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These are scenes of devastation that the Ukrainian SPIEGEL photographer Maxim Dondyuk has been documenting in his home country these days.
In the past his motifs were often portraits of people, today they are mainly testimonies of war.
For this, Dondyuk risks his own life.
Like last Sunday in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv.
There has been fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops here for days.
Dondyuk was there.
He was documenting the evacuation of Ukrainian civilians when suddenly Russian artillery shells fell.
O-Ton Maxim Dondyuk
When the mortar shells hit us, I thought: that's it now.
We were shot at all the time.
I was there without protection, you can only throw yourself on the ground to protect yourself and try not to get a grenade.
Dondyuk was lucky.
He was hit by shrapnel, but only in the arm.
Retiring because of the injury is not an option for him.
As a native of Ukraine, his work at the moment is also a fight for the freedom of his compatriots.
O-Ton Maxim Dondyuk
My weapon is the camera.
I'm trying to document this historical moment, I can't protect the country with my camera, but I can capture it all for the next generation to see what it was like.
I fight with my camera and I'll do it until the end.
Either until my country is no more or until the final battle for freedom.
Maxim Dondyuk is currently in Kyiv.
He still has to have his injury treated in the hospital every day.
The capital has turned into a fortress in anticipation of the Russian attack.
O-Ton Maxim Dondyuk
Even if they should take the whole city, I don't understand all this, Putin can occupy the whole country, but the people will resist.
yes i have hope
The Ukrainian people, not only men but also women, are resisting.
It looks like people would rather fight to the last breath than give up.
But not everyone can or wants to fight.
According to estimates by the UN refugee agency, more than two million people have already fled Ukraine – mostly women and children.
Among the refugees are family members of Dondyuk.
O-Ton Maxim Dondyuk
It is very hard for me, my mother has just fled to Poland because it was no longer safe for her here.
Dondyuk is grateful for the solidarity in Germany towards the Ukrainian refugees.
However, he fears that the mood could change over time.
His appeal to all Germans:
O-Ton Maxim Dondyuk
Please try to understand that two million Ukrainian refugees are not going to Germany because they want to, but because they have to.
Please be kind to them.
You have lost everything.
Some have lost their families, others their houses, their cars, dogs, everything.
I'm sure they dream of returning to Ukraine.
They don't go to Germany to stay here, perhaps some, but most just want to return to a peaceful Ukraine.
But so many cities are completely destroyed.
