The photo that proves Putin's war on Ukraine is more brutal than ever
Heavily damaged buildings stand in the Ukrainian boarder city of Vovchansk (Picture: Getty)
The scene in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Vovchansk is ghastly. Two women lay face down on the side of a road in the immediate aftermath of a strike on civilians.
Over the course of Russia’s bloodshed in Ukraine, photographs have captured too many scenes of utter devastation – buildings reduced to ashes and streets littered with debris.
Taken by Kostiantyn Liberov, this one showed the escalating violence unfolding in the region of Kharkiv.
The photographer risked his life to show a city ‘filled with death’ as Russian troops make some of their biggest territorial gains in 18 months.
Two women killed in an airstrike on the city of Vovchansk (Picture: Getty)
Mr Liberov said about the horror he captured in Vovchansk: ‘The photos show the bodies of two civilian women. Next to them are two small specific craters.
‘For those who understand, it is immediately clear that this is not a random mine or artillery strike.
‘With a 90% probability, these are targeted drops from a drone. The women are wearing bright clothing. It is impossible to mistake them for military personnel even from a height.’
Vovchansk, located a few miles from the border with Russia, was occupied on the first day of the war in 2022, but Ukrainian forces retook it in September that same year as part of a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv Region.
Soldiers of the assault brigade defend the frontline a few miles from the border with Russia (Picture: Getty)
A police officer helps an elder man to carry out his belongings as he is being evacuated from a village nearby war-torn Vovchansk (Picture: Getty)
On May 10, Russia launched another offensive near the city, entering it two days later.
Ukrainian forces currently control about 60% of it and are fighting home-to-home to fend off Russian attacks, but half of Vovchansk has been destroyed.
Capturing the territory would be Russia’s most significant gain since launching the assault. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, lies 70 km away.
Ukraine has evacuated more than 10,500 civilians from the region in the last two weeks amid the renewed Russian onslaught.
Children are being evacuated from Vovchansk (Picture: Getty)
An elderly woman weeps as she is being evacuation from her home (Picture: Getty)
Governor Oleh Syniehubov said around 100 people remain in Vovchansk where they had been effectively ‘taken hostage’ by Russian troops and could not leave.
Aerial photographs taken by Mr Liberov show smoke filling the sky from multiple locations in the city after bombardments.
He said these pictures ‘could have cost me my life’, adding: ‘The car is riddled with shrapnel from a mortar, and then there was an hour during which my hands are still shaking.
‘We were followed and pursued for a long time by an enemy FPV drone. The city is filled with death.
‘Civilian bodies are on the streets and under the rubble. Despite this, volunteers and police continue, under shelling and while risking their lives, to evacuate those who can still be saved.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Get your need-to-know latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more by signing up to Metro's News Updates newsletter