After a month of Russian offensive in Ukraine, the destruction of cities and towns is becoming more deadly and forceful. The civilian population has become the main target of attacks in kyiv, the capital, in Kharkov, the country’s second largest city, or in Mariupol, located in the coastal area of the Sea of Azov. According to the UN, the dead exceed a thousand and more than three and a half million people have fled to neighboring countries.
The video that accompanies this piece is an audiovisual journey through the barbarism of the war against Ukraine and its human and political consequences: Have the invading forces managed to enter kyiv after a month of siege? How does the population of Mariupol live the continuous bombing? What has been the reaction of NATO and the EU to the calls of the Ukrainian president Volodímir Zelenski? And how has the president of the United States, Joe Biden, acted in the face of the Russian threat?
This week, the target of the Russian bombing of kyiv has been a shopping mall, in the heart of the city. Mariupol, a strategic city due to its port and location on the sea, has become a symbol of the destruction and cruelty towards civilians in this war. Three hospitals have been bombed, including the mother and child hospital, seven schools, and more than 300 buildings. In Kharkov, the siege of the Russian army does not stop almost from the beginning, with 80 daily shells on the city.
The solidarity of the countries of the European Union with the refugees fleeing the armed conflict has also been constant since the beginning of the conflict. This audiovisual piece shows how thousands of Ukrainians, mostly women, children and elderly people, cross the border of neighboring countries such as Poland, Romania or Moldova. The images show us makeshift refugee camps, desolation and scenes of broken families fleeing the horror of war in central Europe. An offensive that Vladimir Putin began on the night of February 24 and that he still proudly defends today, calling it a “special military operation against genocide.”
The audiovisual journey through a month of war in Ukraine, with images verified by EL PAÍS, in the video above.