Children of Ukraine during the war: photo exhibition opened at the Council of Europe

A French photographer of Ukrainian origin, Yuriy Bilak, has taken a series of pictures showing Ukrainian children whose homes, villages and towns suffered from Russian bombing and occupation. Ukrinform reports that.

Theexhibition "Dawn" in the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg to the second anniversary of the full-scale war was opened by Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Bjorn Berge.

These children should be in school, playing with friends, spending time with their families. Thinking about the future. The international community - all of us - must do everything possible to support Ukraine, and we must have the will and the stamina to do it as long as it takes," Bjorn Berge said.

He recalled that hundreds of children have been killed, more than a thousand injured, and tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been abducted and sent to Russia, Belarus or Ukrainian territories under Russian occupation.

Through these powerful photographs, Yuriy Bilak reveals the harsh reality of childhood marred by the consequences of Russian aggression and reminds us of the joy and security that these young souls are unjustly deprived of," said Borys Tarasyuk, Ukraine's representative to the Council of Europe.

Yuriy Bilak was born in France to a Ukrainian family who travelled there after World War II. He has been photographing Ukraine since 2014, capturing the events of the Revolution of Dignity and the Russian-Ukrainian war.