Kyiv During the War. Life in the Capital of a Warring Country

Photo story by Nazar Furyk, editor Nadiia Dryzytska
January, 2025

Despite the challenges of war, Kyiv and its residents continue to live with remarkable resilience. Constant air raid alerts, missile and drone attacks, power outages, and grim news from the frontlines have not halted life — the people of Kyiv have adapted as much as one can to life during wartime. Government institutions operate, businesses are reopening, children and students attend classes as shelter capacity allows, and residents have the opportunity to spend evenings in cafes and theaters. All of this reflects an extraordinary will to live. At the same time, the cost of freedom is a constant reminder. Farewells to fallen heroes take place almost daily on the city’s main squares and in its cathedrals. Streets are being renamed to honor the fallen, and official, and spontaneous memorials can be found throughout the city. Through adaptation and memory, Kyiv navigates fragile reality. It is a city that endures not by ignoring the war but by living through it.

Ukrainian photographer Nazar Furyk, living in Kyiv, has been documenting the live in city and its people since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Defensive trenches were dug in the middle of the botanical garden, along the cherry blossom alley. Kyiv, May 2023.

The city celebrates the Day of Kyiv. Teenagers skate near the monument, hidden and protected from possible shelling. Kyiv, May 2022.

A couple looks inside a destroyed Russian infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) on Ukraine’s Independence Day. To mark the occasion, a parade of destroyed Russian military equipment was set up on Kyiv’s main street, Khreshchatyk. Kyiv, August 24, 2023.

A young couple in the center of Kyiv, March 2, 2023.

The funeral ceremony for a Ukrainian defender and former Member of Parliament Oleh Barna, who was killed on April 17 near Vuhledar, Donetsk region. Kyiv, 21 April, 2023.

People climbed onto the destroyed Russian military equipment that was displayed in an open-air exhibition in the square near St. Michael’s Cathedral in the center of Kyiv. June, 2023

A Ukrainian soldier walks with his partner in the botanical garden. Kyiv, April 7, 2023.

Volunteers clear debris in one of Kyiv’s kindergartens, which was destroyed by a Russian missile strike. Many nearby buildings were also seriously damaged. Kyiv, July 10, 2024.

A doctor providing medical care to a girl in a place that had been under shelling not long before. That morning, Kyiv was attacked. Russia launched missiles at various districts in the city, Kyiv, October. 2022.

The damage in one of Kyiv’s kindergartens, which was destroyed by a Russian missile strike. Many nearby buildings were also seriously damaged. Kyiv, July 10, 2024.

Rescuers clear debris after yet another Russian missile attack. Among the destroyed structures is part of an educational building, the Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design. Kyiv, March 25, 2024.

A girl with her belongings and her pet stands near a building hit by fragments of Iranian drones. On the night of May 30, the Russian army launched yet another attack on Kyiv—this was the 17th airstrike on the capital since the beginning of the month. The attack injured nine people, and a 33-year-old woman was killed. Kyiv, May 30, 2023.

A Ukrainian serviceman places a flag and a portrait of a fallen comrade at the memorial on Maidan Nezalezhnosti. On this day, Ukraine marks the Defenders Day. Kyiv, October 10, 2024.

The memorial service for four Ukrainian fighters at Maidan Nezhalezhnosti Square. They died on the territory of Russia during a combat mission on December 25, 2022. On 26 December, Russia’s Federal Security Service FSB announced they had killed four Ukrainians of a sabotage group in the Bryansk Oblast. Their bodies were returned to Ukraine on 22 February 2023. Kyiv, March 7, 2023.

People evacuate with their belongings through the debris after Missile Strike on Kyiv, December 20, 2024. On the morning, the Russian army launched an attack on Kyiv with five Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles. The attack caused fires in various districts of the capital, injuring at least 13 people and claiming one life. Kyiv, December 20, 2024.

The Aftermath of a Massive Missile Strike on Kyiv, December 20, 2024. On the morning, the Russian army launched an attack on Kyiv with five Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles. The attack caused fires in various districts of the capital, injuring at least 13 people and claiming one life. Kyiv, December 20, 2024.

Overall, in the past few months, from September 1, 2024, to today, Russia has carried out 18 attacks on Kyiv using missiles and kamikaze drones. Air raid sirens have sounded in the city more than 200 times. *The data is current as of the publication date, December 27, 2024.

Nazar Furyk, Ukranian artist and photographer. Nazar documents how the brutal and destructive effects of war are reflected in people and space. Nazar is participant of many individual and group International exhibitions. Currently lives and works in Kyiv.