Author: John Hanno

NBC News

‘It was killing me’: Ukrainian mother says her son was forcibly deported to Russia

Yuliya Talmazan – April 24, 2022

Natalia Demish escaped the horrors of besieged Mariupol last month.

But while she is now in relative safety in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, she was cut off from her 21-year-old son, Yuri, by the ongoing fighting when she fled.

Demish, 40, says Yuri has now been forcibly deported to Russia, and she worries that he will be forced to fight against his own country.

Hers is just one story, but it adds to Kyiv’s accusations that while Russia has been assaulting Ukraine from the air and the ground, it has also been forcibly deporting large numbers of the country’s civilians. If true, these accusations could constitute a war crime under international law.

Kyiv accuses Russia of blocking efforts to send humanitarian aid to Mariupol, or buses to evacuate civilians to Ukrainian-controlled territory. The city has been under siege for nearly two months, and thousands have been killed, according to local officials. Remaining residents have been left with virtually no food, water or electricity.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday that more than 140,000 Mariupol residents had been evacuated through humanitarian corridors — temporary demilitarized zones — in the past month.

Demish, an accountant before the war, said she had spent 34 days hiding in a basement in Mariupol with her husband, his two daughters and his parents. After resorting to melting snow to make drinking water, they finally had had enough and took their chance to escape to the central city of Zaporizhzhia in a convoy of cars on March 29.

But Yuri, who was living with her former-husband in a neighborhood badly damaged by shelling, was cut off from her at the time, with no phone or internet connection. So Demish left without him, believing she had no other choice if she was to survive, and no way to reach her son.

Later that day, she finally heard from Yuri.

He said he and his father had walked to the city of Novoazovsk, some 25 miles east, after their building was fired on and Russian troops told them they had to head there if they wanted to stay alive, according to Demish. Novoazovsk has been under the control of Russian-backed separatists, who have been fighting Ukrainian forces in the country’s east since 2014.

After that, Demish had no communication with her son, an engineering student, for days. Then on April 4, Yuri sent her a message (seen by NBC News) via the Viber messaging app, which is widely used in Ukraine, in which he said: “We are forcibly going to Russia today.”

When she finally reached her son on the phone the same day, Demish said, he told her that they were put on a train and told they would be taken to Russia, but were not given the final destination.

Demish said she told him to run away and jump from the train.

“But he said, Mom, all the windows are shut. It’s not an option,” Yuri said.

“Not knowing where my son was, it was killing me,” Demish, speaking in Russian, told NBC News in a phone call from the city of Dnipro, in central Ukraine, where she moved after escaping to Zaporizhia.

After going silent again for more than a week, Yuri finally called his mother on April 15 to say that after three days on the train, they made it to the village of Semyonovka in Russia’s Nizhegorodsky Oblast or district, some 675 miles northeast of Mariupol.

He told her that he and other evacuees were being lodged in wooden houses surrounded by a forest, and that Russian volunteers were helping them by providing food and medicine.

But he said his phone had been searched and he was questioned about his family in Ukraine, and about any friends in the Ukrainian army.

They were allowed to move around the region, Yuri told his mother, but not outside it because they had been processed as refugees. Her son has his travel papers with him, and Demish said she was desperately looking for any way to get him out of Russia, potentially through neighboring countries like Georgia or Turkey.

Demish said that the last contact she had with Yuri was on Monday, when he told her on the phone that he was doing OK, but that they had been shown propaganda videos alleging that Ukraine as a nation was an “artificial concept” — a line that has been touted by Russian President Vladimir Putin for years and was used as one of the pretexts for Russia invading Ukraine in February.

“He said they told them that Ukraine never existed as a country, and that it’s part of Russia,” Demish said. “When he objected and said history can’t be rewritten, he said two men approached him and he was questioned for two hours.”

They also questioned why he wrote to his mom that he was forcibly sent to Russia, Demish said. He said he was never asked if he wanted to go to Ukraine instead, she added. “He was told that he would be recruited into the army in Ukraine if he did, and he would become cannon fodder, but he was now in Russia, a great country.”

NBC News could not independently verify what happened with Demish’s son in Russia. 

Last month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said reports that Ukrainian citizens had been forcibly taken from Mariupol to Russia were not true, though he said that the Russian military does help civilians leave the city.

Earlier this month, Michael Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said a fact-finding mission found evidence of forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians to Russia.

Carpenter said he could not confirm numbers or details of what’s happening with these deportees in Russia, but that it was “something that is going to require thorough investigation and follow-up because it’s just beyond the pale of not just civilized behavior, but beyond the pale of all behavior that we would consider normal.”

NBC News reached out to Russia’s Defense Ministry about forcible deportations to Russia from Ukraine, but received no response.

As much as Demish resents her son’s plight, she said she was also aware that he could have died in Mariupol had he stayed. “In the city, there is no heat, electricity or water. All stores are looted. It’s impossible to survive there,” she said. “I think people were ready to go anywhere just to be warm and have food.”

Her biggest concern is that her son could be forced to fight against his own country.

“I am worried that they will take our Ukrainian men, put Russian uniforms on them, get them into a bus and take them to Ukraine,” she said. “I am afraid there will be brainwashing and they will force them to take up arms and they will say, if you want to free up the city, go fight.”

But she hopes to get Yuri out of Russia soon and see him again, and that they can all return to Mariupol one day.

“I really want to come back,” she said, with sadness in her voice. “But only after it’s liberated. I don’t want to live under the Russian flag.”

NBC Newss

‘They were trying to escape’: Ukrainian man says he saw Russian forces shooting civilians

Mo Abbas, Matt Bradley and Yelyzaveta Kovtun – April 24, 2022

HAVRONSHCHYNA, Ukraine — Driving past nondescript fields in the countryside near Kyiv, it’s easy to miss a small family car abandoned by the side of the road.

But the vehicle — riddled with bullet holes, strewn with baby clothes and spattered with human remains — is a microcosm of the horror that has befallen Ukraine.

It’s also an example of the heroism that has allowed it to endure.

“It was chaos. I couldn’t feel anything. I was numb. Some people were trying to hide in my house. I was trying to pick up wounded people,” said Yuriy Patsan, 42, a mechanic, in describing the incident on March 15 that ended with the car being stranded outside his house on the edge of this small village of about 1,000 residents around 30 miles west of the capital, Kyiv.

The vehicle is now one more piece of a giant puzzle for investigators gathering evidence of alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces, a charge they deny. Moscow has also repeatedly denied that it is targeting Ukrainian civilians.

Patsan said Russian troops who had been occupying Havronshchyna had agreed to allow civilians to leave in a convoy.

He said he and his wife had packed their car and were ready to join the end of the column of vehicles as it passed by.

“They were trying to escape. Men, women and children. And the Russian vehicles came up behind them and started to shoot,” he said.

He added that none of the vehicles were driving erratically and he had no idea why the Russians opened fire.

“People were running away, and they were being shot at. I saw an old man get shot. I fled to my house. Then slowly I came back and saw the bodies,” Patsan said.

He added that when he approached the Volkswagen hatchback outside his home, he could see it had a piece of white cloth attached to it to mark it as a civilian vehicle.

He could also see a woman bent over a toddler trying to protect it in the backseat, and an older woman and a teenager in the car, he said. They were all dead.

A male driver had lost an eye, fingers and a lot of blood and was barely alive, he said, adding that he got him out of the car and took him into his home.

As Russian patrols, guns cocked, scoured the area near his house, Patsan said he waited for opportunities to drag the bodies from the car and bury them in a shallow grave in his yard.

He made a makeshift cross, he said.“It’s tradition. Everybody deserves respect,” he added.

Over the next two weeks Patsan said he and his wife cared for the man, Alexander, as best he could, rallying the surrounding village for help. He identified the man only by his first name out of concern for his privacy and safety.

Other villagers brought what medicines and food they had, and Patsan said he called medics over the phone for advice on how to treat his patient.

“I treated him like a brother. Hugging him all the time, giving support,” he said.

Alexander did not speak much about the incident, Patsan said. But he said he came to understand that the teen in the car was Alexander’s son, and the mother and child were not related to him.

The older woman was not related to anyone else in the car and the toddler was too disfigured to know its gender, he added.

NBC News saw that the vehicle was still outside Patsan’s house on April 14, just over a month after the attack occurred. A baby bottle and baby shoes were still in the car, as well as a notebook with a shopping list for staples like milk, eggs and butter.

Police had stuck numbers next to the bullet holes on the car as part of their investigation and the bodies had been moved from the shallow grave.

Alexander had been taken to a hospital and Patsan said he was getting better.

“God was maybe guiding me. It was a miracle he survived,” Patsan said.

There are still faint blood stains on the carpet and on the pillow where he treated Alexander.

Patsan said he was fine but still needed time to process what had happened. No matter how much he washes or airs out his house, he still picks up the scent of gunfire and gore, he said.

“I can still smell it. All the time. I smell it,” he said, before picking up and stroking a kitten that was the only occupant of the ill-fated car that had emerged unscathed and which he had since adopted.

The car outside his house is just one of many found in the suburbs around Kyiv after Russian forces withdrew this month.

A short drive away are what locals have dubbed “car cemeteries,” where piles of twisted and shot up vehicles — both civilian and military — have been collected.

Each civilian car appears to have a tragic story. Some contain school books and children’s clothes. Others walkers, medicines and bedpans. One contained a dead pet cat, another a human jawbone.

Most had white flags attached to them.

Reuters

‘I want to see the sun’ begs child in Mariupol steel works

April 23, 2022

(Reuters) – Women and children sheltering in a giant steel works in Mariupol that is the last holdout of Ukrainian defenders of the southern port city, said in a video released on Saturday they are desperate to get out and are running out of food.

The video was released by the Azov battalion, which was set up by pro-Ukrainian nationalists in 2014, later incorporated as a regiment in Ukraine’s national guard and has played a prominent role in the defence of Mariupol.

Reuters could not independently verify where or when the video was shot. Somebody speaking in the video mentions that the date is April 21.

The video shows soldiers bringing food for civilians who the battalion says are sheltering in the Azovstal complex.

A woman holding a toddler said people in the plant were running out of food: “We really want to go home,” she said.

Russian forces were hitting the Azovstal complex with air strikes and trying to storm it, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Saturday, although Moscow had said this week that it would blockade the plant and not attempt to take it. More than 1,000 civilians are in the plant along with troops defending it, according to Ukrainian authorities.

One unnamed boy in the video said he was desperate to get out after being in the plant for two months.

“I want to see the sun because in here it’s dim, not like outside. When our houses are rebuilt we can live in peace. Let Ukraine win because Ukraine is our native home,” he said.

The video showed women wearing uniforms with the Azovstal design, which Reuters verified, matched in file images.

One woman said she had been sheltering in the steel works since Feb. 27, just days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

“We are relatives of the workers. But this seemed to be the safest place at the time we came here, this was when our house came under fire and became uninhabitable,” she said.

Russian forces have besieged and bombarded Mariupol since the early days of the war, leaving a city that is usually home to more than 400,000 people in ruins. A new attempt to evacuate civilians failed on Saturday, an aide to Mariupol’s mayor said.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Frances Kerry)

The Telegraph

Ukraine morning briefing: Five developments as Russian forces attempt to storm Mariupol steel plant

Our Foreign Staff – April 23, 2022

Russian forces tried to storm a steel plant sheltering soldiers and civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Saturday.

The attack on Mariupol, the biggest battle of the conflict, has raged for weeks. Capturing the city is seen as vital to Russia’s attempts to link the eastern Donbas region with Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow seized in 2014.

1. Russia resumes assault on Mariupol steel works

Russia resumed its assault on the last defenders in a giant steel works in Mariupol, a Ukrainian official said, days after Moscow declared victory in the southern port city and said its forces did not need to take the factory.

Meanwhile, a new attempt to evacuate Ukrainian civilians from war-torn Mariupol failed, an aide to the city’s mayor said, blaming Russian forces. The official said 200 residents of Mariupol had gathered to be evacuated but the Russian military told them to disperse and warned of possible shelling.

2. Mother and baby among eight killed in Odesa attack

A mother and her baby daughter have been identified as two of the people killed by Russian missiles which hit a residential building in Odesa on Saturday.

Valeria Glodan and three-month old Kira were among eight people who died when Russian rockets hit buildings in the Black Sea Port city.

3. Anthony Blinken and Lloyd Austin to visit Kyiv

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Kyiv on Sunday, the highest American delegation since the beginning of the war.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who announced the visit, also issued a new call for a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “to end the war”.

4. Zelensky criticises UN Secretary’s Russia visit as unjust

Volodymyr Zelensky criticised a decision by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to visit Moscow on Tuesday, instead of travelling first to Kyiv.

Mr Guterres will meet Mr Zelensky on Thursday, but the Ukrainian leader said there is “no justice and no logic” in his visiting Russia first.

4. A third of Russian gas to EU will be lost, says Ukraine’s Naftogaz

A third of Russian gas exported to the European Union could be affected because of the war, said the head of Ukraine’s state gas company Naftogaz.

“We estimate a third of the gas exported from Russia to the European Union via Ukraine will be lost if the [Russian] forces of occupation don’t stop disrupting the working of the stations in the recently occupied territories,” Yuriy Vitrenko wrote on Twitter.

5. Zelensky renews call for talks with Putin

President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a new call Saturday for a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “to end the war.”

“I think that whoever started this war will be able to end it,” Mr Zelensky said, adding he was “not afraid” to meet the Russian leader, who attended an Orthodox Easter service in Moscow.

But he again stressed that Kyiv would abandon talks with Moscow if its troops in Mariupol were killed.

Defense News – Global Security army industry

United Kingdom to provide AS90 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine

April 24, 2022

According to information published by the website “Express“ on April 24, 2022, the United Kingdom will send AS90 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzers and 45,000 artillery ammunition to Ukraine. The howitzers will come from artillery units of the British army.

British army AS90 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzer. (Picture source Army Recognition)

Citing information from the “Express” website, the British AS90 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzers will be sent next week to Poland. The Ukrainian soldiers will be trained in Poland for the use and maintenance before being deployed to Ukraine for combat operations.

Last week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the United Kingdom will deliver more artillery weapons to Ukraine as the conflict with Russia moves into a new phase. The United Kingdom is one of the countries in Europe which has provided great military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. On April 8, 2022, the UK approved a new military air to Ukraine of around $120 million including anti-tank missiles, loitering munitions, air defense missiles, and additional non-lethal military equipment including ballistic helmets, body armor, and night vision goggles.

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense has launched a program called Mobile Fires Platform with the goal to acquire a new mobile artillery system that will replace the old AS90 that entered in service with the British army in the early 1990s.

Initially, the British Army operated 179 AS90 artillery systems, and currently, according to the Military Balance 2021, only 89 AS90 howitzers are used by the British army. The artillery howitzer is currently scheduled to be retired in 2030. The donation of AS 90s to Ukraine could accelerate the acquisition of a new artillery system by the British army.

The AS90 nicknamed Braveheart is a 155mm tracked self-propelled howitzer manufactured by the British company BAE Systems. The AS90 project was completed in March 1985, and the first prototype was shown at the British Army Equipment Exhibition in June 1986.

The design of AS90 is based on a tracked armored chassis with the driver seated at the front left part of the hull with the power pack to his right, and the turret at the rear. The howitzer has a crew of five including a driver, commander, gunner, and two loaders. The chassis of AS90 is of all-welded steel armor construction with a maximum thickness of 17 mm. The armor of the hull and turret provide protection against the firing of small arms and artillery shell splinters.

The AS90 is armed with a 155mm, 39 or 52-caliber gun barrel and is equipped with an automatic loading system enabling the gun to fire with a burst rate of three rounds in fewer than ten seconds, an intense rate of six rounds a minute for three minutes and a sustained rate of two rounds a minute. A total of 48 rounds are carried inside the vehicle. It can fire all standard NATO 155 mm ammunition with a maximum firing range of 24.7 km with standard HE-FRAG (High Explosive Fragmentation) projectiles and 32 km with a rocket-assisted projectiles.

The AS90 is powered by a Cummins VTA-903T-660 V-8 diesel engine developing 660 hp. at 2,800 rpm coupled to a Renk LSG 2000 fully automatic transmission with 4 forward and 2 reverse gears. It can run at a maximum road speed of 55 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 370 km at 45 km/h.

Defense News – Global Security army industry

Spain has shipped armored vehicles – trucks – ammunition to Ukraine

April 23, 2022

During a visit to Kyiv on April 21, 2022, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that Spain has shipped 200 tons of military equipment to Ukraine including 30 military trucks, 20 4×4 armored vehicles, and ammunition.

Spanish army truck at a military parade. (Picture source Wikimedia)

The Spanish navy ship loaded with the military vehicles and ammunition departed a port in Spain on Thursday, April 21, 2022, bound for Poland, from where the cargo will be transported to Ukraine, said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

On March 2, 2022, Spain announced the supply of offensive military equipment to Ukraine. All the European countries continue to support Ukraine with military equipment and weapons to counter the invasion of the country by the Russian army.

On April 13, 2022, the European Union (EU) has adopted two assistance measures under the European Peace Facility (EPF) that will allow the EU to further support the capabilities and resilience of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country, and protect the civilian population against the Russian forces deployed in Ukraine.

The EU has allocated a total of €1.5 billion to support EU Member States’ supplies of military equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The agreed measures will finance both the provision of equipment and supplies to the Ukrainian Armed Forces by the EU Member States, including personal protective equipment, first aid kits and fuel, as well as military equipment designed to deliver lethal force for defensive purposes. The duration of the assistance measures is also extended by 24 months.

Defense News – Global Security army industry

Canada delivers M777 155mm towed howitzers to Ukraine

April 23, 2022

According to a statement published by the Canadian Ministry of Defense on April 22, 2022, Canada provides an undisclosed number of M777 towed howitzers and associated ammunition to the armed forces of Ukraine. While this equipment comes from the inventory of the Canadian Armed Forces, the capability will be replenished.

Members of the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (1 RCHA) hold an M777 Howitzer shooting range practice during a trial for the Canadian Army Trial and Evaluation Unit, Gagetown (CATEU) at Canadian Forces Base Shilo, Manitoba on February 8, 2022. (Picture source  Canada MoD)

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Canada has already delivered Carl Gustaf anti-tank weapons, body armor, helmets, gas masks, night vision gears, 4,500 M72 LAW light anti-tank weapons, and 7,500 hand grenades.

At the same time, Finally, Canada is also in the process of finalizing contracts for a number of armored vehicles, which will be sent to Ukraine as soon as possible, and a service contract for the maintenance and repair of specialized drones cameras that Canada has already supplied to Ukraine.

According to the Military Balance 2021, the Canadian army has a total of 37 M777 towed howitzers. In June 2008, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Canada of M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers as well as associated equipment and services. The Government of Canada had requested a possible sale of 37 M777 155mm Light-Weight Towed Howitzers, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, maintenance, personnel training and training equipment.

The first M777 towed howitzers entered into service with the Canadian army in December 2005 and were delivered to the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. The howitzer was deployed by the Canadian army during combat operations in Afghanistan. The second batch of M777 howitzers was ordered by Canada in May 2008.

The M777 is a 155mm caliber lightweight towed howitzer that is manufactured by the company BAE Systems. It is in service with Australia, Canada, India, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and the United States. It made its combat debut in the War in Afghanistan.

The M777 has a weight of 4,200 kg and is towed by a military truck, thanks to its lightweight, it can easily be transported by helicopter sling-load or military transporter aircraft such as the C-130.

The M777 is operated by a team of five soldiers. The howitzer is used to provide direct support to combat troops through offensive and defensive fires with conventional and precision-guided projectiles. It can also employ illuminating and smoke projectiles. It has a maximum firing range of 24.7 km with standard ammunition and 30 km with rocket-assisted rounds. It can also fire Bofors XM982 Excalibur GPS / Inertial Navigation-guided extended-range at a maximum range of 40 km.

Yahoo! News

Photojournalist describes what Russia left behind in Bucha: ‘It’s apocalyptic’

Caitlin Dickson, Sam Matthews and Yahoo Photo Staff – April 22, 2022

Photojournalist Carol Guzy has witnessed her fair share of death and destruction over the past four decades. The four-time Pulitzer Prize winner has documented the humanitarian toll of some of the world’s most horrific wars and natural disasters, from Haiti to Kosovo.

But from the beginning, there was something different about the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. For one thing, Guzy told Yahoo News, like many Ukrainians, she never expected that Russia would actually invade its neighbor this time around.

For the “first time in 40 years, I’ve had this unbelievable feeling of dread that I couldn’t shake, and I still have it,” Guzy said. “I’m not sure if the dread is like a warning to me [for] my personal safety or it’s just been this overwhelming evil that’s happening.”

Rather than head for the frontlines, Guzy decided she would cover the war from the fringes, focusing primarily on stories about refugees. But as she watched the civilian casualties mount, she found staying on the sidelines in this conflict more difficult than she had expected.

“This is such a weird war. It’s like there’s no place that’s really safe for anyone,” Guzy said, referring to the blatant attacks on civilian sites that have come to define Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As of Monday, 4,890 civilian casualties had been recorded in Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion on Feb. 24, according to the United Nations, with 2,072 killed and 2,818 injured — though the actual figures are likely much higher.

“It’s one thing — soldiers on a battlefield having a war,” said Guzy. “These are civilians that are getting targeted. I’m sorry; that’s just over the line.”

The extent to which Russia has crossed that line became disturbingly clearearlier this month when Ukrainian forces liberated the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha and Irpin. Guzy was among the journalists who traveled to Bucha to document the horror left behind when Russian troops retreated.

“It was quite a scene,” Guzy said. “It was just horrendous. Its apocalyptic, you know; it’s like you’re walking in a movie set.”

Footage from that scene, showing corpses scattered in the streets, along with reports that the bodies of roughly 300 local residents had been found buried in mass graves, quickly spread, prompting widespread condemnation and calls for investigations of possible war crimes. Many of the dead had reportedly been bound and shot in the back of the head, and survivors have described instances of rape and torture by Russian soldiers.

During a visit to Bucha last week, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, which began investigating possible Russian war crimes in March, called Ukraine a “crime scene.”

Guzy said Bucha has remained largely open to journalists and photographers as police and war crimes prosecutors wade through the devastation to collect evidence of alleged Russian atrocities.

“I think most people here know how important this is for history to be documented,” she said.

Such documentation has already proven critical in the face of the Russian government’s attempts to rewrite history. The Russian Defense Ministry has denied responsibility for any violence against the residents of Bucha during its occupation of the city, suggesting that footage circulated after the departure of Russian troops was staged.

“It’s mind-boggling,” Guzy said, calling the statements put out by the Russian government “blatant lies.”

“That’s why people … want us to photograph it because, you know, the photograph is pretty hard evidence of a lot of things over and over and over again,” she added.

For Guzy, documenting the truth of what happened in places like Bucha and Irpin is about more than just taking photographs of dead bodies — though that’s a big part of it. It’s also about shining a light on the lives that have been lost to war by documenting the things — and people — they’ve left behind.

“They’re not just bodies. They had a life; they had family,” she said. “It’s not just 300 dead bodies in a mass grave. It’s … all these lives and hopes and dreams that were, you know, snuffed out.”

Though the power of these horrific images is undeniable, Guzy, who spent the bulk of her career as a staff photographer, first at the Miami Herald and then the Washington Post, knows editors face a tough choice when deciding whether or how to publish them.

“The problem as a photographer is trying to document this tastefully,” she said. “There’s a lot of pictures I don’t even transmit because they are too gruesome.” Still, Guzy said, you “can’t sugarcoat reality.”

“This is the reality of the situation here,” she said. “War’s ugly. It’s ugly, and harsh, and awful, and horrible and terrible.”

As difficult as it may be for someone to look at these images, she added, “It’s worse to be here. It’s worse for these people.”

Witnessing such horrors firsthand is traumatic, even for the most experienced photojournalist, and Guzy’s years in the field have taught her not to suppress her emotions.

“We’re not walking cameras, you know. We’re not robots,” she said.

But it’s not the sight of dead bodies that gets to her, Guzy clarified, her voice quavering. “It’s the suffering of the people that are left behind that really… brings me to my knees.”

Guzy choked back tears as she described the warmth and kindness she’s received from people in Ukraine, like the “babushkas” who’ve welcomed her into what is left of their damaged homes and offered her tea or a hug.

“It makes it harder to see what they’re going through because everyone here has been so kind, and they’re such good people,” she said. “I wish Putin would know the people that he’s doing this to.”

Ultimately, the stories that are the most emotional for Guzy are the ones that she hopes can offer people hope amid all the pain and suffering.

“I still look for hope. Look for the angels. Look for the people who are here doing the good work and trying to save these people,” she said. “Or the woman who hands me the little vial of tea from her totally destroyed, bombed-out building because she wants to give the stranger a gift. That’s what keeps me sane.”

More of Guzy’s documentation of the horrors found in Bucha and Irpin

See more photo stories from the crisis in Ukraine on Yahoo News >>>

Good Morning America

The battle for Donbas: Why the weapons the US is rushing to Ukraine are so critical

Matt Seyler – April 22, 2022

As Russia’s military gears up for what it hopes will be a decisive victory over Ukraine in the eastern part of the country, the U.S. is rushing to send weapons and equipment needed to hold off the larger invading force in the rural and open Donbas terrain — a far different battlefield from the urban fighting where Ukrainian forces held an advantage.

What could make all the difference now is the new $800 million military aid package for Ukraine President Joe Biden announced Thursday.

It’s a race against time — maybe a matter of days or weeks.

“Now they’ve launched and refocused their campaign to seize new territory in eastern Ukraine, and we’re in a critical window now of time where they’re going to set the stage for the next phase of this war,” Biden said of the Russian offensive, which U.S. military officials believe is just getting started.

“We know that time is not our friend,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Tuesday.

Russia gains by being closer to its border

With Ukrainian forces focused in the east, Russia intends to push down from the north, near the city of Izium, and up from the south, surrounding the Ukrainian defenders to “finish them or force them to surrender,” a senior U.S. official said Thursday.

If Russia takes the beleaguered city of Mariupol in the south, it could free up thousands of troops to join the push north to trap Ukraine forces, according to the official.

Although Russia and Ukraine have been battling over Donbas for eight years, Russia’s concentrated flow of troops and weapons into the region could bring “a whole different level of fighting,” Kirby said Tuesday.

There are now 85 battalion tactical groups (BTGs), Russia’s main fighting units, inside Ukraine, according to the official. Each BTG is made up of roughly 800-1,000 troops. About 10 of them crossed into the country this week, most heading to the Donbas region.

Kirby said the U.S. is focused on sending Ukraine weapons and systems that are not only useful for the rural eastern terrain, but that the Ukrainians can use in the fight without much training.

Russia, meanwhile, is trying not to repeat blunders it committed in northern Ukraine, and will enjoy certain geographic advantages in Donbas.

Early on, Russian invaders in the north were beset by supply problems, running out of food for troops and fuel for vehicles, failing to achieve any major victories. Pentagon officials believe they did not expect such strong resistance from Ukrainians so didn’t adequately prepare for a prolonged fight.

But since withdrawing its troops in the north to focus on Donbas, Russia has been putting equipment and support forces in place ahead of its combat troops to favorably condition the battlefield.

“We believe that they are trying to learn from past mistakes, and you can see that in just the way they are conducting these shaping operations,” Kirby told reporters Monday. “They’re conducting themselves in ways that we didn’t see around Kyiv, for instance.”

Another advantage for Russia is that its logistics will be simplified by fighting closer to its own border, while Ukraine will now face the challenge of transporting heavy weapons and ammunition coming over its western border all the way across the country, meaning more miles for something to go wrong, and more chances for Russia to strike these vital shipments.

How US-provided artillery and radars could make a difference

To stand a chance fighting in the open Donbas landscape, Ukraine will need more long-range weapons and the ability to quickly move troops on the ground and in the air, according to Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and ABC News contributor.

The U.S. has sent Ukraine $3.4 billion of aid since the beginning of the invasion, including many thousands of shoulder-fired missiles, small arms and ammunition, body armor, and medical supplies. The two most recent packages, dedicating $800 million of aid each, announced April 13the and 21st, were tailored to reflect the new battle space.

“It’s different,” Biden said Thursday. “It’s flat, it’s not in the mountains, and it requires different kinds of weapons to be more effective.”

To that end, the U.S. is sending 90 of its 155mm howitzers, which officials say will begin arriving over the weekend.

“This is going to be the king of battle out there,” Mulroy said.

While Ukraine already has Russian-made artillery pieces, the U.S. and most Western nations do not have the 152mm ammunition to offer as it run through its limited stockpiles. The incoming U.S.-made 155mm guns will bring Ukrainian forces extra firepower, but also the ability to be better resupplied by the West.

To start, the U.S. is sending 184,000 artillery rounds along with the 90 weapons.

Russia has been flowing its own artillery into Donbas in preparation for its renewed offensive. To help Ukraine counter the threat, the U.S. is sending 14 radar systems that can detect incoming artillery and other indirect-fire attacks and find where they’re coming from.

“Right now the Russians are kind of just lobbing artillery without any consequence,” Mulroy said. “They want to give them a whole lot of consequence.”

The radar systems can help the Ukrainians accurately fire back.

“The counter radar is moving to theater this week,” a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday, adding that the howitzers and radar systems complement each other, but can also be used independently.

Training will be critical

About 50 Ukrainians are being trained on the U.S. howitzers outside of the country. This first group of trainees is expected to finish around the same time as the first artillery pieces arrive in their country, likely Sunday or Monday, according to a U.S. official. The U.S. is using a “train-the-trainer” approach so as not to pull to many high-demand troops away from the front — the small group of Ukrainians learning to use the new systems will return to their country to train fellow Ukrainian troops there.

The U.S. took a similar approach with the small, explosive Switchblade drones, hundreds of which are headed to Ukraine.

A small number of Ukrainians were in the U.S. for pre-scheduled military education when Russia invaded their country. The U.S. capitalized on their presence to add a couple days of training on the Switchblades, which are designed to fly directly into targets and explode.

“Although it’s not a very difficult system to operate, we took advantage of having them in the country to give them some rudimentary training on that,” a U.S. defense official said on April 6.

MORE: US ‘Switchblade’ drones heading to Ukraine can target Russian vehicles and artillery: Pentagon official

U.S. officials have said other systems being sent to Ukraine will also require a small period of training, likely to also take place outside of the country. Officials have declined to specify where such training could take place, citing operational security concerns.

With Russia intent on surrounding and trapping Ukrainian forces, the ability to move troops quickly by ground and air will be essential, according to Mulroy.

“They’re going to try to envelope the Ukrainians and cut them off and starve them,” he said. “So, the Ukrainians need to have the ability not to let that happen.”

Since the beginning of the invasion, the U.S. has given Ukraine 16 Mi-17 transport helicopters, each able to carry a three-person crew and up to 30 passengers.

Mulroy said an advantage of the Soviet-designed Mi-17 is that Ukrainian pilots already know how to fly them.

The U.S. has also offered Ukraine hundreds of armored personnel carriers that have tracks similar to those of tanks as well as armored Humvees.

Weather will likely play a factor, and muddy conditions during Spring could limit vehicle mobility for both sides.

“Even just this week, the ground as it is makes it harder for them to operate off of paved roads and highways,” Kirby said.

Time is of the essence

Mulroy said the U.S. is doing a great job shipping military aid to the region, but believes more can be done to speed things up.

“We just have to take every opportunity to increase production and improve the flow, because it is going to make a difference,” he said.

The U.S. has not sent Ukraine any of its M1 Abrams tanks, officials saying they are too different from Ukraine’s T-72s to be useable in the short term. But other nations with the Soviet-era tanks have given theirs.

In total, Ukrainian forces have more tanks in their country than Russia’s military, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday.

A less tangible but very real factor in the fighting so far has been troop morale.

The Pentagon sees evidence Russian forces are still suffering from low motivation and poor unit cohesion, according to officials.

“Almost half of their enlisted troops are conscripts who don’t receive a lot of training and who we have evidence, even recent evidence, that they’ve been disillusioned by this war,” the senior U.S. defense official said. Meanwhile Russian officers are frustrated with the performance of other officers and of their own troops, according to the official.

Ukrainian troops have not seemed to suffer any significant morale problems, and throughout the war have been described by U.S. officials as brave and wily in defense of their homeland.

Biden praised the resolve of Ukrainians in a meeting with top military leaders at the White House Wednesday.

“I knew they were tough and proud, but I tell you what, they’re tougher and more proud than I thought,” Biden said.