The Russian bombs that began falling on Ukraine on 24 February 2022 turned tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians into soldiers overnight.
Many who had never held a weapon before rushed to take up arms. In the four years that have followed, as the war has ground on and the initial patriotic fervour has died down, thousands more have been conscripted. For men, service is open-ended and applies to those aged 25-65. Women can serve on a contractual basis.
Speaking from mud-soaked dugouts, drone command centres, frontline observation posts and rehabilitation centres, nine Ukrainian soldiers have told the BBC about the civilians they once were, the soldiers they have become – and the toll the war has taken on them.
Not long ago, Olena worked as a nightclub administrator in Prague. "It felt like everything was ahead of me - and there was plenty of time," she says. Then, she realised if she didn't protect her future, she would remain stuck in the past.
In December 2024, she returned to Ukraine, joined the army and became a pilot.
