Six months of Ukraine war. Six images that shook the world

It's been nearly six months since hostilities broke out between Russia and Ukraine. The war has been vicious and shows no sign of ending. In this image Ukrainian firefighters are trying to extinguish a massive blaze after a bombing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 17, 2022.

At least 12 million people have fled their homes since the war began in Ukraine, as per the UN. Here refugees stand in a group after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at the border crossing in Palanca, Moldova, Thursday, March 10, 2022.

In the face of a long and bloody war of attrition unfolding in Ukraine, the human toll is likely to worsen. Massive Western assistance and a face-off between the Russian army and Ukrainian military has resulted in a humanitarian crisis. Combat losses have been heavy on both sides.

Six months into a war with no clear end in sight, there have been intense battles and widespread devastation in places like Kherson, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Sievierodonetsk and Kyiv. After some initial successes by the Ukrainian Army in repelling the Russian military in northern Ukraine, a stand-off has ensued.

Bombing and airstrikes have reduced large swaths of many cities and towns to rubble. Smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol during shelling, in Mariupol, in Eastern Ukraine, May 7, 2022.

Human cost of the war. Many unidentified bodies found in the Bucha region were interred in a mass burial last week. This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of Bucha, Ukraine, with the church of St. Andrew at centre and the site of a probable mass grave just above that on Thursday March 31, 2022.