War in Ukraine

‘I don’t want war, I want peace. I want a world without war’

In Kyiv’s Independence Square, there are tears for a missing soldier and a shrine to the estimated 20,000 foreign volunteers fighting for Ukraine, bedecked with their national flags – among them the Irish tricolour

Once an area where couples strolled and kids played, Independence Square in Kyiv has become a tribute to the dead soldiers and fighters slain by Vladimir Putin’s army. Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, has been tight-lipped about the death toll in the military, but in April he said up to 3,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed Picture: Getty

Oksana Pavlichi pushed the pin of a Ukrainian flag into the earth, in tribute to a soldier friend who hasn’t been seen since the early days of Russia’s invasion of her country.

She paused for a moment before talking about how Viktor Potuliak, 30, was stationed in Kherson, in the southeast, when Russia invaded the area on February 24. He hasn’t been heard from since and is presumed dead.

“It’s very sad, he has a ...