In the three years that has passed since Russia has launched a large scale of Ukraine, hundreds of photographers documented the human impact of the war on the confrontation line and in the civilian regions.

Some of them shared stories about their photos that have appeared in BBC’s coverage since February 2022.

Before the comprehensive war, the husband and wife team worked as photographers of a wedding and pictures in the city of Odessa in the Black Sea port. Soon they moved from “picking love stories, to documenting Russian war crimes,” Vlada recalls.

She knows direct risks in her work. An explosion in a visit to Donetsk area In 2023, she left her shrapnel placed in depths, which doctors decided to remove.

This powerful shot taken by Kostiantyn Liberov was shown in the summer of 2024 Paul Adams report On the Ukrainian attack on the Russian border in Kursk.

A soldier was seen his desperate companion after returning from an attack in which his colleague was killed.

For liberov, the image reflects some confusion within the army on the operation.

“The loss of your friend in an attack inside Russia, instead of defending our country in Ukraine, is very difficult,” he said. “I took this picture because of the emotional influence that Ali has made. He says a lot about the situation and how difficult it is for them.”

The depiction of such scenes deeply affected local photographers. “This is not something we are talking about very much with colleagues because he is painful,” Vlada says. “You are in a very difficult situation, and no one completely understands what the solution can be.”

One of its photos is taking 2023 members of the White Angels Unit in Ukraine after an unsuccessful attempt to persuade one of the remaining residents to leave the eastern city of Aviidvka before the Russian forces swept.

The story was part of BBC article on a 24 -hour destructive bombing.

A man from the police unit asked to evacuate his brother from the basement from a burning building, yet he still refuses to leave.

“The next day we could not return because of the difficult bombing,” Vlada recalls. “The situation has become much worse and I am not sure that he could have survived. He hurts with the knowledge that you cannot return to these places.”

In documenting a lot of loss and suffering, the couple found a deeper appreciation of the moments of joy.

DMYTRO, who fought in Ukraine for more than a decade, was photographed after he gave birth to his wife in March 2024.

“We used to take pictures of him in the trenches. Then you see this brave big soldier crying while taking his little daughter in his hands, and you understand the soldiers like him fighting for these moments. Not only for themselves, but for everyone in Ukraine.”

Since 2016, Valeria Demenko has told the government emergency service in Ukraine (DSNS) in the northeastern SUMY region, and it is now joining rescue teams deployed in areas exposed by Russian bombing.

“It is always difficult … You never know what awaits you. It is very difficult when residential buildings are attacked.”

One moment engraved on her memory that included a striking image contained in A story in March 2024 Emergency workers offered at a five -storey building collapsed after the Russian bombing, as the population continues inside.

Valeria remembers how emergency workers attended the site for four consecutive days. They found four dead, but they did not benefit from the body of a missing girl.

“There was a doll on one of the upper floors … This means that the child was living there, and there was more.”

Although all of its colleagues are emotionally prosecutors, they want the world to see their work: “We give every ounce of the last force to document Russia’s crimes against calm Ukrainians.”

Alexander Ermushnko has spent the past 11 years documenting the Ukraine war as a photo in the eastern Donetsk region.

I have often reported in Russian -controlled lands and “I have never thought about photographing the war in my home.”

“Fear on the face of the devastating house is the same on both sides of the front. It is always important to show that the blood has the same red color.”

The British Broadcasting Corporation has less access to photographers who provide reports from Russia, where the Kremlin restricts access to international journalists and Russian news agencies to manage them largely.

BBC is close to a photographer in Russia to contribute to this story, but he did not receive any response.

In the picture above, Ermochenko seized the vulnerable activists on Russia on February 21, 2022 after Vladimir Putin announced the independent eastern region. It was published as part of the BBC coverage From that fateful moment.

It describes how the image came “by mistake” – a strong reminder of the potential impact of the second division photographer’s decision to upload the camera.

Ukraine said 300 people were killed when Russian aircraft bombed the Mariopol theater in March 2022.

The next month, Alexander Ermoshnko acquired this picture, appeared in Hugo Pashgha reportWhere the photographer transmits the following massacre along with daily life.

“The destruction was absolutely”, as destroyed buildings were destroyed by nine floors that appear to be the Hollywood group. But it is real, and people have lived recently. “

“The most surprising thing is that life continued, despite fighting in the neighboring streets. People seemed calm, but in reality they were deeply shocked than it was happening.”

This image is used In our direct reports From Zaporizhzia nuclear cage in November 2022, it shows the difficulty of photographing war.

“The pictures of the plant were rare at the time,” says Ermochenko. “It is constantly subject, although the soldiers themselves are completely explaining the situation.”

Despite the challenges he and his colleagues face, he says, “The war is not only part of my career, but a large part of my entire life … No matter how difficult it is, I will continue.”

Its headquarters in Kyiv, Alina Smutko understands the human impact of this war by working as a photo and from a personal experience.

“I suffered from Russian missiles and drones on the city without stopping for almost three years. During this time, I was constantly worried about my father, my child, friends and colleagues.”

She is fortunate because her house is sound and her loved ones alive, after she saw a missile attack on her neighborhood from her bedroom window.

Initially, she, her friends and family will be fulfilled with each other on a daily basis after the Russian invasion on a large scale.

But the frequency of the attacks forced the residents to learn how to live with war and maintain a normal life as possible.

The losses on her profession were difficult.

“We see how our colleagues – photographers in particular – or wounded them during this invasion. We have lost one of our team members, and another teammate was badly wounded.”

Smutko tries not to “think about” what she is doing, but she believes it is important to share the effects of war with the world.

“I think this somehow helps, but I do not believe in the idea that the image can stop war. If we can, we will not lose many lives here.”

“I still think documentation is important. Because if nothing is photographed, it will not happen.”

“This work should be done … I just do my best.”

The upper image shows a member of the emergency services that bring a fire resulting from a Russian blow to a gas warehouse, near the border in northeast Sumi in May 2024.