As Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth year, millions of Ukrainians continue to grapple with deep personal loss, shattered homes and the anguish of missing loved ones, illustrating the enduring human toll of Europe’s largest conflict since World War Two.
Sixty five year old Halyna Popriadukhina embodies the heartbreak felt across the country. Since the war began in February 2022, she has been forced to flee her home in eastern Ukraine three times as Russian troops pressed forward. At first she left on her son’s urging, abandoning livestock and the home she had built over decades. “I didn’t take anything from there. Everything was lost,” she said, recounting how missiles began flying while she was milking cows.
Popriadukhina now lives hundreds of kilometres away in central Ukraine in a ramshackle house provided by authorities, among nearly 4 million people displaced within the country and more than 5 million who have sought refuge across Europe. Many of them fear they will never see their homes again.
Her story underscores a grim reality towns and villages dotted with memorials to fallen soldiers, families coping with missing relatives, and communities wrestling with insecure futures. One of Popriadukhina’s sons is reported missing, and the other is believed to be held by Russian forces, a fate shared by tens of thousands of Ukrainians. Kyiv says more than 70,000 soldiers and civilians remain unaccounted for, in addition to the tens of thousands killed in the conflict.
The contested Donbas region Ukraine’s industrialised eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk remains central to diplomatic efforts to end the war. Russia has demanded Kyiv cede the remaining territory it has yet to control, a proposal firmly rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who insists the fight is about people and national independence, not merely land.
Humanitarian organisations warn that many internally displaced families are running out of savings and coping with dwindling aid, forcing them into precarious living conditions and difficult trade‑offs between basic needs such as food, health and heating.
Despite the suffering, Popriadukhina and others like her remain determined to stay in Ukraine. “I won’t leave my country,” she said, even as the war drags on and the spectre of loss looms large over daily life.
The profound grief of missing homes and loved ones continues to ripple through Ukrainian society, testifying to the war’s persistent human cost and the resilience of those enduring it.
Leave a comment