Published TUESDAY January 21, 2025: 'The LONG WAR' by ZUMA Partner agency Ukrinform photo-journalist Dmytro Smolienko: The recent holiday season brought no respite in Ukraine, but rather an escalation and expansion of the fighting, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs stated. The 'long war' scenario would require Ukraine to continue fighting with limited resources while trying to rebuild damaged infrastructure and sustain the economy and social welfare system. The U.S. has finally allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with long-range missiles following massive Ukrainian bombings of its power grid. With the Biden administration now over, the uncertainty of the Trump era begins, and the terms of any future negotiations are being fought over on day 1,062 of the war. Welcome to 'The LONG WAR'
© zReportage.com Issue #972 Story of the Week: Published TUESDAY January 21, 2025: 'The LONG WAR' by ZUMA Partner agency Ukrinform photo-journalist Dmytro Smolienko: The recent holiday season brought no respite in Ukraine, but rather an escalation and expansion of the fighting, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs stated. The 'long war' scenario would require Ukraine to continue fighting with limited resources while trying to rebuild damaged infrastructure and sustain the economy and social welfare system. The U.S. has finally allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with long-range missiles following massive Ukrainian bombings of its power grid. With the Biden administration now over, the uncertainty of the Trump era begins, and the terms of any future negotiations are being fought over on day 1,062 of the war. Welcome to 'The LONG WAR'

Local resident DIANA sits with her children in the minivan during the evacuation of a multi-child family from the war zone to Vinnytsia, Uspenivka village, during the ongoing war with Russia in the Zaporizhzhia region.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

Front yard bomb crater, after the home of the former FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia soccer player Serhii Kliuchyk was destroyed by a Russian night attack with Shahed drones in Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

A police officer carries an injured woman rescued from a building destroyed by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia. Three people were killed and at least 14 people are injured after an office building, a medical centre are hit by Russian rocket attack. Rescuers say there may be people trapped under the rubble.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

A rescuer and a canine handler with a SAR dog examine the ruins of a private clinic destroyed by a Russian missile strike during a search and rescue operation in Zaporizhzhia. Russian forces launched an Iskander-M missile at the clinic while medical staff and patients were inside the facility at the time of the strike. The attack killed at least 11 people and injured 22 people.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

A female police officer secures a roadblock at the entrance to the territory recognized as a 'zone of active hostilities' near Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

A serviceman of Ukraine's Khyzhak Patrol Police Special Unit carries 2 live mortar shells while on a mission near Toretsk, Donetsk region, at the wars frontline in eastern Ukraine.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

A soldier of an artillery crew of the Riffle Battalion Special Unit of the Main Department of the National Police gets ready for a combat mission in the Zaporizhzhia direction, along the frontline with Russia in southeastern Ukraine.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

Soldiers of an artillery crew with the Riffle Battalion Special Unit of the Main Department of the National Police, fires a 122-mm howitzer D-30 at the positions of Russian troops on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia direction in southeastern Ukraine.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

A serviceman of a howitzer crew of the 110th Separate Brigade of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces uses red glowing night vision goggles in the dark the early hours of the morning in the Zaporizhzhia direction, on the wars frontline with Russia.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

Rockets are fired toward Russian positions from the back of a truck as an artillery crew of the special unit of the Patrol Police Department Strelitskyi Battalion secures the Zaporizhzhia region, along the frontlines of south-eastern Ukraine.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

Under a red light, a soldier of the special aerial reconnaissance unit of the National Police of Ukraine Khyzhak lights a cigarette, during a break in fighting near the city of Toretsk in the Donetsk region.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

A drone operator of the special aerial reconnaissance unit of the National Police of Ukraine Khyzhak during fighting near the city of Toretsk, in the Donetsk region.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

A soldier of the special aerial reconnaissance unit of the National Police of UkraineKhyzhak holds an FPV drone in his hand during hostilities near the city of Toretsk, in the Donetsk region.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

An aerial view of the devastation amid the ongoing fighting between Russia and Ukraine near the city of Toretsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

Medics of the Forward Surgical Team of the 110th Separate Brigade of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces get ready for the amputation of the right foot of an injured soldier, near the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

Medics of the Forward Surgical Team of the 110th Separate Brigade of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces extract a piece of shrapnel from the chest of a wounded soldier, during the ongoing war with Russia in the Zaporizhzhia region.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

A medic of the Forward Surgical Team of the 110th Separate Brigade of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces studies an X-ray image of a wounded soldier, near the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

Activists decorate a Christmas tree with symbolic balls bearing the names of military units to which the captives belong during a rally organized by the POW families to remind the public of their fate in Russian captivity, on Ploshcha Myttsiv Square, Zaporizhzhia.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

In costume, an actor of the Garden of Nativity Scenes cultural project, which brought together Ukrainian youth from different regions of the country to revive the tradition of the theatrical performances, during the troupes visit to a frontline village in the Zaporizhzhia region.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

An actor dressed in historic military uniform from the 'Garden of Nativity Scenes' cultural project, which brought together young people from different regions of the country to revive the tradition of the theatrical performances, during the troupe's visit to a frontline village in the Zaporizhzhia region,
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire

Two young girls hold signs 'FREE AZOV' during a rally organized by the POW families to remind the public of Ukrainian soldiers fate in Russian captivity, on Ploshcha Myttsiv Square, Zaporizhzhia.
© Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform via ZUMA Press Wire