Lucile Brizard

After one of Russia’s worst attacks on Kyiv since the start of the war, with Russian officials warning all foreign nationals and diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital, Jacques Audiard, France’s most decorated filmmaker, arrived anyway. He sat on a park bench in the spring sun, watched a small bird for a long moment, and talked about cinema, violence, and Europe’s willful blindness.

For more than four years, Russia has waged war on Ukraine largely under the cover of darkness, launching nightly drone and missile attacks that have left millions of civilians chronically sleep-deprived and scientists warning of consequences that may outlast the war itself.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, women in Ukraine have continued to give birth, raise children, and find beauty in the midst of war. We spoke to five of them, here are their stories:

Ukraine is turning its battlefield data into a weapon, offering allies rare access to millions of drone images and combat recordings to advance military AI. In a war where technology leads the charge, is this data-driven approach the key to reshaping global defense?

Long strips of white netting now cover nearly every road leading into Izium in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Thrown up in anticipation rather than as a reaction, Ukraine is preparing for Russia’s FPV drones, which are reaching deeper into territory once considered relatively safe behind the front.

In Ukraine, Russian drones are killing journalists miles from the frontlines. As reporters dodge deadly machines, the question arises: should they fight back? In a war where survival trumps neutrality, old rules might not stand a chance.