Ten-year-old Yaroslav Kostiyk has endured much in his short life.
Born the year after Russia annexed Crimea, he has only ever known a time when Ukraine has been partially occupied.
At two years old, he was diagnosed with a kidney tumour and underwent years of chemotherapy before being declared cancer-free just as Ukraine was invaded for a second time in February 2022.
He and his mother, Anzhela Zalevadna, were living in their home town of Mariupol as Russian tanks rolled in and started taking over their city.
"I was scared. Everything was exploding, everything was rumbling," he told the ABC.
They lived through three weeks of occupation before deciding it was too dangerous to stay and fled to Spain.
They never imagined the war would still be going three years on.
"Everyone was hoping that it would be 2 to 3 days, that there would be some kind of … agreement, or someone would say they could not attack people like that, but this miracle did not happen.
"When they gave us permission to leave on 15 March, we had to go, because it was really scary to stay, especially since Yaroslav has diabetes. We were measuring his sugars by phone, it was constantly disconnected, and we were charging it only from cars, from batteries — there was no heat, the temperature in the apartment was 5 degrees.
"I was worried how long it would take, whether we would have enough insulin, whether we would have enough sensors to measure his sugar levels," she said.
Ukraine marks three years since invasion
They have since returned and now live in the capital Kyiv, but the horrors of war haven't stopped.
Air raid sirens continue throughout the night as drones lurch low over the capital.
Gunfire can be heard sporadically as Ukrainian air defences try to shoot down the threats, but not all are intercepted.
Last year when Yaroslav was visiting his mum while working at Kyiv's largest children's hospital, it was hit with a direct missile strike.
"In a moment, there's was this pumping pressure, the lights go out, then an explosion and everything falls apart… It was scary. It was dark, immediately such a panic, she said.
"We found the phone, took our things and made an attempt to get to the basement. There was a lot of blood on the floor. So much … like a path of blood and everybody was running in a panic".
As Ukraine prepares to mark three years since Russia's full-scale invasion began before dawn on February 24, 2022, Anzhela wants the war to end at any cost.
As the mother of a young boy, she fears for his future and would rather cede territory to Russia than continue fighting.
"We would like this war to end as soon as possible. Not only we, but all people of Ukraine are waiting for this. We don't want to see men die, because they are also someone's children, someone's parents.
Although she'd like Ukraine's borders restored to what they were when it declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, she admits that's unrealistic.
"If there is no return, then at least let it end this way, so that we can sleep peacefully, make some plans for the future, and stop people from dying.
"I believe that [the Russians] will not want to give up what they have already won. And it will be another battle, and how fierce it will be … I don't know how it can end", she said.
Country faces uncertain future
About a sixth of Ukraine's territory is occupied by Russia, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and large parts of the east and south that were mostly seized after the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Ukraine wants an end to the war, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stood firm that he won't accept any peace deal that gives occupied territory to Russia.
In recent weeks though, Kyiv's leaders have signalled it may be open to negotiating over territory but that it is committed to restoring its internationally recognised, pre-2014 borders.
Mr Zelenskyy has also tirelessly called for NATO membership to protect Ukraine against future Russian attacks.
But Donald Trump's ascension to the White House for a second time has turned negotiations on their head, as three years of American foreign policy on the war has been abandoned in his wake.
Within weeks of taking office, his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed European security leaders. He ruled out NATO membership as an option for Ukraine and said it was unrealistic to return the country the borders it held prior to Crimea's 2014 annexation.
America then swiftly organised peace talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia, cutting Ukraine out of the process.
As those were underway, Donald Trump lambasted President Zelenskyy, labelling him a "dictator" who started the war and has done nothing to end it.
He's since admitted Russia was in fact the one who invaded Ukraine at Vladimir Putin's orders, but he doubled down on saying Mr Zelenskyy has failed to bring it to an end and isn't important in the peace process.
'Russia never keeps to its agreements'
For those who've fought Russian troops for the past three years, the rhetoric of Donald Trump and his new aides comes as a betrayal.
They turned their backs on life as it was, their families and friends, to fight a war they thought the western world was supporting.
"I think it's just a provocation, frankly speaking, I don't know how to react to this", soldier Victor Bogoyavlensky told the ABC.
Tens of thousands have paid the ultimate price or now have lifelong injuries and amputated limbs, including Victor. He lost both of his legs fighting on the frontline in Chasiv Yar six months ago when he and his team had to quickly take cover.
"This time we were in a hurry to get to our positions, the landscape had changed a lot due to the shelling, so I found nothing better than to tell the guys to scatter, to lie on the ground away from each other.
"I also lay down on the ground and watched the guys. And then a mine just hit me. It happens. This is just bad luck", he said.
But for Victor, conceding Ukrainian territory to Russia as suggested by the new American administration would mean all their sacrifices would be in vain.
"The fact is, I don't see the end of the war here on our territory. Of course, I want our territory to be completely liberated from the occupiers.
"But I just don't believe in such agreements. Even if everything is frozen on the front line now, we will still continue the war in a year or two, simply because Russia never keeps to its agreements", he said.
The Ukrainian community in Sydney raised money to send Victor to Australia for treatment where he'll return within weeks to be fitted with new prosthetics.
He described being able to stand up the day after surgery as "something quite extraordinary".
"There I was met by wonderful people, the Ukrainian diaspora in Sydney. I just adore them all. They are powerful volunteers.
"Now my goal is to develop new prostheses for people without legs. Maybe we will get prosthetic arms, but first we need to make prosthetic legs, bionic ones, more technologically advanced," he said.
Here in Kyiv, he's receiving physiotherapy and rehabilitation at a purpose-built facility for injured soldiers.
"A person with an amputation is a lifelong problem, it cannot be cured. We do not yet have the technology to reprogram the brain", Vyacheslav Zaporozhets, founder and head of Prosthetic Rehabilitation Centre told the ABC.
'We need to stop people from dying'
Mr Zaporozhets said Ukraine is now estimated to have around 80,000 soldiers with amputated limbs. About 1,000 new cases are reported each month.
Ukraine is only able to make enough prosthetics to keep up with half the number of those in need.
Working alongside leading prosthetic surgeons, he set up the centre in 2023, but his job doesn't just involve the physical needs of injured soldiers. He also plays a big role boosting morale.
"Our patients, our veterans ask me: what is this all for? And I reply: we must create our identity, we have to defend our values, we are a nation. We can't guarantee the conditions," he said.
But the latest commentary from the White House has left him upset and feeling betrayed.
"Unfortunately, Trump wants to restore America to number one, that's why he went to the negotiations with Russia.
"It's a very hard thing to realise that we lost more than a hundred thousand young men, this is our nation, it is our DNA. We have lost 10 million Ukrainians who have left abroad, it will be hard to return for them," he said.
Although he wants a just end to the war, he does want peace swiftly, having worked alongside countless injured men.
"There will be negotiations, there will be meetings, and Ukraine will be offered and even blackmailed into signing peace agreements. My opinion: we need peace, we need to stop people from dying.
"The guarantors' decision will be to deploy peacekeeping troops. That's how I understand it, only that way", he said.
