Welcome to the "Zaporizhzhia Cityscape Gallery," a collection of photographs captured on October 11, 2022. Zaporizhzhia, situated along the Dnieper River in southeastern Ukraine, is known for its rich history, industrial significance, and modern allure. One of its most iconic features is the historic Khortytsia Island, which once served as a Cossack stronghold and now houses the Khortytsia National Reserve and the Museum of Zaporizhian Cossacks. This island serves as a testament to the city's historical roots. Zaporizhzhia is also recognized for its role as a vital industrial centre, with the production of steel, aluminium, aircraft engines, automobiles, transformers for substations, and various heavy industrial goods shaping the region's economy. Notably, the city of Zaporizhzhia, serving as the capital of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, remains firmly under Ukrainian control, despite attempts by the Russian government to offer Russian passports to the region's inhabitants in May. However, a shadow of concern looms over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest with six reactors. Since its seizure by Russian forces in March 2022, intentional sabotage has become a looming threat, raising the spectre of a potential radioactive disaster. This is a photographic journey through the skies of Zaporizhzhia as it captures the city's history, industry, and the challenges it faces today.

In the wake of Russia's sweeping incursion into Ukraine, Dr. Serhii Malyshev Oleksandrovic has emerged as a symbol of hope amidst the chaos. Leading the Zaporizhia eye clinic, he embarked on a transformative journey as conflict forced authorities to evacuate civilians from perilous frontlines. On a fateful February 25th, Dr. Malyshev initiated a grassroots movement with a mission to aid, clothe, nourish, and medicate displaced souls. These noble endeavours extended beyond borders, reaching Mariupol and the expansive Zaporizhia regions. Refugees trickled in, some early on, others after cities fell to invaders. Dr. Malyshev's impact reached captured cities like Kherson and Mariupol, which succumbed to invaders on March 3rd and 4th. Zaporizhia, standing resilient, welcomed 140,000 souls seeking respite. Yet, his story transcends logistics. Aware of the nuclear threat, he championed a mission of unparalleled importance. A mixture of 125 ml of potassium iodine shields against radiation. Combined with 100 ml of water, it guards against thyroid cancer—a fate for those facing a nuclear blast at Zaporizhzhia power plant. Dr. Malyshev, resonating with urgency, describes the brackish taste of this elixir as akin to salt. From his clinical sanctum, a meticulously vetted 1 kg of potassium iodide yields 8,000 doses, each a lifeline for two to three weeks. Immediacy is key—sipping the solution and seeking refuge are survival imperatives. Doses, emblematic of science and compassion, reach the frontlines: over 3,000 for soldiers, 2,000 for medical corps, 8,500 for those near the nuclear plant, a reminder of precarious existence. Amidst trials, the narrative weaves into a tapestry of displaced souls. Once teeming with half a million, this land bears the scars of exodus. As the tempest rages, 50,000 stands in Zaporizhzhia, yearning for stolen homes. Dr Serhii Malyshev Oleksandrovic's odyssey, brimming with fortitude, unfolds globally—a testament to humanity's resilience in darkness. Amid the uncertainty, he embodies compassion, inscribing hope on adversity's canvas.

A family funeral of a servicemen, Bucha, Ukraine Family members, friends and servicemen attend a funeral of a fallen Ukrainian serviceman at a graveyard near Bucha, Kyiv Region of Ukraine, on Wednesday, Aug 10, 2022. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti) According to Ukraine's MOD (Ministry of Defence), until now, nearly 10,000 people have been killed, 30,000 have been wounded, and 7,200 are missing, with about 5,600 considered to have been captured since the Russian armed aggression of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. EDITOR's NOTE: These pictures were withheld per the family's request for discretion. Thursday, Jan 19, 2023.

Halo Trust personnel work diligently to clear open fields and bushes in Brovarska Street, Brovary, Kyiv Region, on Thursday, Oct 18, 2022. The farmlands were occupied by Russian forces in March and were left scattered with landmines upon their retreat. Unfortunately, the area has already claimed the lives of one State Emergency Service deminer and two civilians. Despite the danger, the deminers of Halo Trust are committed to ensuring their own safety, and clearing the land takes months. While the bulk of demining efforts are conducted by the government's State Emergency Service, foreign governments and organizations such as Halo Trust provide aid. The work of completely clearing the country of landmines and unexploded ordnance is estimated to take ten years.

After Kris Parker and I visited Borodyanka's block of apartments 425A, located in Naberezhna Street, the northwestern region of the capital Kyiv in Ukraine, we felt that it was important to continue to hold local authorities accountable. So, on Saturday, Nov 5, 2022, we drove to Borodyanka for the third time. As soon as we arrived, we noticed that people were working on the roof of 425A, and we saw changes in the apartment. We were able to meet with Olha Kulish, Tanya Kitchuk, and Ludmila Mihailovna Mudryak. The three ladies expressed their gratitude for our visit and begged us to keep coming back. They said that our presence and interest in their block were making a difference. During the Russian occupation of Borodyanka, Olha Kulish, a 64-year-old single mother whose son died at the age of 38 due to coronavirus, narrowly escaped death. She was lined up along with her friend Ludmila, Alona, and Sasha to be executed by the Russian forces. On the 3rd of March, the Russians found a warehouse with weapons nearby a shelter where they were hiding from bombardment. Olha recounted that the soldiers found them taking cover at a bomb shelter nearby and accused them of being responsible for the warehouse. Consequently, the Russians wanted them dead and had lined them up for public execution. She shook and jittered as she recalled the ordeal of that day. However, something incredible happened that day; Olha says that they don't know if it was a miracle, but suddenly the commander shouted, "enough, I have seen enough death," and the soldiers dropped their guns after aiming their muzzles to shoot the three ladies and one man Sasha, who later was reported to have died along the border with Belarus due to a thrombosis attack. Ludmila, 64, said that after the shooting, soldiers were shouting that they would aim at their hearts and head. Alona started screaming and yelling, and they were holding up their religious iconic frames and asking God to protect them. "That's when the commanding officer shouted Enough," she recalls. The details of the story are horrific, but I will always remember the privilege of hearing Olha's and Ludmila's confessions in their apartments in Borodyanka. As a photojournalist, it's my duty to bring these stories to light and share them with the world, to raise awareness and hold those in power accountable for their actions. It's important to remember the human cost of war and occupation and the resilience of those who survive it. Vudi Xhymshiti, photojournalist. Production assistant: Volodymyr Yurchuk.

The winter might be at the doorstep of many, but to most Ukrainians, it is already home. While some wake up wet due to roof leaking water, Nina Petrova, 73, is afraid that her apartment might fall within. While she sits on the 3rd floor of her apartment at a five-storey block 425A in Borodyanka, she says that she is grateful that quote "someone came and fixed the windows" - but she is anxious about the wall right-behind her sleeping bed. The wall behind her bed looks swollen and unstable, "it is like a pregnant wall; one day it will give birth to something, it will only be darkness," Nina's neighbour Olha intervenes, adding that local authorities are repeatedly ignoring their concerns over the stability of their block of apartments, where 22 families reside. This is the second time visiting Block 425A in Borodyanka, and little to nothing has been done. Residents are still terrified to live here but have no choice and nowhere to go. As the winter hits the Ukrainian household, with little to no hope for heat and electricity, the Russian forces continue to strike civilian infrastructure to force the nation into Russian rule. I have witnessed and heard testimonies that local authorities repeatedly ignore the calls to intervene; I will continue to observe whether Nina and her neighbours will survive this winter. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti. Production assistant: Vadym Dumanchuk.

This is my second visit to the five-storey block of apartments 425A in Borodyanka, northwest of the capital Kyiv in Ukraine, on Thursday, Nov 3, 2022. The night before, it started raining in the Kyiv region. The roof of the block of apartments where the residents survived a Russian execution is demolished due to systematic airstrikes by the Russian forces during their February attempt to capture the capital. The construction skeleton appears weak and on the edge of collapse, with local authorities awarding neglecting intervention. Halina is 73; she lives on the top floor. Her ceiling meets the roof that needs to be fixed, regardless of subsequent appeals to local authorities from her and her neighbours; there's little to no response. I visited her on Thursday, Nov 3, and she told me she woke up coughing and completely wet. The roof had leaked entirely throughout the night. I found Halina angry and weeping while she tried to suck and squeeze water using a cloth and other kitchen appliances to collect dropping water from her ceiling. Residents of apartment 425A were lucky to survive execution as they were lined up to be shot by Russian forces during the occupation of Borodyanka in march 2022, but will they survive Ukrainian neglect, as the winter's snowflakes have already hit Borodyanka's bumpy roads and broken roofs. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti. Production assistant: Vadym Dumanchuk.

A policeman is helping the traffic flow smoothly in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Nov 3, 2022. This is following weeks of systematic Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, such as power plants and water supply dams in Ukraine. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Eighty per cent of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is without water supply, and nearly 350,000 apartments are in power outages, Mayor Vitali Klichko told reporters, following a barrage of Russian airstrikes on Monday, Oct 31, 2022. In this gallery, you see people in northern Kyiv queueing to fill their bottles with water at a Pitcher Pump outside a block of apartments. Similar situations are reported all over the city. Dmitry, a young gentleman we met during our visit to Obolon, hopes this won't last long. Production assistant Volodymyr Yurchuk Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti

In this gallery, you will find a variety of cityscape views of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, photographed on Sunday, Oct 30, 2022. Thermal Power Station No 6, which was struck in mid-October, Comfort Town residential complex, Hydro Park Island, Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, otherwise known as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, International Exhibition Centre and Ginzburg Tower. According to Ukrainian officials and local media reports, several explosions were heard in Kyiv on Monday, Oct 31, 2022. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Ukraine has already gathered 30 Million tonnes of crops this year, said Dmytro Solomchuk, member of Verkhovna Rada’s Agrarian and Land Policy Committee on Tuesday, Oct 25, 2022, during a briefing with media at the Ukraine Media Centre in the capital Kyiv. The crop harvesting will be long Mr Solomchuk said, adding that the autumn harvesting has just begun due to delayed and continuous rains in most of the country that did not allow farmers to gather the crops.

Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with Iranian-made drones, which exploded on impact during morning rush hour on Monday, Oct 17, 2022. Authorities said at least four people are dead, with nineteen others pulled out of rubbles during the day. On several occasions, I repeatedly witnessed members of the Ukrainian national press appear to be free to do their job. Meanwhile, Ukrainian policemen selectively forbid members of foreign media from approaching the disaster zone, excusing "safety" concerns while allowing national press members to access the scene. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Emergency response units arrived at the scene to clear off the ruble and look for potential survivors or casualties at a civilian residential building in Zhylianska Street, following a Russian drone strike in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday, Oct 17, 2022. One person reportedly died, and eighteen others were rescued from the building. Members of the Ukrainian national press appear to be free to do their job. Meanwhile, Ukrainian policemen forbid a selective number of foreign media to approach the disaster zone, excusing "safety" concerns while allowing national press members to access the scene. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Russian forces struck the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday, Oct 17, 2022. The office of President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "kamikaze drones" were used against Ukraine's capital city. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

A parallel view of the 101 Tower that houses the Business Hub 3 days after Russian forces struck the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, was photographed on Thursday, Oct 13, 2022. Russian forces struck various Ukraine regions over the last three weeks killing over 80 civilians and injuring hundreds according to Ukraine state officials. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Of Ukraine's total land of 60 million hectares, roughly 42 million is classified as agricultural land, including cultivated land (grains, technical crops, forages, potatoes and vegetables, and fallow), gardens, orchards, vineyards, and permanent meadows and pastures. The country's main grain crops are winter wheat, spring barley, and corn. Sunflowers and sugar beets are the main technical or industrial crops. Agricultural land use has shifted significantly since Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 according to World Data Centre. Between 1991 and 2000, sown area dropped by about 5 per cent, from 32.0 million hectares to 30.4 million, and the area decreased for almost every crop except for technical crops (specific sunflowers). Forage-crop area plunged by nearly 40 per cent, concurrent with a steep slide in livestock inventories and feed demand. Ukraine has been facing an existential threat of territorial loss from its northeastern neighbour, the Russian Federation, since 2014. The self-proclaimed Republic of Crimea is an entity that Russia considers to be one of its federal subjects, a republic. Before its invasion and annexation by Russia in 2014, the territory was administered by Ukraine as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and almost all other countries recognize it as such. Over the last 232 days of Russia's full-scale war declared on Ukraine, it occupied about 20% additional of Ukraine's territory. President, Zelenskyy told the world on the 2nd of June, 2022, that Russia occupied approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory, including regions of Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Mykolaiv Oblast. According to a new analysis of satellite imagery, almost 10 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain have been affected by the Russian invasion. The Russian blockade and bombardments are cutting off thousands of tons of grain, threatening the food supply in countries that rely on wheat exports - WIRED reported. One in six of Ukraine's grain storage facilities, with a total capacity of 58 million metric tons, have been impacted by the conflict through damage, destruction, or falling under Russia's control.

Search for eight more people continues in the Osypenkivsʹkyy neighbourhood on the 3rd day of the Russian bombing campaign in Zaporizhzhia. In search of eight more missing people, rescue operations continue on the third day in the rubble of a nine-storey block of apartments in Osypenkivsʹkyy neighbourhood in the northwestern city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on Tuesday, Oct 11, 2022. Russian forces struck the civilian residential block of apartments in Osypenkivsʹkyy neighbourhood (in this set of pictures) and the Leontovycha Street intersection nearby School 61on Sunday morning killing at least 17 civilians and wounding over 60, with eight more to be found under the rubbles as search continues. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti. Production assistant: Oleksander Puhach.

Russian forces struck a residential six-storey block of apartments in Yakova Novytskoho Street in Zaporizhzhia's embattled southern Ukrainian city, killing six people on Monday, Oct 10, 2022. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Russian forces struck Zaporizhzhia's embattled southern Ukrainian city with 12 rockets on Tuesday, killing at least one person, the region’s governor, Oleksandr Starukh, said on Telegram. He said a school, a medical facility and a car dealership were hit. Russian forces have struck Zaporizhzhia repeatedly, killing more than a dozen people in the last week. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Russian airstrike turns a neighbourhood into moonscape ash in Zaporizhzhia. Dozens of residential houses of Ukrainians living on the Leontovycha Street intersection nearby School 61 in northwestern Zaporizhzhia are entirely zero grounded following a Russian Airstrike in the early morning of Sunday, Oct 9, 2022. With Volunteers helping to clear the rubble, Ukrainian members of the emergency response unit searched tirelessly for survivors. In the meantime, some residents who survived the strike were sent to nearby hospitals. Others are seen walking by their grounded neighbourhood, terrified, sad and confused in their once familiar streets but now resembling a moonscape. Photographer: Vudi Xhymshiti Journalist: Kris Parker Production Assistant: Oleksandr Puhach

A barrage of missiles from the Russian Federation pounded apartment buildings and other targets in the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Sunday, Oct 9, 2022. Residents of the Osypenkivsʹkyy Housing Estates in the northwestern city of Zaporizhzhia are being evacuated as rescue operations continue to search for survivors in the nine-storey apartment building following a series of airstrikes by the Russian Federation in the early morning of Sunday, killing at least 17 civilians and wounding 60, including six children, who were hospitalised. At the same time, dozens more were treated for moderate to light injuries. Photographer: Vudi Xhymshiti Journalist: Kris Parker Production Assistant: Oleksander Puhach

At least eight people are reported to have died in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as the country comes Under a Sustained Attack from Russian Federation on Monday. Explosions shook seven cities across the country. Ukrainians had been bracing for retaliation from Moscow since an attack on Saturday on a bridge linking Russia and Crimea. Vudi Xhymshiti in Zaporizhzhia & Brent Reynolds in Kyiv.

About 1,000 people lived in Andriivka, some 60km from the capital. At least 40 of them were killed. Andriivka has been blighted by battle and the month-long occupation on the route up to the Belarus border. Buildings are ripped apart amid a mess of rubble and mangled metal. Manik Eugen Petrovich, a 39 years old Ukrainian man who claims to be a member of ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation), told his story of horrors living under Russian occupation and gave us a tour in his demolished family home in Andriivka village in the Kyiv region in Ukraine on Saturday, Oct 1, 2022. We also met with Nadiia Vorobei, a 66-year-old woman who told us her story and her experience of living in temporary accommodation provided by the volunteers. Photographer: Vudi Xhymshiti. Journalist: Kris Parker. Production assistant: Oleksander Puhach.

Russia's bombs destroyed more than 10 apartment buildings in the heart of the town in early March. Only recently, when Ukraine regained control of Borodyanka, it became possible to start clearing the rubble. Seven months after the attack, there is little hope of returnees, but for many, returning is only a wish. Photographer: Vudi Xhymshiti. Journalist: Kris Parker. Production assistant: Oleksander Puhach.

Wreckage in the aftermath of a drone attack in Bila Tserkva District of Kyiv region on Wednesday, Oct 5, 2022. Authorities said one person was injured in the attack with Iranian-made drones in the town of Bila Tserkva southwest of Kyiv on Wednesday. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Members of the Iranian community in Kyiv, Ukraine, gathered to protest outside the Iranian Islamic Republic Embassy against the Tehran regime on Friday, Sept 30, 2022. They were protesting against the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in Iran while in police custody and was arrested by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating its strictly-enforced dress code. Ukrainian police stood guard outside the Iranian Embassy to keep tensions low. People brought banners, placards and dogs to display their opposition against the Iranian brutal crackdown on protestors and women's rights and liberties. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti Production assistant: Oleksander Pugach and Vladyslav Movchan.

From Israel's sirens of war to Ukraine's Uman. Many Jewish young and elderly say that they're used to the air raid sirens in Israel; therefore, visiting Ukraine's stronghold of the Jewish community Uman wasn't a bad choice after all. It is one of those days Jewish people feel as "the most important day of the year to connect with God". Eli Sharon, a 25 young man, told VX Pictures on Monday that being in Ukraine "feels Good" regardless of air raid sirens suggesting that Russians are sending missiles to Ukraine. Uman is located in Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, in the historical region of eastern Podolia, relatively far from the frontlines of war. However, Ukrainian and Israeli authorities urged worshippers to avoid the celebrations between September 25 and 27 this year. Despite the warnings, crowds of Hasidim dressed in traditional black and white clothing gathered in Uman, celebrating in the streets. This Sunday was the start of Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Jewish New Year, which marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days. The millennia-old holiday is an occasion for reflection and is often celebrated with prayer, symbolic foods, and the blowing of a traditional horn called a shofa. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti

Ukrainian servicemen travel on a tank convoy on Saturday, Sept 24, 2022. Also, in this galley, you find pictures of a Russian damaged tank nearby a frontline city and our vehicle, which we use for our transport (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

General views of the devastated Saltivka District of Kharkiv city after Russian forces fired missiles hitting a residential block of apartments and recently a university building. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Evacuees from the frontline city of Kupiansk were first brought to the town of Shevchenkove, where they will have their identities verified by local police. Some of them who might be suspicious or marked as "people of interest" might be held in the local police station until the Ukrainian intelligence service completes further investigations on their identities and past. Once cleared off, the evacuees who previously may have been living under Russian occupation will be offered temporary shelter in safer areas of Ukraine's internally displaced camps. Evacuation is mainly organised by the Ukraine servicemen, with multiple volunteer groups doing incredible work of self-sacrifices to get civilians to safety. On Saturday, Sept 24, 2022 - it was almost impossible even to enter Shevchenkove, which is only about 35/km west of Kupiansk. In this frontline city, the Russians were pushed beyond the Oskil River about a week ago, but recently they're pushing back. There's ongoing heavy shelling with a potential of street fighting about to break between Ukraine and Russian servicemen who are insisting to re-occupy the region and Ukrainians on the other side, pressing to liberate it inch-by-inch. On Saturday, I also walked the streets of Shevchenkove. I saw people walking, a nearly deserted grocery store with women cycling across the roads in light hope that someone would bring humanitarian aid such as food, hygiene or medicines. Eventually, more buses and vans with evacuees arrived at the city centre. I met Dave, a middle-aged British man serving as a volunteer to evacuate civilians from the hot frontline villages of Ukraine. Dave had lost his right eye in an ambush by the Russian soldiers, but he is defiant and insists he has to continue to help evacuate people from the frontlines. World Food Kitchen also had a tent providing hot meals for new arrivals from the frontline as they awaited their id verification. Many people had decided to bring along their pet family members. I offered my cuddling hands to pet these lovely creatures; they were all afraid of any little noise of anything.

Before crossing into Russia, this village was the last railway stop in northeastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region. It is located just eight minutes from the Russian border. People could exchange Ukrainian hryvnia for Russian rubles, grab a coffee and stretch their legs. Now, the customs post is blown apart. The high-ceilinged train station is pock-marked with bullet holes. The steel tracks in front of the platform are twisted from explosions as Russians shelled it three days ago and today (Thursday, Sept 22, 2022). And Ukrainian police say they found a torture chamber in the station's basement where Russians may have interrogated residents. Kozacha Lopan was one of the first places Russian troops took over when they invaded Ukraine in late February. But Ukrainian forces took back the village, and much of the Kharkiv region, in a swift counteroffensive this month. For VX Pictures, Vudi Xhymshiti

In a sandy pine forest dotted with graves, investigators and forensic experts continue to exhume the bodies of Izium residents on Wednesday, Sept 21, 2022. This is the 6th day of exhumation in Izium. Last week, 450 graves were discovered in forests outside Izium after the Ukrainian city was recaptured from the Russians. Ukrainian officials claim that 99 per cent of the exhumed bodies show signs of violent death. The Kremlin has denied the allegations as "lies", while the EU presidency has called for creating an international war crimes tribunal. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

The Russians launched a missile attack on Kharkiv city early on Wednesday, Sept 21, 2022. A person was trapped in one of the houses in the Kholodnohirsky district mayor's office confirmed. According to preliminary data, two people were killed, and nine were wounded, including four children. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Russian Federation hit northwestern Kharkiv in the early hours of Wednesday, Sept 21, 2022. A combination of 10 Iskander ballistic missiles and air-launched cruise missiles targeted civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Unconfirmed reports suggest that among the targets was the Pechenezh reservoir water dam which also may have been hit. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

On Monday, Sept 19, 2022 - I travelled to Shevchenkovo and Kupiansk. I saw civilians being evacuated from the liberated eastern part of Kupiansk as the Ukraine Armed Forces continued to mass in the region and shell Russian positions in western Kupiansk, particularly in the industrial zone knowns as "Vuzlovyi". I saw and photographed Russian soldiers fleeing positions, buried in their abandoned positions with Ukrainian servicemen massing in the region in various motorised infantry convoys. These pictures are not for use in Russian Federation. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti/VX Production assistant: Vladyslav Movchan

A Ukrainian convoy of motorised infantry with servicemen sitting on a tank is seen moving towards an undisclosed location in eastern Kharkiv Oblast on Monday, Sept 19, 2022. The Ukrainian Kharkiv counter-offensive is an ongoing offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Russian-occupied territory of the Kharkiv Oblast. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Smoke rises above the buildings of the Kupiansk Vuzlovyi industrial area in Eastern Kupiansk, Kharkiv Region, as Ukraine Armed Forces, artillery unit continued to shell Russian Positions on Monday, Sept 19, 2022. Over the last five days, Ukraine servicemen and women liberated western Kupiansk, located in the eastern Kharkiv Region along the Oskil River, with civilians continuously being offered evacuation for the time being as the fighting is ongoing. Ukrainian forces pushed the Russian Armed Forces beyond the Oskil River, beyond which point "Russians are sheltering themselves in the forestry and Industrial zone." Commanding officer Lang of the artillery Unit told VX Pictures on Monday. "All civilians are evacuated from Eastern Kupiansk," commander Lang said, adding that residents in liberated Kupiansk are also offered evacuation for the time being as the battle for Kupiansk continued. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti Production Assistant: Vladyslav Movchan

The highway from Kharkiv to Crimea is nearly deserted on Sunday, Sept 18, 2022. The M18, 716/km (approximately 444/miles) long road built from Kharkiv Oblast through Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, would reach Crimea within 12 hours drive and be heavily in use until 2014, when the Russian Federation annexed Crimea. "Only Villagers use it now and a few trucks," said Vladyslav Movchan, a Ukrainian journalist and production assistant with VX Pictures. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Cars horn and people walk home in Zaporizhzhia on Friday, Sept 16, 2022. It is known for the historic island of Khortytsia; multiple power stations, including Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (the largest nuclear power station in Europe), Zaporizhzhia thermal power station and Dnieper Hydroelectric Station and for being an important industrial centre in Ukraine. For most of this month, the global attention on the war in Ukraine has remained nervously focused on Zaporizhzhia, an important town in the country’s southeast that houses the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The Zaporizhzhia atomic power station has been under Russian control since early March, but an escalation of the conflict in the town this month, including shelling and mortar attacks, some of which damaged parts of the nuclear station, has raised the spectre of nuclear disaster. There have been at least five air raid alarms on Friday alone. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti Production assistant: Vladyslav Movchan

Farmers harvest sunflowers, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine Ukrainian farmers harvest sunflowers near Zaporiz'ke on Thursday, Sept 15, 2022. Ukraine is the world's largest sunflower seed grower and sunflower oil exporter. Ukraine's 2022 sunflower seed harvest could decrease by 42% to 9.6 million tonnes due to a sharp decrease in the sowing areas following Russia's invasion, Ukrainian APK-Inform agriculture consultancy confirms. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Ukraine's President Zelensky's hometown has been flooded following a Russian strike with eight cruise missiles that hit a dam on Wednesday on civilian water infrastructure in Kryvyi Rih. Oleksandr Vilkul, Head of the Military Administration of Kryvyi Rih city, told reporters on Thursday, Sept 15, 2022 - that 112 homes were flooded but that works to repair the dam on the Inhulets river were underway and that “flooding is receding”. The water rose up to 2 meters by 4/am early morning on Thursday, authorities and residents told VX Pictures. Many residents were wearing deep waterproof boots as they observed the damages caused by the floods. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti Production Assistant: Vladyslav Movchan Instruction: Not for use or distribution in Russian Federation.

Russian Armed forces left behind their motorised infantry upon Kyiv's counter-offensive operation in Kharkiv Region on Friday, Sept 9, 2022.

Ukrainian forces have advanced north from Kharkiv to within 30 miles (48km) of the border with Russia and are also pressing to the south and east in the same region, Ukraine's commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Gen Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said on Sunday. Ukrainian forces are continuing to make rapid advances in the northeast of the country, reclaiming more than a third of the occupied Kharkiv region in three days. Much of Ukraine’s territorial gains were confirmed by Russia’s defence ministry on Saturday.

As thousands of Russian troops ‘flee’ after Ukraine captures key cities ‘by surprise’, they also left behind their position with ammunitions, a variety of weapons including shells and bullets as photographed near Nova Husarivka, Kharkiv Oblast, on Saturday, Sept 10, 2022. (VX Photo/ VudiXhymshiti)

A Russian long-range cruise missile hit a business hub building in Siatoslava Road, a business centre surrounded by civilian residential buildings in Dnipro, in the early hours of Sunday, Sept 11, 2022. This is the 200th day since Russia started a full-scale war in an attempt to invade Ukraine. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

On Thursday, Sept 8, the Russian troops fled Kharkiv Region following a counter-offensive of the Ukraine Armed Forces that is reclaiming its territories previously occupied by the Russian Federation since it began a full-scale invasion attempt of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. "Armed Forces of the Russian Federation left about thirty dead bodies behind and a wealth of weaponry, ammunition and motorised infantry machinery." Artillery Commanding Officer Lang told VX Pictures on Saturday, Sept 10, 2022. During our visit nearby the frontline of Ukraine Armed forces advances, VX Pictures saw four dead soldiers nearby Siversikyi Donets river and three tanks stuck in the river where the Shchurivka Village of Kharkiv Oblast is located. Some civilians who survived the battle were too nervous to talk to us. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti

Russian Federation continued to bomb civilian residential areas and business hubs in the Kharkiv region of Northern Ukraine. Some of these pictures were taken on Svobody Street in Kharkiv City Centre on Friday morning, Sept 9, 2022 - showing yet another consequence of Russian missiles hitting the city following days of counter-offensive operation of Ukraine Armed Forces to take back its territories. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti Assistant Production: Vladyslav Movchan

Ukraine's Armed Forces claim to have liberated more than 20 settlements in the Kharkiv region. Pictures taken from a village nearby shows the Ukraine Air Force MI8 helicopters that assisted motorised and ground infantry in liberating Balakliya in the Kharkiv region. For VX Pictures, Vudi Xhymshiti with Vladyslav Movchan in eastern Ukraine.

This is a set of cityscapes where the sunset shines on the Ginzburg Skyscraper and other residential buildings, business hubs and the Golden Dome of Churches in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Thursday, Sept 1, 2022. Kyiv is home to many high-tech industries, higher education institutions, and historical landmarks, and it is an important industrial, scientific, educational, and cultural centre in Eastern Europe. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Like children everywhere, returning to school in Ukraine comes with the excitement of reconnecting with friends mixed with an apprehension of teachers' demands. Ukrainian children are back to School in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Sept 1, 2022. Bomb shelters are prepared for children at the schools that will reopen. Only schools that have or are located near a bomb shelter will be available for in-person learning amid the ongoing Russian invasion. When the Russians retreated, they left behind 133 damaged schools in the region and 11 others destroyed.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) holds a conference to analyze Ukraine’s progress in fighting corruption on Tuesday, Aug 30, 2022. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Match - Shakhtar Donetsk (orange outfit) takes on Metalist 1925 (black and pink outfit) in the first match of Ukraine’s 2022-23 Premier League season at the NSC Olimpiyskiy stadium on Tuesday, Aug 23, 2022. The game is played without spectators due to the ongoing Russian invasion and martial law under strict security provisions. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti, for The Guardian)

A series of destroyed Russian military hardware is exhibited in central square two days before Ukraine's independence in Kyiv on August 24, 2022. The US embassy in Kyiv advised US citizens to leave Ukraine if safe to do so. The US state department has issued a security alert warning that Russia is "stepping up" efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti, for The Guardian)

Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, August 22, 2022: Ukrainian artist Varvara Logvyn has turned to craft art after the Ukrainian government outlawed fireworks due to the ongoing war. Having worked in the fireworks business for 17 years, Logvyn now finds herself without a job and must use her artistic skills to make a living. Her mother is an artist and a teacher in art school, so Logvyn was born into a family of artists. She attended Classical art school before moving to Kolomyia, western Ukraine when the war began. Unable to do anything there, she fled to the Netherlands to seek refuge. Now, she uses her art to depict the war-torn landscapes of her homeland. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti, for The Guardian)

The Guardian reporting crew led by defence correspondent Dan Sabbagh, visited Kyiv's Red Cross society on Monday, Aug 22, 2022. We met with Katerina 43, a paediatric dental surgeon and a lawyer from Mariupol. She fled the city when it came under attack from Russian forces and now she's working with URC in Kyiv. We also saw that internally displaced people of Ukraine who refused to leave but remained in Kyiv, gathered at Ukraine's Red Cross (URC) society centre in the capital Kyiv to collect their food and hygiene packages. The URC struggles to cope with the influx of displaced people said Tetiana Goienko head of operations. "We are providing food and basic necessities to around 50 people per day." The number of displaced people is only increasing as the conflict in eastern Ukraine drags on. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti, for The Guardian)

People are gathered outside Vifaniya Church in Bucha, the northwestern town of Kyiv Oblast to collect their humanitarian supplies from the World Food Programme on Saturday, Aug 13, 2022. Supply packages contain Macaroni, cans of meat, and oil. "It is a big box of 18/kg that feeds a family for a month," said Nadia, one of the church volunteers administering the WFP supplies. A max of 3 packages for a big family is available the volunteers confirmed. This is a monthly routine dispatching around three thousand packages at this point of collection only. Tim, one of the Church volunteers said that around two thousand families are in immediate need of food supplies in Bucha and Irpin. The World Food Programme is providing food assistance to people in need in Ukraine, particularly those affected by the war in eastern Ukraine. The WFP has been working in Ukraine since 2014 and has distributed more than 1.6 million metric tons of food to millions of people in need. In addition to food assistance, the WFP also provides cash assistance to people in need. The WFP has warehouses in Bucha and Irpin, from which food is distributed to people in need. The WFP also has mobile teams that go to areas not accessible by roads. The WFP plans to reach 3 million people in need in Ukraine this year. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

People attend an event where the Ukrainian armed Forces are exhibiting destroyed Russian military hardware as a trophy of resistance to kick-start Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations on Sunday, Aug 21, 2022. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti, for The Guardian) Ukraine declared independence after nearly 70 years under Moscow's control when the Soviet Union; landed on a journey of collapse in 1991. This august 24, Ukraine marks its 31st anniversary of Independence.

People attend an exhibition displaying motorised Russian weaponry destroyed and collected by the Ukraine Armed Forces during 179 days of the war. A Ukrainian teenager Oleg said that Russians promised to parade their army in Kyiv in three days, "they are parading today, but on our command," he added, laughing on Sunday, Aug 21, 2022. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti, for The Guardian)

People attend an exhibition displaying motorised Russian weaponry that was destroyed and collected by the Ukraine Armed Forces during 179 days of the war. A Ukrainian teenager Oleg said that Russians promised to parade their army in Kyiv in three days, "they are parading today, but on our command," he added, laughing on Sunday, Aug 21, 2022. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti, for The Guardian) Ukraine displays motorised Russian weaponry that it had destroyed during 179 days of the war. The exhibition remains open along Khreschatyk Street in the country's capital Kyiv on Sunday, Aug 21, 2022. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti, for The Guardian)

Andriivka is the story of the village under Russian occupation. It is a small village on the road from the Belarussian border to Kyiv, the country's capital. It was among dozens of settlements near the capital seized by Russian forces in the early stage of the full-scale invasion. Moscow’s military quickly captured Andriivka on Feb. 27, terrorizing civilians and destroying houses before soldiers eventually were forced to retreat in early April. We met with Nadia, an old lady at 66, who showed us the remnants of her hallway and the bathroom turned into ashes. Nadia is a mother of two; a daughter living in Spain and a son fighting against Russian military aggression. I found her in the company of two of her neighbours whose house had just survived the Russian flames. Nadia is also a landlady friend to a tiny kitten who recently befriended her and two dogs. She told us it was 19 of March when she went to visit her neighbour to get new clothes, and upon return, she found her house burned down. Now, she's got nothing but painful remnants of Russian aggression, her land covered in grass, clothes dropped outside her burned home and a container for shelter brought to her by volunteers. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti. Production Assistant: Oleksander Pugach.

Winter is coming in Borodyanka, the story of bombarded houses and the people who lived there. Local authorities say Borodyanka is an urban-type settlement in Bucha Raion of Kyiv and Oblast of Ukraine. Borodyanka was hit particularly hard by Russian attacks, suffering the most massive destruction of any town in the Kyiv region. The situation in the liberated city is utterly devastating. In the bombarded town of Borodyanka, northwest of Kyiv, lives Katerina Pirohova, a lady at her age of 71, mother of one daughter, 49 of age - with a granddaughter of 16 whose whereabouts are unknown to this day since the war began. Russian warplanes flew and dropped bombs in her neighbourhood, airstrike shockwaves destroyed her house's structure, and the windows went off, including doors inside the house. She’s worried about the winter the most. "Those who have the money recovered their homes, but those who don’t can’t do anything," she said, bursting into tears while speaking to us. The only person she received support from was the man in charge of the local graveyard. "I am still in the same outfit since the war started," she told us on Saturday, Aug 13, 2022. We also met with Halina 73, whose rooftop is leaking. Valentina, 74, and Ivan, 68, are homeless. Their daughter lost her legs following an airstrike by the Russian warplanes. Scenes of destruction and apocalypse are not a picture to see for the residents of Borodyanka; they are scenes in which they have lived since the Russian Armed Forces launched military aggression on Ukraine's territorial integrity on February 24, 2022. Photojournalist: Vudi Xhymshiti. Production Assistant: Oleksander Pugach. To inquire about the full story of this reportage, please email us at production@vxpictures.com

These are consequences of the Russian armed forces' bombing campaign targeting civilian residential, public infrastructure and industrial areas. Russian military aggression launched on Feb 24, 2022, aimed at invading Ukraine by taking over the country's capital Kyiv. The scenes of devastated civilian infrastructure remain unforgettable in Horenka five months after the Russian bombing of the village on the northwest outskirts of Kyiv. Pictures were taken on Saturday, Aug 13, 2022, by Kosovar-British photographer Vudi Xhymshiti with the assistance of native Ukrainian producer Oleksander Pugach.

An American artist from California, Trek Thunder Kelly, in collaborative work with Ukrainian native artists, is finding it helpful to repurpose remnants of Russian military aggression into art pieces of hope in Irpin. The town is outside Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. People of Ukraine who lost their loved ones and belongings during the Russian military aggression are finding hope in flowers that survived the destruction. The mayor noted that Irpin is one of the settlements in the Kyiv region that has suffered the most due to Russian shelling of the residential sector and civilian infrastructure. During the month of fierce fighting, 70% of the city was damaged. According to the Kyiv School of Economics, the total damage caused to Irpin town in the Kyiv region from the war is estimated at almost $922 mln or over UAH 25.3 bln. This can be seen from the analysis carried out by the KSE Institute team within the “Russia will pay” project. The damage to Irpinʼs infrastructure was carried out based on data collected in the framework of the RebuildUA project, initiated by Smart Farming and Vkursi Zemli. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Ukrainian, British and Belarussian national flags wave nearby Independence Square, located in the central square in Kyiv, on Saturday, Aug 6, 2022. This is a flag memorial to remember those who died in Ukraine's fight against Russian military aggression. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

UA Exhibits Destroyed Russian Weaponry An exhibition organised by Ukraine's National Museum of Military History remains open at Mykhailivska Square in Kyiv, the country’s capital, on Saturday, Aug 6, 2022. It exhibits destroyed Russian motorised military equipment and the remnants of the crimes they may have committed against humanity during their invasion of Bucha. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Ukrainian members of the public show interest in the Gov-sponsored safety awareness campaign at one of Kyiv's metro stations on Friday, Aug 5, 2022. Members of Ukraine's State Emergency Service (SES) are running an awareness campaign to help citizens understand how to stay safe when Russian bombs hit the city. "This campaign has started since march in Kharkiv, and it will continue across the country," Olexander Khorunzhyi told VX Pictures on Friday. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

Forty per cent of the World Food Program's wheat supplies come from Ukraine. According to Ukraine's ministry for agriculture, due to the Russian military aggression in Ukraine, approximately 22 million tons of grain are stranded in Ukraine, waiting for export. In this gallery, you will see harvesting combiners unloading grain in Zhytomyr, Oblast, on Monday, Aug 1, 2022. Zhytomyr is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Zhytomyr Oblast, as well as the administrative centre of the surrounding Zhytomyr region. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)

This gallery shows a general overview of Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, around 70 kilometres from the border with Poland.

In this gallery, you will see people commuting by Public Transport on a Sunday morning in Lviv on July 31, 2022. Public transport is the predominant mode of mobility in Lviv, with over 50% of residents using it for commuting purposes. The city has a well-developed public transport network made of 1505 km of bus lines, 133 km of trolley bus routes and 99 km of tram routes.

In this gallery, you will see pictures showing a monument of the Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko pictured in Lviv on Sunday, July 31, 2022. The Shevchenko monument stands out against the background of the old city buildings due to its dark, almost black colour and the Wave of National Revival somewhat competes, because of its height, with the bell tower of the former Jesuit church. The monument is supplemented by the surrounding area, paved with granite tiles of several kinds.

Lviv officials said Russian missile strikes killed seven people on Monday morning of April 2022, the first deaths reported within city limits, though others have been recorded in the region since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. In this gallery, you will see pictures showing boarded religious monuments in Lviv on Sunday, July 31, 2022. Although Lviv was considered one of the safest Ukraine cities, it was last bombed by Russians in April. The city has decided to wood-board windows and several religious monuments in the old city centre. (VX Photo/ Vudi Xhymshiti)