Ukraine has entered its third year of war, with leaders from around the world travelling to Kyiv to pledge their support to the war-torn country.
With severe ammunition and soldier shortages, Ukraine is now relying on international aid more than ever, to survive what is yet to come.
To mark the two-year anniversary, soldiers attended a memorial for their fallen comrades in central Kyiv.
There is a flag planted in the ground for every Kyiv soldier killed in the way, and six of them are for Artem's friends.
"It's hard for all of us," he said.
Ukraine is running out of fighters, so lawmakers are rushing to drop the conscription age from 27 to 25.
Artem turns 25 on April 10, and he expects a birthday call to duty.
"I hope that not only me, but the other younger guys, will stay in this country and they will defend it."
But after two years of brutal battle, President Zelensky today acknowledged the growing calls for a truce.
"Any normal person wants the war to end but none of us will allow our Ukraine to end," he said.
Nineteen-year-old Emilia Devoe fled the country when the war started, but refused to give up on her homeland and returned to Kyiv when it felt safe enough.
Her father Michael is a Kiwi, and so while Ukrainian men of fighting age are not allowed to leave the country; thanks to their New Zealand passports, the entire family, including Michael, was able to flee to the Netherlands when the war started.
While Emilia has returned to Kyiv, her mother, father and sister remain in the Netherlands, where they have rebuilt their lives from scratch.
"It's been hard. But it could have been worse. Yeah. Just a lot of adjusting," Emilia said, as she reflected on the past two years of war.
And what next, for her country?
"It's not as good as I hoped it to be in the beginning, but I think the future will still be really good for Ukraine," she decided.
Two years in - and reality is starting to hit as hard as Putin's missiles.
