Different photos, same wounds: Images from Ukraine, Syria mirror war

By Ethem Emre Ozcan

ANKARA (AA) – It has been 11 years since the civil war in Syria started, and images have now been reflecting same wounds and grief from the Russian war in Ukraine for a month.

Besides military attacks, bombing and destruction, war is pain, tears and loss.

Anadolu Agency correspondents have compared similar photos from the two wars, revealing rescue of civilians from under rubble, destruction and migration, and the suffering of the elderly, children and women.

- Destruction

The images have drawn parallels between the destruction caused by Russian attacks targeting civilian settlements in Ukraine and devastation resulting from attacks by the Assad regime and its supporter Russia on the opposition-held cities in Syria.

Photos by Anadolu Agency photojournalist Andrea Carrubba capturing the destruction after the bombing of several settlements near the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv show similarity with the images shot by his colleague Salih Mahmud Leyla, who documented the ruin in Aleppo after an Assad regime attack.

- Color of pain: Blood

Covered by blood in her face after Russian airstrikes hit Kharkiv, the picture of Olena Kurilo has become the symbol of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Her photo, shot by Anadolu Agency photojournalist Wolfgang Schwan, bears a great resemblance to the picture taken by Muhammed Said, another Anadolu Agency photojournalist, which shows a woman injured in an attack on civilians picking olives in a garden in Idlib.

- Turkish soldier takes care of children fleeing war

After Russia declared a temporary cease-fire in five Ukrainian cities, civilians evacuated the city of Irpin, near the capital Kyiv.

An Anadolu Agency image of a Ukrainian soldier who holds a child in his lap to help him during the evacuation has attracted great attention. A similar photo was shot by Anadolu Agency in June 2015 during the Syrian civil war.

Fleeing the air bombardment of the Tel Abyad region by the US-led coalition forces in 2015 and the conflicts in the region, scores of Syrians migrated to Turkiye. An Anadolu Agency photo, which features an injured child during the escape who was taken to the Turkish side of the border immediately and given water by a Turkish soldier, made a splash.

- Fathers' show of love for babies is among iconic photos

Civilians, who wanted to leave the Ukrainian capital amid Russia's attacks, headed to the Kyiv Train Station. A photo by Anadou Agency photojournalist Aytac Unal, which depicts a Ukrainian father's show of affection when he throws his baby in the air, brought to mind the story of a Syrian father and his baby whose life changed after Anadolu Agency covered their story.

The Syrian baby, Mohammad, born with congenital amputation, was brought to Turkiye as instructed by Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, and returned to Idlib with prosthetic legs. The picture was taken by Muhammed Said.

- Mothers flee war with babies

While millions of civilians have left their countries and migrated to neighboring countries due to the war in Ukraine, millions of Syrians have taken refuge in neighboring countries, mainly in Turkiye, due to the civil war in Syria.

Anadolu Agency photo captured a photo of a helpless Ukrainian mother taking refuge in Poland with her baby in her arms. A similar picture was taken years ago when a mother with her baby in her arms reached the border crossing in Turkiye’s southeastern Sanliurfa province as the war escalated in Syria.

- Elders could not escape attacks

After the war erupted in Ukraine, most of the civilians living in cities under the Russian attacks could not leave their homes. While some settlements were destroyed by Russia's attacks, many civilians escaped from being trapped under the rubble at the last moment.

When an apartment in Kharkiv was damaged in a Russian attack, an old man was taken from the damaged area with the help of two security guards, which Anadolu Agency documented.

A similar shot of this scene was taken years ago after Russia's attack on a neighborhood in Aleppo. An elderly citizen, who was injured in the attack of the Russian warplanes, was rescued from the rubble with the help of the locals.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan