From the mass graves of Bucha to recruitment struggles in Kyiv, the cost of independence has been measured in blood and sacrifice.

The name Bucha has become a symbol of the cruelty Russian invading forces have been capable of; a memorial has been erected over the original mass grave, from which the bodies of 117 civilians were exhumed following the Russian retreat from the area.

The war has left no Ukrainian family untouched.

For one local resident, time has done nothing to allay the frustration over a lack of accountability on the part of the murderers, and, most recently, the new approach to Ukraine and the war taken by U.S. President Donald Trump.

One resident, Larissa, said: "[Bucha] was horrific. So horrific that I still cry. How is this possible? And how does it all continue without punishment?"

The latest developments have been for Larissa a "betrayal, a vile betrayal by America. They want to make all the decisions immediately and then pressure us — give us the resources, give us this, give us that. It is infuriating."

Vasili, Larissa's spouse, was hardly unaccustomed to Russian/Soviet soldiers of yesteryear, and wondered how this often fairly anodyne force had transformed into one which commits war crimes in neighboring Ukraine.

He said: "I served as an officer in Siberia, the other side of Lake Baikal. I used to talk to them — they were normal people. So what has happened to them now?"
Vasili and Larissa, who made it through over a month under Russian occupation,
The Lisove cemetery is the largest military cemetery in Kyiv.

While there, the "Aktuaalne kaamera" news team was able to locate the grave of a journalist, Serhii Ilnitsky.

This was particularly poignant for Aleksejev since it was Ilnitsky, nicknamed "Eagle," who had first fixed it for him and ERR camera operator Kristjan Svirgsden to be among the first foreign reporters to enter the southern city of Kherson after it was liberated in late 2022.

More than that, the Estonian pair had become firm friends with Ilnitsky.
As Aleksejev noted from the graveside: "If even I, an Estonian journalist, have friends here, what can we say about the Ukrainians? Here you can fully see the price that Ukraine is paying for its independence."

For ordinary Ukrainians, February 24, 2025, despite being the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion, is just another wartime day.

A new recruitment center has opened in central Kyiv, but the "Aktuaalne kaamera" team saw scanty evidence of people rallying to the call at that point in time they were there.

Petro Avramych, head of Ukraine's national defense recruitment center, however told ERR this was not usually the case.

"We are constantly accepting volunteers," he said.

"Right now, it may seem like there aren't any, but we know they are out there. We get hundreds of applications per week. Hundreds of people join national defense via the recruitment system. And if we consider the entire Ukrainian defense forces, we're talking about thousands a month," Avramych went on.

The war enters its fourth year with the question remaining, how long will Ukraine continue to fight, when might there be a ceasefire, what form will this take, and will it be fair to Ukraine?

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal skipped celebrating Independence Day at home this year in order to officially visit Kyiv on the third anniversary, reaffirming Estonia's strong support for Ukraine and calling for faster action and increased assistance.

Meanwhile, at a meeting at the White House with French President Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump expressed optimism about ending the war in Ukraine amid lines of communication he has been keeping open with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

European Council President António Costa on Sunday called a special meeting of European leaders for Thursday, March 6. "We are living a defining moment for Ukraine and European security," Costa said in a social media post announcing his decision to convene the special European Council.

The U.S. voted with Russia and against key allies such as the U.K. and many European nations on a European-draft resolution at the UN. The UN vote remained neutral overall, with the U.S. also backing a resolution less critical of Russia.

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