Sixty-five-year-old Halyna Popriadukhina has fled her home three times as Russian troops have moved deeper into eastern Ukraine during four years of war. Tired of running, she hopes Ukraine can somehow hold them back.
"I'm afraid there's nowhere else to escape," she said, the exhaustion apparent in her voice as she relates how one of her sons is missing in action, the other likely held by Russian forces.
Popriadukhina is among nearly 4 million people displaced within Ukraine, on top of more than 5 million who fled to Europe, as the war continues into its fifth year. Many of them fear they will not see their homes, or loved ones, again.
Control of her homeland of Donbas, comprised of Ukraine's industrialised eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, is at the heart of U.S.-backed peace talks to end the war.
Russia is demanding that Kyiv give up the remaining 20% of Donetsk that it has not been able to capture.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has refused, even though he said U.S. mediators privately advised that it would be enough to secure peace.
"We can't just withdraw," Zelenskyy a week ahead of the anniversary. "We have to understand that Donbas is a part of our independence ... It's not about the land. It's not only about territories: it's about people."
Popriadukhina said she had been milking cows with a friend when missiles began flying on 24 February 2022.
She reluctantly agreed to flee on her son's urging, leaving behind her home and livestock that had been critical to her survival.
"I tried to make it so that I had everything (in life)," said Popriadukhina, a former collective farmworker.
"I didn't take anything from there. Everything was lost."
After several months in western Ukraine, she returned to the Donetsk region in the summer of 2022, only to leave again in March 2025 as Russian forces pressed forward. When they lurched further westward into the Dnipropetrovsk region, she moved again.
Like countless other towns and villages across Ukraine, it features a so-called 'Alley of Heroes' with portraits of fallen soldiers. Residents stop by every morning to honour them in a moment of silence.
Popriadukhina's trajectory reflects Russia's advances over the years. It occupies about one-fifth of the country after what Ukraine says have been deeply costly assaults across a battle-scarred steppe that have wiped entire settlements off the map.
While Kyiv's outmanned and outgunned troops have held back any potential breakthrough, the Norwegian Refugee Council has warned that internal refugees are finding it harder to survive as aid dwindles and their savings run out.
"Many families are now forced to live in precarious conditions, often resorting to risky or unsustainable solutions to cope, including reducing their health or heating expenses," it said on Thursday.
Popriadukhina said she had once been offered passage to Poland. "But I said I won't leave my country," she said.
She is haunted by questions over the fate of her two sons.
One was being treated at a hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol when Russian forces swept in. The other enlisted in his son's footsteps, then went missing in 2023.
More than 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians remain missing in war, Kyiv says, in addition to the tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops killed.
Sitting in her living room, she recalls a moment earlier in the war when she found a young man outside her home in Vremivka who had been killed by shrapnel. As a mother, it hit her particularly hard.
"Please tell me," she said. "How can you forgive this?"
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The 32 countries belonging to the Internatioanl Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil on Wednesday (11 March), in efforts aimed at bringing down the price of crude oil, which has soared since fighting between Iran, Israel and the U.S. started at the end of February.
Iran should continue ‘blocking the Strait of Hormuz’, Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said in his first speech since being elected on Thursday. His words were read out by a broadcaster on state Iranian television. Khamenei has still yet to be seen in public since his election.
A towering lava fountain from Kilauea shot about 400 metres into the air late on Tuesday (11 March) on Hawaii Island, prompting temporary closures at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and part of a key highway as volcanic ash and debris fell over nearby areas.
More than 68,000 children in eastern Afghanistan have been displaced after clashes between Afghan and Pakistani forces intensified along the border, according to a new report by Save the Children.
Norwegian police apprehended three brothers suspected of carrying out Sunday's (8 March) bombing at the U.S. embassy in Oslo, in an attack investigators have branded an act of terrorism.
Freight transport on the China–Europe Railway Express grew strongly in the first two months of 2026, highlighting the growing importance of rail links between Asia and Europe. The network moved about 352,000 shipping containers between January and February, a 25% increase from a year earlier.
At least 64 people have been killed in southern Ethiopia following recent landslides and floods, the regional government’s communications office said on Thursday (12 March), citing local police
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 12th of March, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Norwegian police apprehended three brothers suspected of carrying out Sunday's (8 March) bombing at the U.S. embassy in Oslo, in an attack investigators have branded an act of terrorism.
Oil prices continue to fluctuate as a result of the conflict in the Middle East with Iran and the insecurity of ships sailing through the key Strait of Hormuz route. Iran has said it will target any ship linked to the U.S., Israel or their allies.
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