A Climate of Conflict in Ukraine

A Climate of Conflict in Ukraine

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Feb. 5, 2022 | Kyiv, Ukraine | Students Vadym Beilakh and Sofia Chygyryn pose for a portrait during their first defense training. “Prepare for the worst, believe in the best,” they say.

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Feb. 6, 2022 | Kyiv, Ukraine | The People's Friendship Arch, built during the Soviet era, symbolizes the union between Ukraine and Russia. In 2018, activists painted a large crack at the top of the arch.

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Feb. 6, 2022 | Kyiv, Ukraine | The Remembrance Wall at St. Michael's Cathedral memorializes soldiers killed in eastern Ukraine. More than 14,000 people have died in the war since 2014, when Russian-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces began fighting after Russia annexed Crimea. Although the fighting has diminished in recent years, fears of a violent escalation have grown since Russia began amassing troops near Ukraine’s border.

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Feb. 6, 2022 | Kyiv, Ukraine | Genadiy Kryvorot’ko, a massage therapist, poses for a portrait before civil defense training. “If it [the conflict with Russia] will come to Kyiv, I think one can’t just sit at home and wait,” Kryvorot’ko says. “Russia always pursues imperialist politics with Ukraine.”

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Feb. 6, 2022 | Kyiv, Ukraine | Iuliia Smilianets tends to a client at the Lukyanivska market where she has been working for 15 years. Services, industry and agriculture are Ukraine’s three largest economic sectors.

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Feb. 7, 2022 | Kyiv, Ukraine | A male choir sings at the Refectory Church, on the grounds of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra – or the Monastery of the Caves – home to more than 100 monks.

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