It has now been seven weeks since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and cities and villages are still bearing the brunt of Russian missiles. When apartment buildings, stores, houses, and factories are hit, members of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, including firefighters and rescue teams, rush to the scene to help any victims, mitigate the damage, and prevent the fires from spreading. Their jobs—already risky by nature—are made even more difficult, depending on who controls an area, the types of explosives used, and the threat of further attacks. Gathered here, images of some of the recent work done by Ukrainian firefighters during a time of war.
The Firefighters of Ukraine
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![A single firefighter standing in front of a large fire.]()
Read moreA Ukrainian firefighter stands in front of flames rising following artillery fire in the northeastern city of Kharkiv on March 25, 2022. Russian strikes targeting a medical facility in Kharkiv on March 25 killed at least four civilians and wounded several others, Ukrainian officials said. #
Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty -
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![Emergency workers walk through debris inside a dark, destroyed shopping mall.]()
Read moreEmergency workers walk through debris inside the Retroville shopping mall after a Russian attack in the northwest of the capital Kyiv on March 21, 2022. #
Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty -
![Firefighters climb a tall ladder while working to put out a fire in a high-rise apartment building.]()
Read moreFirefighters climb a ladder while working to extinguish a blaze in a destroyed apartment building after a bombing in a residential area in Kyiv on March 15, 2022. #
Vadim Ghirda / AP -
![Rescue workers make efforts to clear rubble from a destroyed building.]()
Read moreRescuers work at the site of the National Academy of State Administration building, which was damaged by shelling in Kharkiv on March 18, 2022. #
Andrew Marienko / AP -
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![Several firefighters spray water on a raging blaze inside a market building.]()
Read moreFirefighters work at the site of a fire at the Barabashova market in Kharkiv on March 17, 2022. #
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![A firefighter walking through a doorway in a burning building with water and debris flying around.]()
Read moreA firefighter works to extinguish a fire in a house hit by Russian Grad rockets in Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi district on March 23, 2022. #
Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty -
![Firefighters carrying hoses outside burning storefronts.]()
Read moreFirefighters work to extinguish a fire in several shops after a Russian attack in Kharkiv on April 11, 2022. #
Felipe Dana / AP -
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![A firefighter holds a dog outside of a burning building (not pictured).]()
Read moreA firefighter holds a dog as fire erupts after an apartment building is hit by Russian attacks in Kyiv on March 15, 2022. #
Alejandro Martinez / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![Several firefighters scaling piles of rubble and spraying water on smoking ruins.]()
Read moreFirefighters try to extinguish a fire after a missile hit a building on the outskirts of Kharkiv on April 12, 2022. #
Sergey Bobok / AFP / Getty -
![Firefighters stand outside a burning three-story building spraying water into the flames.]()
Read moreUkrainian firefighters extinguish a blaze at a warehouse after a bombing in Kyiv on March 17, 2022. #
Vadim Ghirda / AP -
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![A firefighter grimaces among smoke inside a burning building.]()
Read moreA Ukrainian firefighter grimaces inside a house destroyed by shelling, in Kyiv, on March 23, 2022. The Kyiv city administration said Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian capital overnight and into the morning, in the districts of Sviatoshynskyi and Shevchenkivskyi, damaging buildings. #
Vadim Ghirda / AP -
![A person is helped down a long aluminum ladder by two firefighters, fleeing a burning apartment building.]()
Read moreFirefighters rescue a civilian from a damaged apartment building, which was hit by a Russian attack on Kyiv on March 14, 2022. #
State Emergency Service of Ukraine / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A fire fighter carries an object across rubble outside a destroyed building.]()
Read moreA firefighter clears the rubble of a government building hit by Russian rockets in Mykolaiv on March 29, 2022. #
Bulent Kilic / AFP / Getty -
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![Black smoke rises from a burning building.]()
Read moreFirefighters spray water at the scene of a fire that broke out after a Russian rocket strike in Kyiv on March 17, 2022. #
Wolfgang Schwan / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A civilian leans on the shoulder of a firefighter who hugs them back while holding up a phone.]()
Read moreA firefighter comforts a woman outside of a destroyed apartment building after a bombing in a residential area in Kyiv on March 15, 2022. #
Vadim Ghirda / AP -
![Two firefighters spraying water inside the smoking ruins of a factory.]()
Read moreFirefighters work at a factory destroyed after it was hit by Russian shelling, in the Chaiky district of Kyiv on March 24, 2022. #
Diego Herrera Carcedo / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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![A firefighter holds a hose next to a burning building.]()
Read moreA firefighter holds a hose next to a burning building, following a missile attack near the Kharkiv International Airport on April 12, 2022. #
Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters -
![A firefighter at the broken windows of a damaged building.]()
Read moreFirefighters try to extinguish a fire in a house damaged by Russian shelling in Kharkiv, on April 3, 2022. #
Diego Herrera Carcedo / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A person is lifted out of rubble by several firefighters.]()
Read moreRescuers carry a Ukrainian soldier saved, after 30 hours, from debris of a military school hit by Russian rockets, in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine, on March 19, 2022. #
Bulent Kilic / AFP / Getty -
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![Inside a dark hallway, a firefighter spraying water toward a fire at the end of the hallway.]()
Read moreUkrainian firefighters extinguish a blaze at a warehouse after a bombing in Kyiv on March 17, 2022. #
Vadim Ghirda / AP -
![A firefighter sits on the ground, resting outside a burning apartment building.]()
Read moreA firefighter rests outside a burning apartment building in Kyiv on March 15, 2022, after strikes on residential areas killed at least two people. #
Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty
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