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Kyiv residents begin to find calm after Russian forces' retreat

By Claire Harbage
Published May 10, 2022 at 5:00 AM EDT
Tulips bloom on Maidan, the city's central square, in Kyiv in April after Russian forces pulled back to focus on the eastern fronts in their ongoing invasion of the country.
Claire Harbage
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NPR
Tulips bloom on Maidan, the city's central square, in Kyiv in April after Russian forces pulled back to focus on the eastern fronts in their ongoing invasion of the country.

KYIV, Ukraine — As Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its third month, Ukrainians are assessing the damage. Despite an initial push to take Kyiv, the Russian forces backed off of the capital city, revealing the atrocities of the fighting left behind.

As spring arrives people in some areas of Kyiv begin to put their lives back together. Some people ride through the city on electric scooters while others are returning to their homes to see what remains. Even with moments of calm the city is still tense and the people live with the ongoing threat of possible airstrikes.

Here are some photos from Kyiv and the surrounding suburbs after two months of war.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

People return to a residential building in Kyiv to collect their belongings after it was damaged in a Russian missile strike last week.
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
NPR
People return to a residential building in Kyiv to collect their belongings after it was damaged in a Russian missile strike last week.
A wrecked car sits on the side of a road in an area of Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, that has begun to be cleaned up. The area's residents say the parking lot was previously filled with many more smashed cars.
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
NPR
A wrecked car sits on the side of a road in an area of Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, that has begun to be cleaned up. The area's residents say the parking lot was previously filled with many more smashed cars.
Dirt is piled in front of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, where a mass grave was found. Bodies were found in the grave and removed after Russian forces withdrew from the area.
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
NPR
Dirt is piled in front of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, where a mass grave was found. Bodies were found in the grave and removed after Russian forces withdrew from the area.
A temporary grave marker lies in the grass outside a residential building in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv. The body was removed from the grave after Russian forces withdrew from the area.
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
NPR
A temporary grave marker lies in the grass outside a residential building in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv. The body was removed from the grave after Russian forces withdrew from the area.
An empty grave outside a residential building in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv. A body was removed from the grave after Russian forces withdrew from the area.
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
NPR
An empty grave outside a residential building in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv. A body was removed from the grave after Russian forces withdrew from the area.
Mykola Kostenko returns to his home in Moshchun, a village on the outskirts of Kyiv, after the Russains withdrew from the area. He found his house destroyed but watered his fruit trees, which were still flowering in his backyard, and fed several stray animals.
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
NPR
Mykola Kostenko returns to his home in Moshchun, a village on the outskirts of Kyiv, after the Russains withdrew from the area. He found his house destroyed but watered his fruit trees, which were still flowering in his backyard, and fed several stray animals.
A new grave is prepared in a cemetery in Moshchun, a village on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
NPR
A new grave is prepared in a cemetery in Moshchun, a village on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Men figure out how to dismantle the last bits of a monument in Kyiv commemorating the friendship between Ukraine and Russia.
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
NPR
Men figure out how to dismantle the last bits of a monument in Kyiv commemorating the friendship between Ukraine and Russia.
Sandbags surround a statue on a spring day in Kyiv.
Claire Harbage / NPR
/
NPR
Sandbags surround a statue on a spring day in Kyiv.
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