Four years of war: stories of Ukrainians between pain and hope
Before and after the war, photographs reveal the lives of Ukrainians transformed, shifting from dance and ordinary work to war and daily resilience.
Ukrainians have now lived through four years of conflict, which began on this day in 2022. Many have lost limbs, loved ones, livelihoods, and homes, yet hope has not disappeared.
As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year, the Associated Press has presented images of Ukrainians taken before the conflict reshaped their lives.
Tetiana Khymion
Tetiana Khymion, 47, who began dancing at the age of six, is now a sniper in the Ukrainian army.
She practiced ballroom dancing from childhood. She became an international judge and taught children in her studio in Sloviansk, in the Donetsk region.
Competitions, not conflict, once defined her routine.
After her husband immediately joined the army, she trained in Europe and moved between several units before reaching a combat position. She describes sniping as a blend of creativity and mathematics, noting that she has always loved mathematics.
Oksana Osypenko
Oksana Osypenko, 43, is pictured with her five-year-old son, Hlib, and her husband Oleksandr, who was killed in an air raid during the war.
A secondary school teacher, Oksana lost her husband in a Russian airstrike in Chernihiv on March 3, 2022, while he was serving in the territorial defense forces.
She says: “For a year and a half, I felt as if he could walk back through the door.”
Liliya
Before the war, Liliya, now 30, devoted herself to dance and theater.
Her partner Bohdan, who joined the Azov Brigade to confront Russian forces, became a prisoner of war and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in Russia.
She explains: “The constant fear for someone you love, for their health in inhumane conditions, weighs heavily on the heart.”
Ruslan Knysh
When Ruslan was sixteen, he witnessed the outbreak of war.
He lost his limbs in a drone attack in 2025. Today, he is undergoing rehabilitation and plans to travel to the United States to receive prosthetic limbs.
He describes his circumstances as follows: “There are moments when the desire to end it all overwhelms you, but I understand that fate has its own plans.”
Yaroslav Nehoda
At 40, Nehoda lost his wife, daughter, and niece in a drone strike in October 2025 in the Kyiv region.
He told the Associated Press: “I live two lives: one in memories, and another I am trying to build for the future, but it is difficult.”
Ivan Khmelnytskyi
At 25, Khmelnytskyi was working in a call center before the war, having declined military service due to a lack of training.
He later joined the emergency services, responding to missile and drone strikes. He lives in a constant state of readiness, saying: “The hardest part is that this becomes normal. People are tired, but they remain resilient.”
Liudmyla and Viktor Shytko, 77 and 78
This family lost their home as a result of the war and moved nine times before settling in social housing near Kyiv.
Liudmyla recalls: “At first, I could not bear it, but we will live. We will not die.”
