The deafening booms of the first airstrikes. Buildings bursting into flames, reduced to rubble. Terrified people hiding in basements. Cries of despair and hugs of support.
This was the reality of Feb. 24, 2022, the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
From the first explosions on the morning of that fateful day, Ukraine was forever changed. By nightfall, Ukrainians were counting their first dead and in many parts of the country found themselves under Russian occupation.
Others crammed into overcrowded trains, rushing to escape rapidly advancing Russian forces.
Uncertainty and dread hung in the air. No one knew whether Ukraine could withstand the onslaught of a far larger and better-equipped Russian army.
Three years on, the constant fear — for one’s own life, for loved ones — is just as unrelenting as it was that first day.
Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II has claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the fighting. Millions have fled their country, many unlikely to return.
Countless families have been decimated, forced to bury loved ones, their homes and livelihoods shattered. A fifth of Ukraine remains under Russian occupation, with no signs that Kyiv will be able to regain control of the territories.
Those who have taken up arms to fight for Ukraine and who have survived this far don’t know what tomorrow will bring and when — and if — they can go back to their civilian lives.
And while Ukrainians have adapted to life at war, that first day remains seared in their memory, forever dividing life to “before” and “after.”
This photo gallery, curated by photo editor Tony Hicks, highlights some of the most compelling images by The Associated Press from that first day of the war.
