In Pictures

Ukraine’s war: Photos of lives upturned, destruction and defiance

The UN refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.

Ludmila, left, says goodbye to her granddaughter Kristina, who with her son Yaric, leave the train station in Odesa — Ludmila, left, says goodbye to her granddaughter Kristina and her son Yaric at a train station in Odesa. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]

By The Associated Press

In the southern city of Odesa, a woman and her young child, both struggling not to break down, look out the window of a departing train as the woman’s grandmother, a tissue pressed against her face, bids them goodbye from the platform.

In the western city of Lviv, a bearded man places his hand up to the outside of a train window while a young child sobs from the other side moments before they are to part from one other.

A woman who has fled Ukraine sits amid throngs of other refugees after arriving at a train station in Poland, her head in her hand and her eyes staring resignedly into space.

Most of the more than 3.5 million refugees fleeing Ukraine have been women and children because men ages 18 to 60 – fighting age – are forbidden to leave the country.

The millions who have left Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began have made their way on foot, by rail, bus or car to neighbouring countries such as Poland and Romania before some travel on across Europe. Most, however, have not done so.

While fewer have crossed borders over the past week, the scale of the task of providing homes to those seeking safety in the European Union is becoming increasingly apparent, above all in Eastern and Central Europe.

Poland, home to the biggest Ukrainian diaspora in the region before the war, has taken in more than 2.1 million people and while some plan to head elsewhere, the influx has left public services struggling to cope.

An elderly woman walks pass concrete blocks topped with sandbags at a street in Odesa, southern Ukraine, — An elderly woman walks past concrete blocks topped with sandbags at a street in Odesa. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]

A volunteer cooks food for Ukrainian servicemen in Kharkiv — A volunteer cooks food for Ukrainian servicemen in the besieged city of Kharkiv. [Andrew Marienko/AP Photo]

A woman waits for a transport after fleeing the war from neighboring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland — After fleeing the war in neighbouring Ukraine, a woman waits for transport at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland. [Sergei Grits/AP Photo]

A car destroyed by shelling is seen in a street in Kharkiv, — A car destroyed by shelling is seen on a street in Kharkiv. [Andrew Marienko/AP Photo]

A Ukrainian serviceman rests at his position in Kharkiv, the country's second largest city. [Andrew Marienko/AP Photo]

A boxing bag with a drawing of Russian President Vladimir Putin's face hangs inside a bar in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine. [Bernat Armangue/AP Photo]

Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv. [Bernat Armangue/AP Photo]

A volunteer bakes bread for Ukrainian servicemen in Kharkiv. [Andrew Marienko/AP Photo]

A family walks next to anti- tank barricades in Odesa — A family walks next to anti-tank barricades in Odesa, southern Ukraine. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]

Ukrainian servicemen rest in Kharkiv, Ukraine — Ukrainian soldiers rest in Kharkiv. [Andrew Marienko/AP Photo]

Concrete blocks topped with sandbags block a street in Odesa — A barricaded street in Odesa with the Preobrazhensky Cathedral in the background. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]