In the army now: Pictures that show how ordinary Ukrainians have been shaped by war

The Russian bombs that began falling on Ukraine on 24 February 2022 turned tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians into soldiers overnight.

Many who had never held a weapon before rushed to take up arms. In the four years that have followed, as the war has ground on and the initial patriotic fervour has died down, thousands more have been conscripted. For men, service is open-ended and applies to those aged 25-65. Women can serve on a contractual basis.

Speaking from mud-soaked dugouts, drone command centres, frontline observation posts and rehabilitation centres, nine Ukrainian soldiers have told the BBC about the civilians they once were, the soldiers they have become – and the toll the war has taken on them.

Olena, 26: 'My place is here as long as the enemy is in my house'

Not long ago, Olena worked as a nightclub administrator in Prague. "It felt like everything was ahead of me - and there was plenty of time," she says. Then, she realised if she didn't protect her future, she would remain stuck in the past.

In December 2024, she returned to Ukraine, joined the army and became a pilot.

"I look at the 'before' photo and see myself calmer," Olena says. "More naive. Everything became different. I became different."

"My 'past' life was filled with a constant chase: to make it in time, to achieve, to build, to earn, to prove. Now, everything is simpler: what matters is that my brothers-in-arms are alive after enemy strikes."

The difficult moments, Olena says, are not the explosions or the danger: "Sometimes the hardest thing is the silence after the news of losses."

She finds strength in thinking of her family, away from the front lines, who "survive a week without light and heating, but don't lose the hope for a better future".

While the fighting continues, she can't imagine another life: "My place is here as long as the enemy is in my house."

Oleh, 37: 'I am not a military man, I have never seen myself like that'

Like the majority of Ukrainians, on 24 February 2022 Oleh was "confused, and scared".

Some ran towards the borders; others, to the enlistment offices. "I froze, trying to master my fear," says Oleh, a publishing graduate and former NGO worker. "I am not a military man, I have never seen myself like that, and I did not understand how ordinary people could stand in the way of such a powerful enemy like Russia."

But the next month, Oleh - who loved role-playing board games and wrote fiction - joined the army.

As a soldier, he says, "you are constantly in a small room in your head, the space of which is getting smaller every time. Outside the window, others are living… while there is no handle on the door on your side to get out."

The war has jolted him. "Before, it was important for me to help others find their way, to become strong, self-confident. Now I understand that the technique of positive thinking does not save you from armed thugs."

Getting rid of them, Oleh says, is a way of helping not with words but deeds.

"You can't save everyone. But even your unsuccessful attempts will matter."

Anastasiia, 19: 'Before, I didn't have a clear concept of values in life'

When she finished school, Anastasia didn't know what she wanted to be, so she took up a job as a barista. Then she became fascinated by drones - the nimble, deadly aircraft that have become centrepieces of the war in Ukraine - and in March 2025 joined the army.

"I first held the position of unmanned systems duty officer, and then became an FPV (first person view) operator," she says. Since then, she has found that being a woman in the armed forces "was and still is the most difficult thing".

"You constantly have to prove you are worthy of doing the job, and on an equal footing with others."

In the 11 months since signing up, Anastasia says she has learned about happiness. "Time with loved ones, love, delicious food," she lists. "Being close to your family. Not being afraid that you won't wake up tomorrow."

"⁠Before, I didn't have a clear concept of values in this life due to my age," she says. "Now, I feel completely different."

Roman, 42: 'I try not to think about the future'

Before the full-scale invasion started, Roman was one of Ukraine's top bio-engineers, trained to create 3D models for facial reconstruction surgeries. After 2022, he volunteered as a medic, and was later mobilised. "If the war hadn't happened I may have moved to Copenhagen. I worked there a lot, with the best surgeons," he says.

Instead, he has spent the last years in dugouts around Ukraine. Now, from his position in the north of the country he tries "not to think about the future - I live here and now". He operates drones and lends his medical skills whenever possible. In a sense, he says, his life is his work - just as it was before he joined the army.

For now, there is no end in sight.

"I will rest after the war," he laughs. Then he pauses. "No, there'll be lots of reconstruction surgery to be done then. So, maybe, after that."

Viktor, 28: 'I look at these photos and it's like a different person'

The photo on the left was taken in early 2022 - a few weeks before Viktor took what he says was the most important decision of his life.

He had already served four years in the army and moved to Poland, but the afternoon of the start of the Russian invasion he went back to Ukraine: "Not because I wasn't afraid, but because I had no choice."

"In these photos, I am young. A little boy," he says now. "I barely remember myself like that anymore. But I remember very clearly who I became, and who the war turned me into."

When he shared these photos on social media, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers followed suit: "Our eyes say a lot. There's no need to even spell out the things we have seen or done."

Almost all the friends he joined up with have died.

"I look at these photos and it's like a different person, but at the same time I'm still me - just someone who didn't know what was ahead. It's probably good that I didn't know."

Serhii, 42: Two years as a prisoner of war

The day of the Russian invasion, Serhii – a civilian with a government job - joined the army. By spring he was one of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia during the siege of the Azovstal steelworks in the coastal city of Mariupol.

He was held for over two years and captivity remains the most harrowing experience of his life. "That feeling of being doomed… Out of everything I've done in the army and in life overall, that was the worst. Not having any idea what the future could bring or what would come next."

During the long days of the siege he speaks of "a profound reassessment of my values - it felt as if you suddenly start rushing to live". He thought about his life before and after the war and set goals for how he would live if he managed to survive. He is now in rehabilitation and lives with his wife and two children.

"If I look at my photo from before the full-scale invasion, I can say only one thing: 'Oh, kid, you have no idea what still awaits you."

Kyrylo, 35: 'I had plans - the war took them all away'

Before 2022, Kyrilo's life was good.

"I had a wife, two children, a house – everything I needed. I had plans."

The war, he says, took it all away.

Kyrylo was held in captivity in Russia for several weeks in 2022 and watched comrades being abused. "It was hard," he says, "when you can't even stand up to defend them."

The return to freedom in Ukraine was no less difficult. "Very often you run into the fact that you're nobody. And for soldiers this happens a lot: while you're fighting, you're something, someone. As soon as you stop - then that's it, you're nobody."