Ukraine war in photos: Battle for the east

Increasingly, the war for eastern Ukraine is the war. It is where Russia has concentrated its forces, and it is home to key natural resources, the nation’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and the “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly claimed.

It was on March 25 that the Kremlin announced a pivot to eastern Ukraine, pulling forces from the areas surrounding Kyiv, aiming for a focused assault that would bring Putin and his commanders battlefield wins and territory to control. Such gains have proved elusive, and these photos give a sense of the daily grind of the war in the east, a conflict that may drag for a long time.

Here we find an elderly woman waiting for a ride out of Kramatorsk, Ukrainian soldiers hunting for shell fragments in Vilkhivka and damage assessment in Kirovsky; in Kharkiv, a man on a bicycle, a ruined car and a downed Russian helicopter; and in Berezivka, remembering the fallen from World War II and from 2022.

Lastly — not from the east but the southwest, one image from Odessa. The beautiful port city took a hit Monday.