The pink blossoms of sakura trees hang peacefully in Mukachevo, a town of 85,500 in western Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region. No sirens, gunfire, distant artillery or the motorbike growl of Iranian drones disturb the blooms under the gentle sun – only the humming of insects.
It’s an unusual scene in Ukraine, 14 months on from Russia’s full-scale invasion.
On 3 May alone, Russia shelled the southern Kherson region 98 times, killing 23 people in a single attack on a city supermarket. And on the night of 4 May, Russia attacked Ukraine with 24 drones against a background of offensive operations in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
