Photos by Brendan Hoffman hoffmanbrendan | Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine, wasn't widely known before the recent Russian invasion, but it's long been one of my favorite places. Unfortunately, the city now lies in ruin, with an estimated thousands of civilians killed and the rest forced to flee or live under Russian occupation without essential services. I've made many trips to Mariupol, documenting the lives of the people who made it so interesting. Here's a few of those scenes. People exercise on the beach in April 2021, during an earlier buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine's border. Bantik the clown puts on a show for children at the Mariupol Puppet Theater in January, less than a month before the current invasion. An early February snowstorm in the easternmost district of the city, close to the former front line of the conflict over the Donbas region that began in 2014. Follow me hoffmanbrendan for more human stories from Ukraine and elsewhere. #ukraine #mariupol