These haunting photos what Ukrainian schools, streets and buildings looked like before and after the Russian invasion.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin launched his unjust invasion on February 24 and his troops have relentlessly shelled once-thriving cities in Ukraine, leaving a trail of destruction behind.
Heartbreaking images from Mariupol, Kharkiv and Kyiv show bombed-out schools, hospitals and government buildings – which once served as important sites for the town’s community.
Putin’s forces have been met with fierce Ukrainian resistance and they are refusing to surrender amid reports of low morale among Russian soldiers and increasing frustration at the pace of the war from the Kremlin boss.
It comes as Russian state TV has issued a chilling nuclear threat to the west if NATO puts peacekeepers into Ukraine, saying World War Three might be around the corner.
Moscow’s tightly-controlled state TV went into propaganda overdrive, warning alliance leaders meeting in Brussels today against deploying any troops into Ukraine, even if they were there to maintain peace.
These chilling threats come four weeks into Russia’s invasion, as Putin’s forces continue to bombard countless Ukrainian cities with air raids, but Kyiv’s resistance holds fast.
Moscow continues to cover up the extent of its losses in the war, as it has not updated its official death toll in weeks.
The ratcheting up of rhetoric saw blunt, undisguised warnings from the Kremlin’s mouthpieces on state TV, worrying that Poland would seek a NATO mandate for peacekeepers.
They also went on to claim Poland would seek a land grab, to snatch back Ukrainian territory that was once part of Poland, such as the city of Lviv.
This is the before and after of a hospital that was bombed in Mariupol ( Image: ArmedForcesUkr)
At the start of the invasion, Russian troops entered Kharkiv, which is about 12 miles south of the border from Russia.
People’s homes were destroyed by Russian bombs – including that of a Holocaust survivor.
In Mariupol, residents have refused to surrender and continue to face shelling, causing a humanitarian crisis as people run out of water and supplies.
Mariupol has seen some of the war’s most horrifying scenes, including the bombing of an art school housing hundreds of refugees. The word ‘children’ had been written in Russian on the outside.
The advance of Russian troops has been met with not just fierce resistance by Ukrainian soldiers, but the protests and condemnation of Ukrainian cities.
According to reports, Putin has threatened the residents of Mariupol with ‘ military tribunals ‘ after the rejected surrender.
Earlier this month, three people were killed in the Mariupol maternity hospital bombing by Russian forces, including a six-year-old child, as women gave birth in what has been described as the “ultimate genocide”.
Russian forces have been attempting to take over Kyiv and have been slowly advancing towards the centre.
On Sunday night, Retroville shopping mall, in the capital’s Podilskyi district, was hit.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said at least eight people had been killed in the strike, the Kyiv Independent reports.
The bodies of six people have been laid in front of the destroyed building, according to news agency AFP.
It comes as the Russian advance on Kyiv falters, with forces stalling northeast of the city.
The Kremlin attack from the direction of Hostomel – to the northwest – has been pushed back.
The majority of Russian troops attempting to encircle the capital are more than 25 kilometres from the centre of Kyiv.