Sad photos reveal what world is losing as Ukraine is attacked

Author: Editors Desk Source: News Corp Australia Network:

March 20, 2022 at 06:33

Eerie and horrific photos show once bustling and beautiful cities and towns in Ukraine that have been almost wiped off the map during the Russian invasion.

They are the images so devastating for the world to see; once bustling and beautiful cities and towns in Ukraine have been almost wiped off the map at the hands of the Russian invasion.

Important historical and architectural heritage is being erased. Classrooms, churches, hospitals, towering apartment blocks, gone.

The sheer scale of the devastation, and what the Ukrainian people have lost, is hard to comprehend.

Here are some of the worst hit areas as the war rages on.

Volnovakha

The city of Volnovakha has been almost totally destroyed and most of its 21,000 population has fled, according to an official.

“Volnovakha with its infrastructure as such no longer exists,” the governor of the Donetsk region Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television channel Direct.

Hospitals, churches and building have been ruined, however he said many people had managed to escape before the attack.

Russian-backed separatists have claimed to have captured Volnovakha.

A resident rides a bike past a building destroyed during the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region. Picture: Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko

Maxar satellite images show a church and residential apartment buildings in Volnovakha, Ukraine on July 18, 2021 (top) and damage to the church and residential apartment buildings on March 14, 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Picture: Maxar Technologies/AFP — Maxar satellite images show a church and residential apartment buildings in Volnovakha,
Ukraine on July 18, 2021 (top) and damage to the church and residential apartment buildings on March 14, 2022
after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Picture: Maxar Technologies/AFP

A damaged hospital in Volnovakha. Picture: Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Kharkiv

The vibrant city of nearly 1.5 million, which is full of historical monuments, is also being destroyed by Russia. Schools, apartments, malls and much-loved pubs have been attacked, and at least 500 civilians have been killed, The New York Times reported.

“Kharkiv is not yet completely destroyed, but we hear constant shelling, constant bombing,” said Natalka Zubar, a 57-year-old IT professional told the Times. “It’s a place of constant airborne terror.”

The city’s historical and architectural heritage is being targeted in a bid to demoralise locals.

Black smoke rises into the sky from the Barabashovo market – one of the largest markets in the eastern Europe, located in Kharkiv Picture: Sergey Bobok/AFP

Destruction following a shelling in Ukraine's second-biggest city of Kharkiv. Picture: Sergey Bobok/AFP

A Ukrainian man look on as thick black smoke rises into the sky behind him from the Barabashovo market in Kharkiv. Picture: Sergey Bobok/AFP

Fires and damage in a residential area in Kharkiv. Picture: Maxar Technologies/AFP

The burnt out remains of a building destroyed by Russian army shelling in Kharkiv. Picture: Sergey Bobok/AFP

Mariupol

The scene of mass devastation, approximately 80 per cent of homes in Mariupol have reportedly been damaged or destroyed.

Hundreds are feared trapped under the wreckage of the Mariupol Drama Theatre, which was bombed.

Meanwhile, approximately 400,000 people have been trapped in the port city for more than two weeks, according to local authorities.

The Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama in Mariupol was destroyed by an air strike amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Picture: Reuters

The theatre before. Picture: Mariupol City Council

Zhytomyr

Home to some 260,000 people and located west of Kyiv, the Zhytomyr region has been hard hit by Russian shelling and missiles.

The shelling killed at least three people and injured nearly 20 according to residents and local authorities, destroyed a market and at least 10 houses.

A Ukrainian man stands in the rubble in Zhytomyr, following a Russian bombing the day before. Picture: Emmanuel Duparcq/AFP

Kyiv and surrounds

While it’s not being wiped off the map, Ukraine’s capital city has taken a battering.

An estimated half of Kyiv's population has fled to other parts of the country, or abroad, since Russia invaded.

A man looks through his belongings in his destroyed apartment at a residential apartment complex that was heavily damaged by a Russian attack in Kyiv. Picture: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

A Ukrainian serviceman exits a damaged building after shelling in Kyiv. Picture: Aris Messinis/AFP

A man holds a child as he flees the city of Irpin, west of Kyiv. Picture: Aris Messinis/AFP

A woman looks on as she flees the city of Irpin, west of Kyiv., Picture: Aris Messinis/AFP

Residents volunteered to remove the rubble from the school which got damaged by rocket debris in Kyiv. Picture: Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images

Lviv

Lviv is the largest city in western Ukraine and a popular tourist destination known for its picturesque views.

Located 70 kilometres from the border with EU member Poland, the city had largely been spared since Russian forces invaded on February 24. However, this week Russian cruise missiles devastated a military base west of Lviv, killing 35 people and wounding more than 130.