A year of war A look back at Ukraine's conflict and how it got to where it is today
Ukraine has been at war for over a year now. According to the United Nations, more than 6,100 people have died in the fighting between pro-Russia separatists and Ukrainian troops, and the death toll is still rising, despite a precarious second ceasefire. In this photo series, Meduza looks back at the violence and destruction that's come to characterize a region that hasn't witnessed such tragedy since the Second World War.
Men atop a Ukrainian tank captured by pro-Russian insurgents in Mariupol on May 9, 2014. According to Ukraine's interior ministry, roughly 60 militants attacked the city's police station, killing an officer. The so-called "terrorists" supposedly lost 20 of their own men.
Pro-Russian activists break through the entrance to the TRK Donbass television station on April 27, 2014, in Donetsk.
Ukrainian nationalists tear down a statue of Lenin in the center of Kharkov on September 28, 2014. The first ceasefire in Donetsk and Lugansk had just begun.
People wait to be rescued from the burning trade union building in Odessa on Mar 2, 2014. At least 38 others died in this fire, which was the result of clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian groups.
Pro-Russian forces occupy and ransack the military prosecutor's office building in Donetsk on May 4, 2014. Acts like this are beginning to prompt an armed response from Kiev.
The militia in Donetsk captures three special task force officers on April 27, 2014.
A priest blesses a volunteer battalion in Kiev on August 26, 2014. These soldiers are swearing an oath to Ukraine, before setting out for the east, to take part in the so-called "Anti-Terrorist Operation" (ATO).
A woman in Khartsyzsk, just east of Donetsk, votes on May 11, 2014, in a referendum held by pro-Russia militants for greater autonomy from Kiev.
Militiamen attend a prayer session in Donetsk on July 11, 2014.
Ukrainian special forces conduct operations in Slavyansk on May 2, 2014.
Members of a women's unit in the Donetsk militia on July 5, 2014.
Ukrainian soldiers engage pro-Russia separatists in the village of Pesky, outside Donetsk, on January 21, 2015. Petro Poroshenko has just accused the Kremlin of sending at least 9,000 troops to aid the rebels.
Pro-Russia forces stationed in Gorlivka, outside Donetsk, launch Grad missiles at Ukrainian troops in Debaltsevo on February 13, 2015.
Members of the Social Nationalist Assembly, part of the ultra-nationalist group Right Sector, swear an oath in Kiev on June 3, 2014, to join Ukraine's "ATO" against separatists in the east.
The bodies of Russian citizens await transport from Donetsk back to Russia, May 9, 2014. They were killed during the first days of fighting for the Donetsk airport between the separatists and the Ukrainian armed forces.
Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe visit Slavyansk on June 26, 2014.
Hundreds of empty shell boxes lie piled up in Donetsk against a building almost demolished by bombing. February 21, 2015.
A man in Slavyansk calls for an ambulance on September 6, 2014, after his apartment is hit by shelling. His wife did not survive.
Two women embrace in a house on the outskirts of Slavyansk destroyed overnight by a Ukrainian artillery attack on May 20, 2014.
A man in Grabovka studies the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 18, 2014. The plane crash claimed the lives of all 280 passengers and 15 crew members.
A Ukrainian soldier in neutral territory near the Russian-Ukrainian border carries a white flag during a transfer of the dead. July 29, 2014.
Ukrainian customs officials inspect a truck in Russia's tenth convoy carrying humanitarian supplies to Donetsk. December 21, 2014.
The Ukrainian military distributes food aid to residents of Slavyansk, as clashes between the army and rebels continued elsewhere in the city. July 6, 2014.
Women at a maternity hospital in Donetsk wait in a bomb shelter for shelling to end. August 10, 2014.
A destroyed railway bridge near the village of Novobakhmutovka that links Slavyansk, Donetsk, and Mariupol. July 7, 2014.
A man repairs one of Ukraine's armored personnel carriers (APC) at a tank factory in Zhytomyr, some 150 kilometers (about 93 miles) west of Kiev. The vehicle was damaged in a recent assault on rebels in the east. July 10, 2014.
Ukrainian soldiers rest inside an APC at a checkpoint near Slavyansk on May 21, 2014.
Separatist militiamen jump into action in Snezhnoye on July 12, 2014, during clashes with the Ukrainian military.
Border guards march in a military parade in Kiev on Ukraine's Independence Day on August 24, 2014. The parade included armored vehicles and soldiers returned from the front, in a defiant show of Kiev's armed forces.
The Donetsk militia's Chechen "Death" battalion takes part in training exercises on December 8, 2014. It's said that nearly 300 men from Chechnya—mostly veterans of the state security troops—are now active in Ukraine.
Passengers killed on a bus in Donetsk on January 22, 2015. At least 13 people died when a mortal shell exploded nearby.
The bodies of bus passengers killed at a Ukrainian checkpoint in Volnovakha. A separatist attack killed 11 Ukrainian citizens and injured another 20 people on January 13, 2014.
Ukrainian POWs in separatist captivity near Zholobok before being exchanged on February 21, 2015.
A Ukrainian soldier stands guard as a convoy of APCs, cannons, and other military vehicles prepares to retreat from Debaltsevo. February 26, 2015.
A man stands in front of his destroyed house in Debaltsevo on March 13, 2015.