Summary: Three years after a nine-month Russian occupation ended, Kherson has moved from post-liberation vibrancy to a tense stillness. The city remains under near-constant threat from forces across the Dnipro River. An AP photo gallery documents the fragile calm of daily life and the persistent danger that shadows it.
Kherson's Fragile Calm: Photos Capture a City Living Under Threat Across the Dnipro
Summary: Three years after a nine-month Russian occupation ended, Kherson has moved from post-liberation vibrancy to a tense stillness. The city remains under near-constant threat from forces across the Dnipro River. An AP photo gallery documents the fragile calm of daily life and the persistent danger that shadows it.
02:19 PM, 11/10/2025Conflict
Kherson's fragile calm three years on
Kherson, Ukraine — once buoyant after its liberation, the city has settled into an uneasy, tense stillness. Three years after a nine-month Russian occupation ended, residents and streets alike live under the shadow of near-constant threat from positions across the Dnipro River.
Scenes of daily life and guarded quiet
The images in this gallery reveal quiet streets, cautious routines and the small, resilient moments that persist even as the threat continues. Photographers capture how the city's post-liberation energy has given way to a fragile calm — a mood shaped by precaution, loss and perseverance.
This photo gallery was curated by AP photo editors.
These photographs document not only damage and vigilance but also the ordinary acts of living that persist amid danger. Viewers are left with a powerful visual record of how a community endures when normalcy remains fragile.