New Year's celebrations were muted for millions of Ukrainians, many of them under Russian bombardment and grappling with power and water shortages, as Russia’s 10-month war rumbles on with no end in sight.
But for some families, it was a chance to reunite, however briefly, after months apart.
A man stood with flowers at Kyiv railway station to meet his wife coming from Poland, while a soldier reunited with his wife and daughter who had moved to Slovakia because of the war.
Back in February, fathers, husbands and sons had to stay behind as their wives, mothers and daughters boarded trains with small children seeking safety outside the country.
But on the last day of the year marked by the brutal war, many returned to the capital to spend New Year’s Eve with their loved ones.
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(with inputs from AP)