Ukrainians mourn missing homes and loved ones after four years of war

Internally displaced Ukrainian woman Halyna Popriadukhina reacts as she talks about her son Oleksandr who went missing fighting at the frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in her new home in Dzenzelivka, Ukraine, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

DZENZELIVKA, Ukraine, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Sixty-five-year-old Halyna Popriadukhina has fled her ⁠home three times as Russian troops have marched deeper into eastern Ukraine during four years of war. Tired of running, she hopes Ukraine can somehow hold ⁠them back.

"I'm afraid there's nowhere else to escape," she said, the exhaustion apparent in her voice as she relates how one of her sons is ‌missing in action, the other likely held by Russian forces.