The Price of War: Ukraine’s Lost Youth

For the past three years, Ukraine’s youth have been growing up in a warzone. As the fighting intensifies, the number of victims is increasing. The lives of millions of young Ukrainians, like Napoléon, Plombir, Timur and Hannah, have been irrevocably changed.

Plombir, 26, volunteered for the army and soon found himself on the Eastern Front. In February 2023, he stepped on a landmine. He has since joined the ranks of the war’s 40,000 Ukrainian amputees. At 15 years old, Hannah is just one of five million pupils who no longer have access to education. Since her home was bombed at the start of the war, she has been mainly living in underground shelters and makeshift accommodation. She’s terrified of a Russian offensive into Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.

Napoléon, a young father and soldier, can never share the realities of his daily life with his three-year-old son. Reporter Charles Comiti followed him on the frontline before his squadron was decimated. He reconnected with him again at the memorial service for his brothers-in-arms, during an all-too-short return to civilian life.

Timur, 26, refuses to enlist. He has, nevertheless, chosen to position himself on the frontline, having founded a charity that aims to rescue citizens of the Kharkiv region. Every day, he braves shell fire in order to evacuate the remaining residents, most of whom are elderly and continue to live in what have been rendered ghost towns, close to the frontline.

After three years of war, the determination of Ukranians to defend their territory has gradually been worn down. In May 2024, a law to was passed reducing the age of conscription from 27 to 25. It aims to mobilise 300,000 urgently needed recruits. Sanctions have been introduced for those who flee. But there are many who refuse to be conscripted, just like Max, who agreed to be interviewed….