 10 Iskander ballistic missiles, all of which were shot down. “For 15 months, Russian aggression and terror have been destroying not just buildings, but fundamental human rights — the fundamental rights of our children,” he said. Officials in Kyiv said that some Children’s Day events scheduled for Thursday had been canceled. Andrew E. Kramer and Nicole Tung reported from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Victoria Kim from Seoul.

Persons: Kyiv’s, Vitali Klitschko, Ukraine’s, Klitschko, ”, Volodymyr Zelensky, Andrew E, Kramer, Nicole Tung, Victoria Kim, Marc Santora, Juston Jones Organizations: Police Locations: KYIV, Ukraine, Russia, Kyiv, Seoul, New York

ApartmentComplex Before dawn on Feb. 6, a powerful earthquake in southern Turkey destroyed an upscale apartment complex, killing hundreds. The main building in the Renaissance complex toppled over, evidence that the building had major vulnerabilities on the lower level and the south side. Tall column Recreational space on ground floor Antis Yapi via Facebook The most vulnerable part of Renaissance was the ground floor, which had an open layout. 3-D model highlights the ground floor columns and recreational spaces. The horizontal forces could have weakened the ground floor columns and possibly torn them apart.

Russian service members rehearsing last week for the military parade in Moscow on Tuesday, when Russia celebrates the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. More recently, he has tried to wrap Ukraine into that narrative, falsely depicting it as a Nazi redoubt. The parade is likely to be subjected to closer scrutiny than usual, both inside Russia and beyond its borders. This year, the jets have skipped their usual practice runs over Moscow, raising questions about whether they will participate. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said the march was canceled as a “precautionary measure” against possible attacks.

More recently, he has tried to wrap Ukraine into that narrative, falsely depicting it as a Nazi redoubt. Credit... ReutersUkraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, staked his nation’s own claim to the holiday, with an address on Monday drawing a parallel between World War II and the current war against Russian invaders. In Russia, various regional governors have cited security concerns in canceling Victory Day events. Igor Artamonov, the governor of the Lipetsk region, which is also near Ukraine, said his decision should not be misinterpreted. “No neo-Nazi scum will be able to mar the great Victory Day.

☆ The Dnipro River, Axis of Life and Death in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Nicole Tung | Marc Santora | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The thunder of artillery echoes night and day over the mighty Dnipro River as it winds its way through southern Ukraine. With Russian and Ukrainian forces squared off on opposite banks, fighters have replaced fishermen, surveillance drones circle overhead and mines line the marshy embankments. Carving an arc through Ukraine from its northern border to the Black Sea, through Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, the Dnipro shapes the country’s geography and economy, its culture and its very identity. And now it helps define the contours of battle — as it has for millenniums, a barrier and a conduit to warring Scythians, Greeks, Vikings, Huns, Cossacks, Russians, Germans and many more. Visiting towns and villages along the Dnipro a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion and ahead of a much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, Nicole Tung, a photographer for The New York Times, traveled a path marked by hope and horror, joy and sorrow.

☆ The Year in Pictures 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +57 min

Every year, starting in early fall, photo editors at The New York Times begin sifting through the year’s work in an effort to pick out the most startling, most moving, most memorable pictures. But 2022 undoubtedly belongs to the war in Ukraine, a conflict now settling into a worryingly predictable rhythm. Erin Schaff/The New York Times “When you’re standing on the ground, you can’t visualize the scope of the destruction. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25. We see the same images over and over, and it’s really hard to make anything different.” Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 26.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

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