One of the hottest spots on the eastern front is Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, located about 40 kilometers from the front line. Before the full-scale invasion, the city had a population of around 27,000. Now it is almost empty. The city is under regular shelling by Russian forces, and Ukrainian authorities are trying to evacuate the remaining civilians.
In 2022, during the first weeks of the full-scale invasion, Kupyansk came under Russian occupation—the city holds strategic importance as a railway hub. That autumn, Ukrainian forces liberated it. Since then, the front line has shifted, but not far: today, Kupyansk is once again under threat of an offensive.
Destruction left behind after the Russian airstrike on Kupyansk on April 6.
An apartment building in Kupyansk targeted by a Russian airstrike on April 6. According to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, two civilians were injured in the attack.
Kupyansk and Husynka in Ukraine's Kharkiv Region
Residents of the village of Husynka, located 25 kilometers from Kupyansk, prepare to evacuate to safer regions of Ukraine. April 7, 2025.
Evacuation from the village of Husynka.
Damage from Russian shelling in the village of Husynka. April 10, 2025.
Transit center for displaced residents from frontline areas, located in Kupyansk. April 7, 2025.
Look—This Is What War Looks Like
More Than 30 Dead
Russia Launches Missile Strike on Central Sumy. All Victims Are Civilians
Gallery
Underground Field Hospital in Eastern Ukraine Saving Hundreds of Lives
Photos by Jerome Starkey
Ukrainian Volunteers Recover the Remains of Russian Soldiers to Exchange for the Bodies of Fallen Ukrainian Troops
Footage of the Search Operation in Donetsk Region
Russia Launches Missile Strike on Residential Area in Kryvyi Rih: 19 Killed, Including 9 Children
So Much for a "Precision Strike on a Concentration of Ukrainian Troops" (Russian' quote)
Cities of Ukraine Before and After Russian Army Attacks
Ukrainian designer Andrey Goopsa has illustrated how Ukrainian cities have changed during the war
Pain and ruins
What Russia did with Ukrainian cities (and continues to do)
Cities of Ukraine that no longer exist
The impact of Russia’s War on frontline towns
