• Ukrainians sent Insider reporters their last ‘normal’ photos, taken just before the war broke out. 
• The images show coffee dates, happy newborns, and beloved pets they left behind. 
• They told Insider how distant their former lives now feel. 

Images of Ukraine are now of ruined cities, shell-shocked refugees, and burned-out tanks.

For 44 million Ukrainians, this ‘new world’ quickly erased the lives they had up until February 24, when they awoke to the nightmare of Russia’s invasion of their homeland.

Only memories captured in the last photos of babies, plane journeys, beloved pets, and happy selfies remain of what their country, daily lives, and dreams once were.

Ukrainians, many now forced to become refugees because of Russia’s invasion, shared with Insider reporters poignant images of their final moments before the war broke out.