The sun rose on Sunday with rare warmth in Ukraine as hundreds of families embraced returning prisoners—303 hearts once held captive, now beating freely on home soil. The weight of war briefly lifted, allowing joy to surface amid tears and trembling hands.
But as dusk fell, the air shifted. Joy curdled into dread as sirens pierced the silence. Russia unleashed its wrath—367 missiles and drones igniting the skies and tearing through homes, dreams, and lives. The very same night that had promised peace became a canvas of fire and fear.
Among the rubble: the lifeless bodies of 12 more civilians, three of them children. Ukraine’s sorrow deepens, but so does its plea—to the world, to leaders, to humanity—to stop this nightmare before it consumes all light.