Kyiv residents reflect on war four years on
Four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, residents of Kyiv have been reflecting on the war.
Forty-eight-year-old local Svitlana Yur says she "hoped until the very end" that there would not be war. "Even on the morning [of 24 February 2022] when I woke up from the explosions, I thought that tyres were bursting somewhere," she tells Reuters, according to a translated transcript of their conversation.
A question many are asking is: how much longer will the war drag on? For 63-year-old teacher Viktor Buinovskyi, it's all down to Putin. "Everything depends on one person... the president of Russia," he says. "He started this war and he must end it."
For another Kyiv resident, the mother of soldier Liudmyla Taran, the end of the war can't come soon enough. "Now my child has been at the front for four years... I want it to end today," she says. "Let those who are above us decide this issue. How they decide, I don't care. But I want peace."
Armies around the world watch closely as drones transform the way the Ukraine war is fought
Jeremy Bowen
International Editor, reporting from Ukraine
On a dark and cold night in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, the netting protecting the road from attacks by explosive drones shimmered and rippled in the headlights of our armoured Toyota Land Cruiser, as we drove down strange and surreal tunnels to get in and out of the most intensive area of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The nets go on for miles, suspended from wooden poles around 20ft high along the sides and over the top of the road.
Nets snag the propellers of attacking drones, making them a cheap and surprisingly effective physical barrier.
Much of the netting has been donated by European fishermen. Only this week the Scottish government announced it was sending over another 280 tonnes of salmon nets that were about to be recycled.
Before any of it gets used, the Ukrainian military crashes drones into it to test its strength.
After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago it still, for a while, felt like a 20th Century battlefield. But now drones have transformed the way the war is fought, and armies across the world are watching closely, being forced to change their ideas of how to fight.
BBC visits metro station damaged by Ukraine war
The BBC News special programme from Kyiv is live now, you can see that by clicking watch live at the top of the page.
Presenter Lucy Hocking is at a metro station in Kyiv, where shrapnel has embedded into the marble walls and sometimes straight through into the station.
It's near a military industry factory that's been targeted many times. Its worst attack was in July last year, where one person was killed and nine injured.
But it's still a busy station, used every day as people come and go to work or university, as you can see in the clip below.
G7 reaffirms support for Ukraine in joint statement
France is chairing the G7 this year, and the Elysée has today shared a joint statement from G7 leaders on its website. The message is one of support for Ukraine.
The G7 statement makes reference to US-led peace efforts, but also emphasises Europe's role and the belief that "only Ukraine and Russia" can ultimately reach an agreement.
"We express our continued support for President Trump’s efforts to achieve these objectives by initiating a peace process and bringing the parties to direct discussions," it says.
"Europe has a leading role to play in this process, joined by other partners."
It adds: "We acknowledge that only Ukraine and Russia, working together in good faith negotiations, can reach a peace agreement."
Although Trump has been key in driving peace talks, he has previously been accused of being too aligned with Russia in negotiations. His administration has been putting pressure on Ukraine to give up strategic land and to hold elections.
With the US being a G7 member, the message, technically at least in part, represents the Trump administration.
Ukrainian refugees face changing attitudes in Poland
Adam Easton
Warsaw Correspondent
Four years on since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there remain nearly one million Ukrainian refugees in Poland, on top of the roughly one million Ukrainian economic migrants who were already in the country.
Around 12% of the refugees in Poland come from occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR.
“Over time, Poland has created a win-win scenario: by turning the influx of refugees into a stronger Polish economy - with Ukrainian refugees generating 2.7% of the Polish GDP in 2024” Kevin J. Allen, UNHCR Representative in Poland said in a statement.
But attitudes towards Ukrainians have evolved over time. In 2022, thousands of Polish families gave their spare rooms in their homes to fleeing refugees.
Opinions among some Poles have hardened, encouraged by right-wing parties, who accuse Ukrainians of sponging off the state. Ukrainians have been verbally and physically assaulted on the streets.
Most Poles, however, want to see Ukraine inside the European Union.
According to a CBOS poll published Tuesday, 68.9% of respondents said they want Ukraine to join the EU, but most of them said Kyiv must meet the entry conditions beforehand.
Farmers were the most sceptical, with 46.6% against Ukraine’s accession, amid concerns over cheaper Ukrainian competition.
Flowers placed at Ukrainian monuments in Russia
Olga Ivshina
BBC Russian
On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, some residents in Moscow and St Petersburg brought flowers to monuments to Ukrainian poets Lesya Ukrainka and Taras Shevchenko, local residents have told BBC Russian.
In Moscow, people left several bouquets, leaflets and drawings with messages calling for peace, as well as a note quoting the biblical commandment: “Thou shalt not kill”.
Police then blocked the only pedestrian route to the Lesya Ukrainka monument with a vehicle, as people continued to bring flowers there.
In St Petersburg, police patrols have been seen on duty at the Shevchenko monument and other places where people might gather. They have not been detaining anyone, but took pictures of people, who were laying flowers.
Even small, quiet gestures like laying flowers can be risky in Russia. Since 2022, the authorities have introduced laws on “discrediting” the armed forces and spreading “false information” about the military to punish public anti-war actions and statements. Depending on the case, people can get up to eight years in prison.
Civilians to soldiers: How the war has changed ordinary Ukrainians
Laura Gozzi
Europe reporter
When Russian bombs began falling on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, many who had never held a weapon before rushed to take up arms.
Not long ago, Olena worked as a nightclub administrator in Prague. "It felt like everything was ahead of me - and there was plenty of time," she says.
In December 2024, she returned to Ukraine, joined the army and became a pilot.
"I look at the 'before' photo and see myself calmer," Olena says. "More naive. Everything became different. I became different."
While the fighting continues, she can't imagine another life: "My place is here as long as the enemy is in my house."
Like the majority of Ukrainians, on 24 February 2022 Oleh, a publishing graduate, says was "confused, and scared".
"I am not a military man, I have never seen myself like that," he says. But the next month, Oleh joined the army.
As a soldier, he says, "you are constantly in a small room in your head, the space of which is getting smaller every time. Outside the window, others are living… while there is no handle on the door on your side to get out."
These are just two stories of the Ukrainians I spoke to, four years since they became soldiers overnight. You can read on here.
Four years into this war, the unspeakable is being normalised
Vitaliy Shevchenko
Chief analyst, BBC Monitoring
In Ukraine, civilians continue to be killed practically every day. Russian bombs and drones have left a million people without heating, light and water.
The past year added an element of the bizarre to what was clearly abnormal. As civilian casualties soared in Ukraine, Trump accused Zelensky of starting the war and said Putin was keen to end it.
US-led talks between Russia and Ukraine generated numerous official proclamations of progress but little else - the fighting continues, and they haven't changed Russia's maximalist position.
This is hardly surprising, given that after cutting almost all of its aid, the US put most of the pressure on Kyiv, giving Putin little reason to stop.
Instead, the talks are normalising the idea that Russia has legitimate interests in Ukraine that deserve to be discussed at the negotiating table.
What negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the US have been discussing, however, was until recently considered non-negotiable under international law: the sovereign right of states to choose their own alliances and foreign policy, and prohibitions on the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state and on the legal recognition of territorial acquisitions resulting from the use of force.
All wars end at some point, but after four long years there is no sign this one will end any time soon.
France uses humour to respond to Russia's unsubstantiated claims on nuclear bomb
Marianne Baisnée
Reporting from Paris
When asked about a statement by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accusing the UK and France of plotting to arm Ukraine with a nuclear weapon or a “dirty bomb,” a French government source respond by pointing to the X account French Response.
The account was launched by the French Foreign Ministry last September to counter fake news and disinformation from France’s adversaries in the information war by using humour and irony to push back.
In a series of six posts, reposting messages from accounts relaying the SVR accusation, French Response replied with lines such as: “Five years into its ‘three-day war’, Russia would really prefer you to focus on French and British nukes,” or “Year 5 of the ‘3-day war.’ Russian narrative: ‘FR-UK deterrence is the threat.’”
Russia's wounded or killed now outnumbering recruits
Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent
Western officials say that over the past three months Russia has lost more men than they were able to recruit.
An official, who asked not to be named, said that was "really significant" and would likely impact Russia's ability to generate enough forces for an offensive later this year.
Russia has been recruiting between 30 to 35,000 soldiers a month. Over the past three months it's been suffering higher casualties - wounded or killed. The Western official said it was the first time such losses - with more injured or killed than recruited - had been sustained over a period of three months.
UK Armed Forces Minister, Al Carns, has called the Russian manpower deficit "really important". Speaking on the fourth anniversary of Russia's full scale invasion, Carns said "the cost on Russia has been almost unimaginable".
He said the UK Ministry of Defence estimated that Russia had suffered 1.25 million casualties overall. He said that was probably an under-estimate - and was higher than all US casualties suffered during World War Two.
Zelensky calls for more air defence systems
Abdujalil Abdurasulov
Reporting from Kyiv
Both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about the importance of supporting Ukraine’s air defence system during the meeting of the 'coalition of the willing' today.
President Zelensky says that they need PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles from the US.
These are interceptors used by American-made Patriot air defence launchers.
Crucially PAC-3 can intercept Russian ballistic missiles, which makes it an incredibly valuable weapon to have.
Russia’s aerial attacks in January and February this year appears to have depleted Ukraine’s stock of those missiles.
In January, President Zelensky complained about having empty Patriot divisions during aerial attacks.
Without these interceptors, Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as well as other strategic facilities will be effectively defenceless against Russian ballistic missiles.
Putin warns UK and France over unsubstantiated nuclear bomb plot
Laura Gozzi
Europe reporter
Speaking at a board meeting of the FSB - Russia's security service - Russian President Vladimir Putin today made no substantial reference to the war he launched on Ukraine four years ago.
Instead he referred to the unsubstantiated claims made by Russia's foreign intelligence service that the UK and France were plotting to arm Ukraine with a nuclear bomb. "[The UK and France] probably understand how any attack on Russia using a nuclear element could end," Putin warned.
He also accused Kyiv of being behind what he called a "terrorist attack" near Savyolovsky station in Moscow on Monday, which killed a traffic police officer and injured two others. Putin said a person was "recruited" over the internet then made to carry an explosive device which was detonated remotely. (Russian officials had previously said the blast was a suicide attack.)
Putin urged FSB officers to "intensify the fight against terrorism" and stated that Kyiv had placed its bet on "terrorism" as it had not been able to "defeat Russia on the battlefield".
The Russian president also warned - without sharing evidence - that sabotage attempts on pipelines in the Black Sea were forthcoming, and accused Kyiv's Western partners of preventing a settlement between Kyiv and Moscow from being reached during peace talks.
How many casualties in four years of war?
Four years of war have brought significant casualties on both sides - but verifying the exact figures can be challenging.
Last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky told French broadcaster France 2 that "officially" 55,000 Ukrainians had been killed on the battlefield. In addition, a "large number of people" are considered officially missing, he said, though he did not give an exact figure.
Based on estimates from sources including the UA Losses website, which the BBC has cross-referenced, the number of Ukrainians killed could be as high as 200,000.
On the Russian side, the BBC has now identified the names of over 186,000 Russian soldiers killed in the war. The true death toll is generally accepted to be much higher, as many deaths on the battlefield are not recorded.
Military experts believe this analysis might represent 45-65% of the total, putting the potential number of Russian deaths at between 243,000 and 352,000.
Read more: The Russian village that lost its men to war
Ukrainians don't want war, but no-one is telling me they should sue for peace either
Jeremy Bowen
International editor, reporting from Kyiv
It has been a long, hard and deadly four years. Ukraine is under pressure from Trump’s America to give up strategic land that Russia has failed to capture despite sacrificing thousands of its troops.
President Zelensky told me at the weekend that he would not be giving up land. President Putin shows no sign of dropping his maximalist demands. Putin has made clear his belief that Ukraine should be under Russia’s control.
The foreman of the men salvaging steel from the ruins of a destroyed Ukrainian power station told me Russia was attacking sources of power, heat and light for civilians to bring Ukraine to its knees. His tone strongly suggested that he was not prepared to accept that, like so many others here.
I’ve found no-one telling me that Ukraine needs to sue for peace. Their history with Russia is long and bloody and they don’t want to return to Moscow’s control.
That doesn’t mean they want more war. But they don’t believe that a sacrifice of land for a ceasefire would satisfy Putin’s territorial ambitions.
The Russia-Ukraine war has upended assumptions about European security and the safety of the future. The full-scale invasion was an early warning that the world was changing. Nothing in the last four years has suggested it is any safer, and the war here and its global consequences are a central reason for that.
'We need to keep fighting,' Ukrainians tell BBC as Europe reflects on four years of conflict
If you’re just joining us, we’ve been following tributes from Ukrainians and European allies that are marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
We’ve heard from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who’s urged Donald Trump to “stay on our side”, and called for more support from the EU to restore key infrastructure. Zelensky also pushed for a date to join the EU, warning that without one Russia would seek to block the move.
European leaders are in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, attending memorial events and visiting a power plant badly damaged by Russian air strikes. They then joined UK PM Keir Starmer and French PM Emmanuel Macron, who virtually hosted a meeting of the 'coalition of the willing'.
That came after Starmer announced the UK's largest package of sanctions against Russia since the early months of the war in 2022.
But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the“full goals” of the war had not yet been achieved. Moscow is demanding that eastern regions of Ukraine - the Donbas - are handed over, an unacceptable condition for Kyiv.
Our diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams has been speaking to those paying tribute across Ukraine, including hearing from a Ukrainian father whose son died in the conflict in 2023 and who says “we need to keep fighting”.
We'll hear more about the impact on the ground at 16:30 GMT, in the BBC's special programme, War in Ukraine: What Happens Next?
