Ivan Solod, a 65-year-old pensioner, boards up the window of his apartment that was recently damaged during shelling, in the town of Kurakhove, located near the front line, in the Pokrovsk district of the eastern Donetsk region, on October 8, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's army announced on October 2, 2024 that it had withdrawn from the eastern town of Vugledar, handing Russia one of its most significant territorial advances in weeks. The coal mining town's fall raised new questions about Ukraine's defensive positions along its southeastern front line as Russian forces advance ahead of winter. Around 14,000 people lived in Vugledar before Russia invaded, making it one of Moscow's more important gains in months of grinding advances across the east. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)