NOVOSELIVKA, Ukraine — In the tiny village of Novoselivka in northern Ukraine, the only things still standing upright and untouched are the flowers.
Daffodils and green shoots frame piles of warped metal and splintered wood, where houses once stood. Tulips blow in the wind among mangled steel and crumbling cinderblocks.
Cherry blossoms droop from branches, pointing downwards at wide roadside craters. For the about 800 residents who lived in Novoselivka before the war, the new blooms once simply heralded the arrival of spring.
Now, for the handful of villagers who remain in the destroyed village, they are a reminder of the passage of time, as weeks wear on and they remain homeless, wondering where they will go next.