Against the backdrop of the nightly shelling of Ukrainian cities by the Russian army, the groundless actions of some representatives of the neighboring state look even more unacceptable. They play along with the balalaika when it comes to speaking at every opportunity: Russia is destroying Ukraine, and, as the soldier in Chasovyi Yar wrote, “We aren’t asking too much. We only need artillery shells and aircraft. We do the rest ourselves.”
Read about the high-profile news and those that could have escaped the attention of a nation focused on the battle for life in the traditional photo selection by Zaborona’s bild editor Pavlo Bishko.
London, Great Britain
Ukrainian photojournalist Mstyslav Chernov, US film and documentary producer Raney Aronson Rath and US film and documentary producer Michelle Mizner pose with the award for Best documentary for “20 days in Mariupol” during the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centrer, in London, on February 18, 2024. Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Dnipro, Ukraine
A female employee (L sits next to a machine she operates at a coal mine on February 20, 2024 near Dnipro, Ukraine. The mine has recruited a rising number of women workers, letting them work deep underground in roles traditionally occupied by men, as a large percentage of its male workforce has joined the military in the war with Russia. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Sierra de Arana, Spain
An Iberian lynx takes its first steps after being released in the Sierra de Arana mountain range, 40 km from Granada, in Iznalloz on February 20, 2024. Five Iberian lynxes, one female, named Unica and four males named Urki, Uivo, Ursin and Ukendo, were released today in a mountainous area of the Andalusian province of Granada, as part of the “LIFE Lynx Connect” project to repopulate this native species from the Iberian Peninsula in the ecosystems most adapted to its characteristics. Photo: JORGE GUERRERO/AFP via Getty Images
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Flowers are seen placed around a portrait of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at a makeshift memorial in front of the former Russian consulate in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on February 19, 2024, three days after Navalny died in a Russian Arctic prison. Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya accused Russian President Putin of killing her husband and vowed to continue Navalny’s work. Photo: -/AFP via Getty Images
Kyiv, Ukraine
22 year-old Valentine, works with a physiotherapist after losing his leg in fighting outside Bakhmut in 2022 at a clinic on February 16, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. February 24 will mark two years since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has left tens of thousands dead and many more wounded, although neither country releases official casualty figures. The war has also sparked economic insecurity around the world, further isolated Russia from the West, and, while initially galvanising NATO countries, has exposed tensions between Western allies over the scale and duration of military support to Ukraine. Two years on, the war shows no sign of ending, even while the frontlines have changed very little in recent months. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
A woman looks at plaques showing the portraits of late Euromaidan activists at the memorial site of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes on February 18, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. People have begun attending ceremonies to mark the tenth anniversary of the deaths of participants in the 2014 Euromaidan anti-government protests as Ukraine approaches the two-year mark of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has left tens of thousands dead and many more wounded. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
A civilian prepares an FPV drone during a drone course for civilians and military personal run by Ukraine’s Kruk Academy for Drone Operations on February 21, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since 2022 more than two dozen training centers, such as Kruk have opened to train UAV operators for Ukraines armed forces. The Kruk academy primarily trains military personnel however recently they also opened up to train civilians who pay for the 10 day course and help cover the costs of the free tuition for military personnel. With Ukrainians ammunition stocks of mortars and artillery shells in short supply. The use of FPV drones, which are cheap to produce have become increasingly crucial on the frontlines. The drones are used to strike armoured vehicles, infantry, trench positions and reconnaissance missions. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Paris, France
Ukrainian artist Mikhail Reva poses next to his artwork “Russian souvenir” (Matryoshka which is made from hundreds of empty bullets casings displayed at the Hotel de Talleyrand and George Marshall Center in Paris on, February 22, 2024. Photo: Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP
Yevpatoria, Ukraine
Attendees, including relatives of fallen participants in the Russian military action in Ukraine, take part in the opening ceremony of the obelisk in honor of the fallen heroes of the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine, in the center of Yevpatoria, Crimea, on February 22, 2024. Photo: STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images
Chepkorio, Kenya
Students react as the coffin of the late marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum arrives to the grounds of the school where he used to study during a memorial ceremony in the village of Chepkorio, on February 22, 2024. Kenya’s world-record holding marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum, a prodigy who ran three of the seven fastest marathons in history and was ranked first among the world’s men’s marathon runners, tragically died in a car crash in Kenya on February 11, 2024 at the age of 24, in an accident that shocked the world and plunged the East African nation into mourning. Photo: LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images
Volyn region, Ukraine
A woman sits in a minivan with a Ukrainian child after crossing the border from Belarus to Ukraine, in the Volyn region, on February 20, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Eleven Ukrainian children crossed the border from Belarus to Ukraine Tuesday evening, in the latest return of children taken to Russia and occupied territories during the nearly two-year Ukraine war. Emerging from the darkness at a humanitarian crossing on the Belarus border, the children hugged family members who had been waiting for more than six hours. The children were received by the Qatari embassy in Moscow on Monday before traveling to Belarus and walking across the one-kilometer border zone — while some relatives were able to meet the children directly in Moscow. Ukraine estimates 20,000 children have been forced to Russia since the war erupted in February 2022. Photo: ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images
Sanaa, Yemen
Students recruited into the ranks of Yemen’s Huthi group hold automatic rifles as they step on a giant Israeli flag on the ground during a rally in support of the Palestinians and against the US, Britain and Israel, held at a university campus in Sanaa on February 21, 2024 amid continuing battles between Israel and Hamas movement in Gaza. Photo: MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images
Sydney, Australia
Taylor Swift fans, also known as “Swifties”, gather outside Accor Stadium for Taylor Swift’s first Sydney concert on February 23, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. Taylor Swift’s global Eras Tour has been a cultural and economic phenomenon, breaking records and generating billions of dollars in revenue. With its massive scale and fan frenzy, the tour has cemented Swift’s status as one of the most influential pop stars of the 21st century, and its impact is likely to be felt for years to come. Photo: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
Oshu, Japan
Men cleanse their bodies in a river during the Sominsai Festival at Kokuseki-ji Temple in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, on February 17, 2024. The “Sominsai” ritual, widely regarded as one of the strangest festivals in Japan and regularly draws thousands of tourists, became the latest example of this country’s aging population crisis that has hit hard rural communities, where many residents have become elderly while young people flock to cities. Photo: PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images
Doha, Qatar
Annika Bornebusch of Team Denmark competes in the Women’s 20m High Diving Round 3 on day thirteen of the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships at Doha Port on February 14, 2024 in Doha, Qatar. Photo: Adam Pretty/Getty Images
Kramatorsk, Ukraine
This photograph taken on February 22, 2024 shows the portraits of Valentyna Leonicheva, 74, Lyudmyla Kravchenko, 46, Sergiy Kravchenko, 23, displayed during a funeral ceremony at the site of their home, destroyed by a Russian missile strike, in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, on February 22, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Anatolii STEPANOV / AFP Photo: ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images
West Bank
Two dogs sit in the window of a bullet-riddled house in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on February 21, 2024. Israeli troops killed three Palestinian militants during an overnight raid in Jenin, according to the military. Photo: ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images
Dakar, Senegal
A woman walks down a road in Dakar, on February 21, 2024. Photo: JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images
Budapest, Hungary
People march across the Liberty bridge with torches during a stand for abused young people and children protection on February 21, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary. Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orban has seen his female president Katalin Novak and justice minister, Judit Varga, resign over his pardon of an orphanage deputy director accused of covering up child sexual abuse claims. Photo: Janos Kummer/Getty Images
Kenilworth, England
Winner of Best Household Pet, Rupert, a red Exotic cat is seen in a studio portrait during the GCCF Coventry and Leicester cat show at Stoneleigh Park on February 17, 2024 in Kenilworth, England. Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage