The calm that never came. A new wave of attacks instead of a ceasefire
Published: May 7, 2025 Reading time: 1 minute Share: Share an articleInstead of long-awaited peace, the start of ceasefire negotiations brought Ukraine a new wave of deadly attacks. In the first 24 days of April alone, Russian missile and drone strikes killed or injured 848 civilians – 46% more than during the same period last year, according to the UN. Due to intense fighting, 40,000 people were forced to flee frontline areas in the Kherson, Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Sumy regions. We visited the cities shattered by strikes – Sumy, Kyiv, and Kharkiv – to document the devastating consequences of war and the assistance we provide to those affected.
Police officers and members of the State Emergency Service at a site where missiles struck a residential area in Kyiv. Twelve people were killed and about 90 more were wounded in the capital during an overnight missile attack. (© Alberto Lores)
Tetiana, 24, stands in front of her building after surviving a missile strike on her residential area. She had to crawl out of the rubble of her home after three missiles hit the neighbourhood. (© Alberto Lores)
Carrying their baby, a couple enters a damaged building in Kyiv. (© Alberto Lores)
This is Oleksander’s flat. During the air alarm, he sheltered with his wife, two children, and their dogs in the corridor. Three rockets struck the neighbourhood, damaging their building, but the entire family survived. (© Alberto Lores)
A woman carries portraits of Taras Shevchenko and other Ukrainian cultural figures from a damaged building. (© Alberto Lores)
At the site of the Palm Sunday attack in central Sumy, Ukrainian emergency workers clear rubble left by two Russian ballistic missile strikes that killed 36 and wounded more than 100. (© Alberto Lores)
Locals lay flowers at an improvised altar to honour the victims of a Russian missile attack. © (© Alberto Lores)
An older woman in shock and a father playing with his child wait for assistance at a centre set up by the city administration to support victims of the Palm Sunday attack. (© Alberto Lores)
Elina, 8, lies in an intensive care bed alongside her father after surgery to remove a piece of shrapnel from her lungs. Despite her favourable prognosis, she requires oxygen and time to recover from the wounds sustained during the Russian rocket attack. (© Alberto Lores)
Kirill, 13, was travelling with his mother in a trolleybus when rockets struck nearby. After the attack, the young wrestler managed to evacuate seven people from the burning vehicle. (© Alberto Lores)
A girl rides a scooter against the backdrop of buildings damaged by shelling in Kharkiv. (© Alberto Lores)
The Kharkiv Polyclinic No. 21 staff show the windows that were blown out due to the strike. This facility serves more than 19,000 residents. (© Alberto Lores)
Representatives of People in Need survey damaged windows, which will soon be replaced thanks to the support of the Czech people and a private donor from the Czech Republic. Similar work will be done in two other medical institutions in Kharkiv affected by the attack. (© Alberto Lores)
