War in Ukraine

Russia-Ukraine War

Russia began an invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. It is the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II. Our team pivoted to frontline media reporting, while we continue promoting public interest fact-based journalism. We document Ukrainians' wartime stories and create an archive of evidence that will raise public awareness and facilitate justice for victims

The Team teachable

Multimedia chronicle of the modern history of Ukraine against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian war

Project's website

The Reckoning Project: Ukraine Testifies

Documenting war crimes in Ukraine

Project's website

Ukrainians are rejoicing at victory — and awash in trauma and grief

Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive has liberated at least 3,400 square miles of territory, mostly in the northeast, and cut off Russian supply routes. But its real significance might go beyond the merely military. It has given hope to millions of Ukrainians.

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Washington Post

Putin is mobilising 300,000 more soldiers to fight his war. But Ukrainians feel hope, not fear

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian

Some 300,000 more families will start to feel the war personally. The move also confirms that Russia will be unable to defend territories it has occupied without more personnel.

The World Now Has a Vision of Ukrainian Victory

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The New York Times

The counteroffensive showed that the Ukrainian army is capable not just of defense but also of attack. This is a major change.

Ukrainians are joyful as the Russian occupiers flee, but we must be wary of an ambush

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian

In some places the enemy has abandoned positions, guns and even roubles. Elsewhere, resistance is fiercer.

Ukrainische Unabhängigkeit: Eine Zukunftskultur

Nataliya Gumenyuk, Die Zeit

Im Gegensatz zur russischen Gesellschaft hat die ukrainische den Zerfall der Sowjetunion seit Langem überwunden. Die Menschen schauen nach vorne, in eine bessere Zukunft.

The city that formed Volodymyr Zelensky

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The New Statesman

Kryvyi Rih was known for its steel factory and its residents’ supposed Soviet nostalgia. War has changed that.

Ukraine’s independence day was always important. Now it is a matter of life and death

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian

In Kyiv, we are marking the day under the constant threat of Russian attack – and facing a watershed in the course of the war

‘We Need to Liberate Our People From the Horrors of Occupation’: New Allegations of Russian War Crimes Emerge in Ukraine

Ukrainian villagers accuse Russian troops of abuse, torture, and the murder of civilians as brutal war grinds on

Nataliya Gumenyuk, Rolling Stone

Russia’s invasion is making Ukraine more democratic

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Atlantic

Over time, I saw that the war hadn’t just forced us to defend our land and our freedom; it has accelerated our progress as a democracy.

A young soldier’s death reminds Ukrainians that the war is taking their best

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Washington Post

On June 9, Roman Ratushny was killed in battle near Izyum, not far from Kharkiv. He would have turned 25 in July.

Putin’s bombs were supposed to break us in Ukraine. They are doing the opposite

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian

Ukrainians know the war is not over, so each day we clean up, document the destruction, and do our best to prepare

"Damit sie mich in Ruhe lassen"

"Ich wollte niemanden umbringen. Ich habe geschossen, damit sie mich in Ruhe lassen."

Natalia Gumeniuk, Zeit.de
May 24, 2022

Alone under siege:
how older women
are being left
behind in Ukraine

Angelina Kariakina, Luba Kassova, The Guardian
May 16, 2022

With many living alone in dire conditions or unable to care for themselves, these forgotten women are among those least able to escape

Ukraine’s Jewish Community Fights Back Against Russia’s Invasion

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian
May 14, 2022

Impossible Choices in the Battle for the Donbas

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Atlantic
April 24, 2022

In the weeks since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the leaders of the Donbas have had no easy choices.

Pavlo Kyrylenko

The governor of the Ukrainian region of Donetsk

Serhiy Gaidai

The governor of the Ukrainian region of Luhansk

Kriegsreporterin: "Moskau hat irgendwann seine eigene Fiktion geglaubt"

Die ukrainische Journalistin Natalia Gumenjuk über Russlands Taktik der "verbrannten Erde", Kriegsverbrechen und Einigkeit

17 квітня 2022

Ангеліна Карякіна, Наталя Гуменюк, Суспільне

"Це війна проти Бога"

“Не можна змушувати народ жити так, як хочеться Путіну. Це війна проти Бога” — рабин Мейр Стамблер

Sie nennen sie die Deutschen

Bei den älteren Ukrainern, die der russische Angriff überrollt, werden Erinnerungen an einen früheren Krieg geweckt.

Von Nataliya Gumenyuk, ZeitOnline

April 16, 2022

‘They Were Killed For Us’: Ukrainians Bury Their Dead — and Accuse Russian Army of Mass Murder

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The RollingStone
April 15, 2022

We owe it to the dead and missing to tell their stories and to try to find some measure of justice, no matter how long it takes

We forced the Russians back from Kyiv. Now we’re braced for what comes next

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian

April 21, 2022

Ukrainians know the war is not over, so each day we clean up, document the destruction, and do our best to prepare

After the horrors of Bucha, Ukrainians changed the way we look at this war

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian
April 6, 2022

The Russian military are now circling the Donbas. I’m terrified for people there who were loyal to Ukraine for the past eight years

Andrii Bashtovyi and Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian

March 17, 2022

Rubble and resistance in Kharkiv – in pictures

Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine and 25 miles from the Russian border, was considered a major target by Russia and was one of the first hit. However, Russian troops have not managed to capture the city, which has been hit relentlessly by bombs and rockets. Many residents say their main task is to win the war and then ‘rebuild the city to make it even better’

Anatoliy
Anatoliy, an architect from Kharkiv, in hospital. He was wounded by Russian shelling on the way to buy groceries. A palm-sized shell hit him in the leg. Anatoliy is not going to leave Kharkiv, he says, but will help rebuild the city after the war

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
Full story
An old school
One of the oldest schools in Kharkiv, No 134, on Shevchenko Street. It was destroyed by fire on 28 February. Emergency services were unable to put out the fire because of shelling

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
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A subway station
A subway station where Kharkiv residents hide from the bombs. People whose homes were destroyed or damaged by Russian artillery have found refuge here

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
Full story
'It is my city'
A man who was forced to flee to the subway station with his family and dog. The family brought almost nothing with them. They sleep on mattresses and blankets spread out on the station floor. ‘Where should we go? Where are we needed? It is my city,’ the man says. Up to 600 people are staying in the station at the moment. At one point, when the shelling was at its heaviest, up to 2,000 found refuge at the station

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
Full story
An office building
An office building on Myronosytska Street in the centre of the city near the regional council building was destroyed by shelling on 1 March. The surrounding area is filled with gutted cars

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
Full story
Larysa
Larysa Oleksandrivna, 75, stands in front of the ruined facade of her building in the Pavlove Pole residential area. The walls of the building crumbled after an air bomb hit the yard. Oleksandrivna now lives next door, but there is no heating

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
Full story
Leonid Andriyovych
Leonid Andriyovych, 72, waits to be evacuated from a residential area which was under the heaviest shelling for 18 days. Some residential buildings nearby are fully destroyed. There is no public transport in the area

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
Full story
Saltivka
A destroyed residential house in the northern district of Saltivka – one of the largest residential areas of Kharkiv. The traces of direct missile strikes can be seen on each of the buildings; the walls are damaged by shell fragments, and the windows are broken. Not all residents of the district managed to evacuate. People have to live without heating, water or electricity

Photograph: Nataliya Gumenyuk
Full story
‘Grandpa’
A Ukrainian serviceman called ‘Grandpa’ plays the piano in a ruined kindergarten in the middle of Kharkiv’s Saltivka residential area

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
Full story
Two knives
A Ukrainian soldier defending Kharkiv. Dorin, 34, has two sons aged nine and 13. The shelling in the area where he serves is constant. On the question why he needs two knives he says: ‘One for lard, another one for onion’ – a typical Ukrainian food

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
Full story
Born in 1942
Nina Maksymivna, 80, lived in the metro shelter for more than a week. She was born in 1942 during the second world war and never expected to experience bombing in her home town again

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
Full story
Not to let them into the city
Ukrainian servicemen protect residential areas of Kharkiv from the Russian army. Artillery shelling of apartment buildings is continuous. Russian troops are still a few miles away. The task of the military is not to let them into the city

Photograph: Andrii Bashtovyi
Full story

Ukrainians don’t see Russia’s war crimes as an invitation to negotiate

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Washington Post
March 24, 2022

KYIV, Ukraine — The Russians have asked Ukrainian forces to surrender Mariupol. The Ukrainians have refused.

‘After the victory’: ruined city of Okhtyrka clings to hope of brighter future

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian
March 19, 2022

City in north-east Ukraine is a rubble-strewn shadow of the place it once was, but its mayor is unbowed

‘We Would Die Under Moscow.’ Odesa Unites To Resist Putin’s Invasion

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The RollingStone
March 15, 2022

A city under siege is fighting back against a tyrant’s invasion

In Mykolaiv, a city awaiting a siege, it’s clear that all Ukrainians are now people of war

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian

March 14, 2022

Until last month, many were still oblivious to the reality of conflict with Russia. But its ugliness is now inescapable

We have no illusions: we know Putin will try everything to bomb us into submission

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian

March 3, 2022

With our courage and unity, we Ukrainians believe victory is possible. But we know we will have to pay the highest price

I’m in Kyiv and awake at the darkest hour – as Putin’s bombs rain down

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian

February 24, 2022

I could not accept the idea of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but here I am as the airstrikes begin and Russia invades us

In Kyiv, we remain fearless. But war is becoming a backdrop to everyday life

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian

February 18, 2022

To stop Russia, Ukrainians must show, for as long as possible, that we are unconquerable

The Pop Star
and the Film Student
Now Defending Kyiv

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The RollingStone
February 27, 2022

“I could have been in Santa Monica, drinking smoothies,” says one of the newer members of the city’s civil-defense police unit. Now, he’s bracing for an all-out assault by Russian forces — and says he’s determined to fight

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Washington Post

February 25, 2022

The saddest irony of Putin’s war on Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine — Russians and Ukrainians actually understand each other well. That is perhaps the biggest and saddest irony of this perverse, unnecessary war.

Ukrainians Brace for War in a Town Called Happiness

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The RollingStone

February 19, 2022

Facing a Russian invasion and weary from eight years of conflict, Ukrainians are preparing for more war, which “is not an apocalypse but an ugly routine”

Ukrainians Brace for War in a Town Called Happiness

Nataliya Gumenyuk, The RollingStone

February 19, 2022

Facing a Russian invasion and weary from eight years of conflict, Ukrainians are preparing for more war, which “is not an apocalypse but an ugly routine”