Ukraine is holding strong – but as war deaths mount its fortitude is to be severely tested
In the vast windswept cemetery on the outskirts of Dnipro, low clouds drift and mist drizzles over the graves of the fallen in this war.
There is no noise apart from the flapping of hundreds of Ukraine flags – blue for the sky, yellow for the wheatfields of this farming country.
Mounds of freshly dug earth indicate new graves in preparation for more bodies brought from the frontlines.
Their arrival is inevitable now, and most are coming from the eastern city of Bakhmut.
In the bleak light, we watch from a distance as a family huddles together, laying flowers, paying their respects, and quietly grieving.
They are the family of Alik Lychko, a soldier recently killed in the battle for Bakhmut; he was buried here just two days earlier.
We approached, they wanted to talk. Perhaps they felt that talking about their brother and son would help preserve his memory.
“We don’t know how to cope with our grief,” his mother Anna tells me between quiet sobs.
“He was only 24 years old; we can’t just pull ourselves together.”
Alik Lychko, 24, died in the battle for Bakhmut
Freshly dug graves in Dnipro are ready for more victims of the war
The Lychko family is from Soledar in the east, but they fled as Russian forces moved in.
The Russians have taken their land, so their brother and son is buried here – miles away from home.
“All of us are from occupied territories, all of us are refugees from the Donetsk region, but we have to bury him here,” says his sister Khrystyna.
Their mother, Anna, interrupts: “We have nothing; no home, no property, everything is gone, everything, and it’s really terrible that we are losing our children at this age, so young.
“He had a daughter, four years old, she now doesn’t have a father, it’s very hard.”
In that moment, I wondered if there would come a time this all gets too much for families like this one – whether their grief is just too overwhelming to carry on.
A Ukrainian soldier in a trench near Bakhmut
‘We will not break’
It’s clear they hate this war, but there is a steely resolve.
“We will carry on fighting, what else can we do?” one brother, Ruslan, tells me.
“We are in our home, we never invaded anyone, they invaded us.
“The worst of them came to us, and we are losing our best, the best of us.
“But it doesn’t mean that we will surrender or that we will break at some point – we will not break. As we have seen in the past year, they will fail in their attempt to break us.”
A memorial wall for soldiers in Kyiv
The Ukrainian government does not release figures for the number of soldiers killed in action, but we know it’s in the thousands and is mostly men.
It’s easy to forget many of those who joined up following Russia’s invasion last year are young professionals such as graphic designers, artists, teachers, athletes.
It’s easy to lose count of the sheer number of funerals taking place every day across Ukraine.
Mourners kneel in the capital’s Maidan Square
In the capital Kyiv, St Michael’s monastery is in many ways a symbol of the country’s defiance. It was built in the 12th century and torn down by the Soviets in the 1930s and now rebuilt.
This holy place gives succour to the families and comrades of those killed in this war that grinds on.
And it is here, and on Maidan Square, that we witness funeral after funeral after funeral. Yet another soldier killed hundreds of miles away in eastern Ukraine in the fierce defence of Bakhmut.
These days, Ukraine’s desire to expunge Russian and Soviet traditions stretches to its funeral protocols.
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The trembita horns are a regular occurrence at services – the instrument comes from the western mountains of Ukraine.
Kneeling as the fallen pass by is a tradition also from the west, a tradition now practised across the country.
At the funeral procession for Dmytro Kotsiubailo, a national hero lauded by President Zelenskyy, thousands took to the street to remember him and all who have died.
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‘We’re losing the best of us,’ says Tetyana Marinchenko
As they wound their way towards Maidan Square, where pretty much all this started in 2014, the shouts of glory to Ukraine rang loud.
Among those gathered was Tetyana Marinchenko, who was carrying a framed photo of her husband who died in this war.
“We’re losing the best of us,” she tells me, a phrase I’ve heard repeated here many times.
Another mourner, Maria, told me the nation has not yet gone through the emotions of losing so many of its young men.
“After victory we will need a long time for crying and grieving for everyone, everyone we lost in this war.”
For now, Ukraine is holding strong, but there is no doubting this nation’s loss is huge and growing by the day.
Its fortitude, and that of the families who have lost loved ones, will be severely tested as the war drags on.
Israel pounded the outskirts of Gaza City overnight, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Families streamed out of the city as the explosions hit.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40.
“No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Mahmoud Abedrabo mourns over the body of his son Hamada in Gaza City on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation.
“We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money,” she said.
Mourners pray next to the body of Palestinian boy Hamada Abedrabo on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Witnesses said that overnight they heard nonstop explosions in Zeitoun and Shejaia.
Tanks shelled houses and roads in Sabra, and buildings were blown up in Jabalia.
On Sunday, the IDF said its forces had returned to combat in Jabalia to strengthen its control of the area and dismantle militant tunnels.
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
This month, Israel approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City. The offensive isn’t expected to start for another few weeks.
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In the meantime, mediators in Egypt and Qatar are trying to resume ceasefire talks between the two sides.
On Friday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas releases all its remaining hostages and ends the war on Israel’s terms.
Mourners transport the body of Ahmed Balata on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Around half of Gaza’s two million residents currently live in the city and on Friday a global hunger monitor said that Gaza City and its surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread.
Israel said the monitor ignores steps Israel has taken since late July to increase aid supplies into and across Gaza.
Eight more people died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry on Saturday.
281 people, including 114 children, have now died of malnutrition and starvation since the war started, according to the ministry.
The war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel, mainly civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Since then, Israel has killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and internally displaced nearly its entire population.
Two married couples have died after a British car veered off the road and crashed in Germany, according to police.
The fatal accident happened shortly after midnight on Saturday in the trees near a highway in the Kassel district, north of Hesse in central Germany.
The 32-year-old male driver, a 31-year-old female passenger, a 32-year-old female passenger, and a 30-year-old female passenger all died at the scene, despite the efforts of German emergency services.
Sky News understands UK officials have not been contacted for assistance.
At roughly 12.30am on Saturday, the car appears to have veered off the road and crashed into nearby trees around 30m from the road, according to the Kassel police department.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
One of the victim’s phones automatically alerted the emergency services to the incident, who sent an ambulance to the scene.
Soon, fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles and emergency support vehicles were all dispatched.
When emergency workers arrived, the car was lying on its side, wedged between several trees.
It wasn’t until they removed the roof that they found all four passengers.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
The accident happened on Highway L3229
The emergency workers who dealt with the victims were immediately supported by the specialist mental health workers at the fire station in Reinhardshagen.
“This high number of deaths is an extraordinary operation for our Reinhardshagen Volunteer Fire Department,” said a fire department spokesperson.
“For some of the emergency personnel, it is the first time they have been confronted with death in this way.
“Therefore, a great deal is being done to help us process these images. We will also discuss this among ourselves and within families, because not everyone can easily shake off what they have seen.”
An investigation into the accident is ongoing and is being conducted by the Hofgeismar police station.
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