People are seen preparing to pl... on Thursday, January 19, 2023.

People are seen preparing to plunge into the water of the Dnipro River to mark the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Thursday, January 19, 2023.

The Dnipro River, Axis of Life and Death in Ukraine

The river has helped to define Ukraine’s history and culture, and remains vital to daily sustenance, even as it also serves as a front line in war — as it has countless times over thousands of years.

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A Ukrainian soldier stood outsi...n Ukrainian and Russian forces.

A Ukrainian soldier stood outside a bunker, which is connected to a trench system overlooking a lake on the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, Ukraine, on Monday, January 23, 2023. Ukrainian forces watch the Dnipro River bank and its tributaries closely from a network of trenches and bunkers approximately 5km from the Russian-controlled east bank of the Dnipro River, with Potemkin Island in between, contested between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

A damaged statue of a swan is s... by the Russian military since.

A damaged statue of a swan is seen behind the destroyed administration building in Kherson, Ukraine, on Thursday, January 19, 2023. Kherson was retaken by Ukrainian forces from Russian troops in October, but has been shelled regularly by the Russian military since.

A wounded man is prepared for t... village in the Kherson region.

A wounded man is prepared for transport by an ambulance crew from a hospital in Kherson, Ukraine, to Kyiv, Ukraine on Friday, January 20, 2023. The man was wounded in an artillery attack three days earlier in Veletenske, a village in the Kherson region.

The thunder of artillery echoes night and day over the mighty Dnipro River as it winds its way through southern Ukraine. With Russian and Ukrainian forces squared off on opposite banks, fighters have replaced fishermen, surveillance drones circle overhead and mines line the marshy embankments.
Carving an arc through Ukraine from its northern border to the Black Sea, through Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, the Dnipro shapes the country’s geography and economy, its culture and its very identity. And now it helps define the contours of battle — as it has for millenniums, a barrier and a conduit to warring Scythians, Greeks, Vikings, Huns, Cossacks, Russians, Germans and many more.
Visiting towns and villages along the Dnipro a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion and ahead of a much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, Nicole Tung, a photographer for The New York Times, traveled a path marked by hope and horror, joy and sorrow.

Fishermen waited for fish on th..., on Tuesday, January 17, 2023.

Fishermen waited for fish on the frozen Dnipro River in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Tuesday, January 17, 2023.

Mykola Derebas, 54, wove a fish...ent since the start of the war.

Mykola Derebas, 54, wove a fishing net in the confines of his garage in Malokaterynivka, Ukraine, on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.

Mr. Derebas, who has been a fisherman for over thirty years, and who earned his entire income from fishing, lost his job at the start of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He has not been able to find a job where his skills are most useful since, and has not been able to do much fishing for his own family in the Dnipro River either: the water levels in the river have dropped by approximately 1.5 meters, a 30-year low, after Russian forces partially damaged the Nova Kakhovka dam in the Kherson region during the Ukrainian counter-offensive to retake parts of the territory late in 2022. Russian forces have also opened several sluice gates of the dam, allowing an excess of water to drain from the reservoir and causing a severe drop in river water levels upstream as far as Zaporizhzhia, where another dam is located. For Mr. Derebas, the war has affected him financially and psychologically. “It’s a kind of depression,” he says of not being able to earn a livelihood, or carry out his favorite hobby of fishing. Mr. Derebas’ only source of help now comes from the local church, where he can occasionally collect humanitarian aid, as well as much needed diapers for his 1-year-old daughter, Maria. To make some form of income, he also weaves fish nets to sell to clients, but says that the prices for the raw material - including nylon and pig iron - have increased drastically since the start of the war. Weaving fish nets also comes with its challenges, as fishing in the Dnipro River with nets has been banned by the Ukrainian government since the start of the war.

A fish monger put out fresh cat...e, on Sunday, January 22, 2023.

A fish monger put out fresh catch, which was delivered from the Mykolaiv region, for sale at her stall in a bazaar in Kherson, Ukraine, on Sunday, January 22, 2023.

A large bust of the Russian poe...sure of how to dispose of them.

A large bust of the Russian poet, novelist and playwright Alexander Pushkin is seen near a statue of the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Ilych Lenin, both discarded near trailers in a metal collection yard in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, on Thursday, February 2, 2023. Following Ukraine’s 2014 ban on Soviet symbols, hundreds of statues of Lenin, as well as other Soviet-era leaders, and Russian writers who wrote about Ukraine in what was deemed a derogatory way were removed from their plinths and cast aside. They have often ended up in abandoned buildings, lots, peoples’ gardens, or in scrap yards like this one in Kremenchuk, an industrial city on the Dnipro River that is also home to manufacturers of vehicles and military equipment, as residents are unsure of how to dispose of them.

Oleksii Palalakh, 51, with his ... civil-military administration.

Oleksii Palalakh, 51, with his cat Filip Bedrosevich, at Mr. Palalakh’s home in Kherson, Ukraine, on Thursday, January 26, 2023. Mr. Palalakh is a local historian who stayed in Kherson during the nearly nine-month occupation by Russian forces and civil-military administration.

A barge that sank in 2020 while...mmunities reliant on the river.

A barge that sank in 2020 while transporting cement rubble is seen further exposed by low water levels (before the destruction of the Nova Kahovka Dam several months later) in the Dnipro River near Rozumivka, Ukraine, on Friday, February 3, 2023. According to locals, as well as workers a water utility company, the Dnipro River’s water levels have dropped by nearly 1.5 meters in some places down stream from the Dnipro hydroelectric power station following Russian forces’ withdrawal from parts of the Kherson region in November 2022. Russian forces have retained control of the Nova Kakhovka dam near Kherson, and blew up a section of the dam during their withdrawal. They have also since opened several sluice gates for unknown reasons, releasing millions of cubic meters of water per day, affecting upstream communities reliant on the river.

A worker tested samples of wate...ding it homes around the city.

A worker tested samples of water at a lab of Dniprovodokanal, a water utility company, in the Dnipro region, Ukraine, on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. Dniprovodokanal supplies 30 percent of Dnipro residents with water, pumping it from the river before filtering, treating, and testing it for quality before sending it homes around the city. Dniprovodokanal supplies 30 percent of Dnipro residents with water, pumping it from the river before filtering, treating, and testing it for quality before sending it homes around the city.

A sign warning of radiation is ...in a concern for its residents.

A sign warning of radiation is seen on a gate in a fenced-off area on the site of the Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant in Kamianske, Ukraine, on Thursday, February 2, 2023. Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant was the Soviet Union’s largest uranium processing plant, which processed iron ore to make yellow cake for the Soviet nuclear arsenal. According to a report published by Bellona, an organization fighting climate change and examining environmental issues, an estimated 40 million tons of radioactive waste is now housed at or near the chemical plant’s site, which amounts to 15 times the waste in Chernobyl nuclear power plant’s Reactor 4. The formerly secret site is located to the city of Kamianske, with a population of nearly a quarter of a million people, and waste contamination from the site has affected towns people. The Dnipro River, Ukraine’s largest waterway, is also running close by the site, making contamination and pollution a larger threat to the country and European continent in the event that nuclear waste were to reach the river. Fears over the potential for the site to be shelled, thereby releasing radioactive material into the air, have so far gone unrealized, but remain a concern for its residents.

Commuters rode a bus past apart...e, on Friday, February 3, 2023.

Commuters rode a bus past apartment blocks built during the 1980s in a working class neighborhood, near a chemical plant in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Friday, February 3, 2023.

Actors and dancers rehearsed on... the Poltava region of Ukraine.

Actors and dancers rehearsed on stage before the start of the folk musical performance of Sorochinsky Fair, at the Dnipro Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Saturday, January 28, 2023. Sorochinsky Fair is based on a short story by the Ukrainian novelist Nikolai Gogol, who was born in the village of Velyki Sorochyntsi in the Poltava region of Ukraine.

Children played on frozen water... on Saturday, January 28, 2023.

Children played on frozen water at an abandoned outdoor gym on the Dnipro River, in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Saturday, January 28, 2023.

Residents gathered at an aid di...on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.

Residents gathered at an aid distribution point, supported by a Swedish NGO, in Zmiivka, Ukraine, on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.

Halyna Prokofeyna, 81, cried wh...y across the river from nearby.

Halyna Prokofeyna, 81, cried while reacting to the sound of shelling outside, in the town of Antonivka, Ukraine, on Sunday, January 22, 2023. Ms. Prokofeyna was sheltering in the basement of her home, which was damaged the day before by shelling. She and her neighbor and son have been sleeping nightly in the basement. Antonivka, lying directly across the river from Russian-occupied territory, and where the strategic Antonivskiy Bridge was located, is now regularly shelled following Russian forces’ withdrawal from the city of Kherson in November 2022. Antonivka, previously home to approximately 12,000 people, remains vulnerable to attack as Ukrainian forces fire artillery across the river from nearby.

Students played checkers while ...le invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Students played checkers while others chatted to each other during gym class at a school in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, February 9, 2023. Dozens of students have been taken in by the school since the 2014 war, and dozens more since the start of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Members of a military explosive... people have recently returned.

Members of a military explosive ordnance disposal team (EOD) lays unexploded ordnance near a destroyed turret before a controlled detonation in the village of Oleksandrivka, Ukraine, on Monday, January 23, 2023. Oleksandrivka, in Kherson region, is a village on the Dnipro River, which became a frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces before Russian troops occupied the settlement that had a pre-war population of 2,000 people. 16 people remained in the village throughout the nearly eight-month Russian occupation, and just over 100 people have recently returned.

Police searched the handbag of ...n forces from across the river.

Police searched the handbag of a woman to find her identification documents after she was killed in shelling in Beryslav, Ukraine, on Wednesday, January 25, 2023. Two other people were injured. The woman was killed approximately 10 minutes earlier. Beryslav, which lies on the Dnipro River, is being regularly shelled by Russian forces from across the river.

Volunteers are seen unloading l... people have recently returned.

Volunteers are seen unloading logs to be chopped into firewood for local residents to use in the heavily destroyed village of Oleksandrivka, Ukraine, on Thursday, January 26, 2023. Oleksandrivka, in Kherson region, became a frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces before Russian troops occupied the settlement that had a pre-war population of 2,000 people. 16 people remained in the village throughout the nearly eight-month Russian occupation, and just over 100 people have recently returned.

A family took photos over the G..., on Tuesday, February 7, 2023.

A family took photos over the Glass Bridge, a pedestrian crossing with glass floor panels over the Dnipro River running through the capital of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, February 7, 2023.

A damaged Russian tank is seen ... people have recently returned.

A damaged Russian tank is seen in a destroyed village that was the frontline between Russian and Ukrainian forces in Kherson region, Ukraine, on Tuesday, January 24, 2023. Oleksandrivka, in Kherson region, became a frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces before Russian troops occupied the settlement that had a pre-war population of 2,000 people. 16 people remained in the village throughout the nearly eight-month Russian occupation, and just over 100 people have recently returned.

People wait for a rowboat to cr..., on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.

People wait for a rowboat to cross on a section of the Inhulets River, a tributary of the Dnipro River, in Kherson region, Ukraine, on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.

Residents lined up for hot meal...e, on Sunday, January 22, 2023.

Residents lined up for hot meal distribution provided by World Central Kitchen in Kherson, Ukraine, on Sunday, January 22, 2023.

Ukrainian soldiers prepared to ...d surprise amphibious assaults.

Ukrainian soldiers prepared to load a shell into an artillery gun to fire at Russian positions in the Kherson region, Ukraine, on Tuesday, January 24, 2023. Following the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kherson region in November 2022, the Dnipro River has become the de facto frontline between the Russian and Ukrainian sides, with both armies firing artillery across the river. The islands in the middle of the river have become contested territory, as each side observes the other with drones, and surprise amphibious assaults.

A couple filled jugs with water...rs water from the Dnipro River.

A couple filled jugs with water from a well by the Dnipro River in the village of Zmiivka, Ukraine, on Wednesday, January 25, 2023. Residents have been prevented from fishing in the river as a result of lower than normal water levels as well as the threat of snipers and shelling from Russian forces on the left bank, visible on the horizon. As much of the village is without running water and electricity, residents must collect water rom the well that extracts and filters water from the Dnipro River.

A section for unidentified sold...on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.

A section for unidentified soldiers who were killed in eastern Ukraine since 2014 is seen in a cemetery where soldiers who have recently been buried since Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine are seen in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.

Members of the choir in the Chu...e, on Sunday, February 5, 2023.

Members of the choir in the Church of Saints Boris and Gleb of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church sang during Sunday service, in Vyshhorod, Ukraine, on Sunday, February 5, 2023.

Members of an explosive ordnanc... people have recently returned.

Members of an explosive ordnance disposal team drove past destroyed civilian and military vehicles on a road leading out of the village of Oleksandrivka Ukraine, on Monday, January 23, 2023. Oleksandrivka, in Kherson region, is a village on the Dnipro River, which became a frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces before Russian troops occupied the settlement that had a pre-war population of 2,000 people. 16 people remained in the village throughout the nearly eight-month Russian occupation, and just over 100 people have recently returned.

Nicole Tung

The Dnipro River, Axis of Life and Death in Ukraine

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