Ukraine: Scenes of destruction and despair

An old woman in her damaged home in Kyiv: The serious consequences of the war are already being felt by the people of Ukraine. According to UN estimates, around 90% of the country's population could be hit by poverty if the invasion lasts 12 months. This could set the country back economically by almost two decades.

In Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, the starving population looted a shopping center in the Saltivka district. The situation in Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and in Ochtyrka in the northeast and east of the country is precarious. Local populations there have been the victims of constant missile attacks and aerial bombardments.

In the capital Kyiv, a firefighter consoles a local resident whose apartment building was destroyed in a Russian bombing. She shares this sad fate with many other Ukrainians as Russia contends it is only hitting military targets. Civilian casualties are a daily occurrence, along wih the destruction of residential buildings.

A mother and her newborn baby in the basement of a maternity ward in Kharkiv. Anyone giving birth in Ukraine these days may be doing so in makeshift basements. Numerous hospitals were bombed by the Russian army, including a children's and maternity hospital a week ago in Mariupol, which sent shockwaves around the world.

People injured by shelling in Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine lie in the corridor of a hospital. The situation in the port city, which has been besieged for days, is catastrophic. The situation is similar in Izyum in the northeast, which is besieged by the Russian army. The Ukrainian government is looking for ways to deliver food and medicine to the captured cities.

Residents receive humanitarian aid in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region. The eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk remain areas of heavy fighting. Daily reports from both the separatists and the Russian Defense Ministry indicate that they have captured more territory.

Family members in mourning at the funeral of fallen Ukrainian soldiers in the western city of Lviv – where there have also been numerous civilian casualties. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the number of documented civilian deaths since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 stands at 726, including 42 children and young people.

It looks hopeless: An employee begins clearing the rubble from his damaged store aftea Russian shelling hit Kyiv. When will the store be able to reopen? When will everyday life return? This is anyone's guess.