In 2024, the war in Ukraine entered its third year with no end in sight.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive had lost momentum, while Russia intensified its use of missiles, drones, and guided aerial bombs against cities, infrastructure, and military positions.
For millions of civilians, the war was no longer defined solely by the front lines, but by the constant presence of bombardments.
According to the UN, more than 2,000 civilians were killed and about 9,000 were injured in 2024 alone.
These figures, however, represent only confirmed cases, as many occupied areas remain inaccessible to independent investigators.
Estimates indicated that the conflict had already caused between 400,000 and 600,000 deaths, including Russian and Ukrainian military personnel and civilians.
As the war dragged on, Volodymyr Zelensky faced his greatest political challenges since the invasion began.
The presidential elections scheduled for 2024 were suspended due to martial law, a decision considered legal by the Ukrainian government and its allies, but used by critics to question its legitimacy.
In April 2024, the president signed a law lowering the minimum age for mandatory military conscription from 27 to 25. The measure was intended to replenish the country’s armed forces amid a shortage of troops in the war against Russia.
The measure sparked deep social division, significant political backlash, and outbreaks of popular unrest in Ukraine.
The Antonov An-225 Mriya (“Dream” in Ukrainian) was the largest cargo plane ever built and one of the greatest symbols of Ukraine’s aeronautical engineering.
On February 27, 2022, in the early days of the Russian invasion, the aircraft was destroyed during fighting at Antonov Airport in Hostomel, near Kyiv, while it was parked in a hangar.
The destruction of the Mriya quickly took on strong symbolic significance for Ukrainians. Beyond the loss of a unique aircraft, the attack came to represent an attempt to destroy one of the country’s greatest national symbols.
The Bucha massacre has become one of the most striking episodes of the war in Ukraine.
After Russian forces withdrew from the city, located on the outskirts of Kyiv, in late March 2022, journalists, international investigators, and forensic teams found hundreds of dead civilians in the streets, homes, and mass graves.
Many bodies showed signs of execution, with their hands tied or wounds consistent with point-blank gunshots. As of September 2022, Ukrainian authorities had recovered 422 civilian bodies in the city.
The conflict had ceased to be defined solely by territorial disputes and had become a permanent reality for millions of Ukrainians.
The destruction of cities, the displacement of entire families, daily life amid bombings, and uncertainty about the future had become part of everyday life in a country whose reconstruction was already shaping up to be a historic challenge, even before the war ended.
