Genocide of Donbass: Evidence From the Lens of Photojournalist Mikhail Voskresenskiy

Thousands of families have lost relations in this ongoing conflict for the right to remain Russian.

Photo: Residents of Donetsk region attend a memorial service for 21-year-old militiaman Aleksandr Lubenz, who was killed on 24 April during the shelling of a roadblock by the Ukrainian military.

Shell casings in a destroyed Ukrainian fortified area on the outskirts of the town Debaltseve. Ukraine has been using shells identical to these to attack Donbass cities for the past eight years.

Houses in the vicinity of Donetsk airport - which underwent fierce fighting in 2014 and 2015 - have been particularly badly damaged.

Photo: A house in the Oktyabrsky village, whose owner removes what few remnants are left.

Some families lost all their belongings because of the shelling and were forced not only to hide in bomb shelters but also live there permanently.

Hunger, no water, no heat, no medicine. These were the conditions for civilians who had nowhere to go. The elderly were forced to stand in long queues to get at least some food, risking being hit by mortar fire from the Ukrainian armed forces, who also shelled those receiving humanitarian aid.

Photo: An elderly resident of Debaltsevo receives bread from the Donbass People’s Militia, February 2015.

On 11 February 2015, a shell belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces hit Donetsk City Hospital No 20, according to what the Donetsk News Agency was told by the DPR Emergencies Ministry's press office. The shells hit a neurology department and a laboratory for blood sampling. A nurse and seven people who were in the department received shrapnel wounds. A man who was walking on a bridge near the hospital at the time of the shelling was killed.

Photo: a staff member inspecting the damage at Donetsk's City Hospital No 20.

Thousands of people were forced to leave their home and be evacuated. Women and children in particular had to flee to safer regions and Russia.

Photo: A father says goodbye to his son who is leaving Donetsk for Russia along with other refugees.