Makeshift memorial grows in Ukraine’s capital after 1,000 days of war

After 1,000 days of war, a makeshift memorial has grown in the heart of Kyiv with thousands of blue-and-yellow flags honouring soldiers who died defending Ukraine.

Created by people in the absence of an official government memorial, the site has become a place of grief and remembrance.

Loved ones visit frequently to honour the fallen, leaving flags, portraits and flowers in their wake.

Many of the soldiers were volunteers who left their civilian lives behind to defend their country.

Their loved ones, left alone with grief, hope their sacrifices will not be forgotten.

They plant small, simple flags, hand-marked with the names and dates they died.

Over time, the flags have multiplied, fluttering in the wind as the seasons change and the war drags on.

She carefully placed a new one in its place.

“So we can live peacefully among our own people, and not have Russians dictate how we should live and what to do.”

Associated Press archives show that the first flags appeared on the lawn in May of the war’s first year, shortly after Russian forces withdrew from the Kyiv region and the capital was no longer under the threat of occupation.

Photos from that time show dozens of flags neatly arranged in rows across the grassy field.

As the war continued, the place has transformed.

Among them, many portraits have appeared – brought by relatives – showing confident, smiling faces in military uniforms.

Svitlana Kanevska, cloaked in a black hood against the drizzly autumn rain, bent over a portrait of her boyfriend, Serhii Ivanytskyi, who had died months earlier in eastern Ukraine.

The photo – a selfie he had sent her during one of their chats – showed him standing in a sunlit Ukrainian field.

Ms Kanevska carefully wiped droplets from the image.

Since Serhii joined the army early in the war, their time together had been scarce, mostly confined to messages.

He kept his location and activities hidden, and their conversations centred largely on love.

Last December, during a brief leave in Kyiv, they passed by this very memorial.

He was killed in the summer of 2024.

“You feel so much pain that you don’t know where to go or what to do,” she said.

That is what brought her here months ago, to place his flag and photo among the countless others.

Ms Kanevska, who works nearby, often visits to mourn.

She is not alone.

The place is strewn with fresh and dried flowers, a concentration of grief and an epicentre of Ukrainian history.

Independence Square, after all, has long been the heart of Ukraine’s revolutions.

City authorities have no control over this memorial.

It was created by people themselves, driven by a deep need to honour their fallen in the absence of an official government memorial.

Soldiers and families come here to sit for long stretches, gazing quietly into the distance.

New flags are added almost daily.

Nearby, funeral ceremonies take place almost every day, followed by moments of silence.

Passers-by stop, kneel and observe in quiet reverence.

But soon, life in the capital moves on, returning to its usual pace.

“If someone thinks of him, it brings him light where he is. He knows he hasn’t been forgotten,” said Andrii Pedychenko, who came to the memorial to put a new flag for his friend who was killed in action about one year ago.

“Each flag is a tragedy. And it reminds us that this is just a small piece because there wouldn’t be enough space here for everyone.”