Ukraine lives on, even if some don’t want to see

KYIV, Ukraine — The body pulled from a pit in Izium was in a bad state of decomposition, the skin peeling from the bone and drained of color. One thing stood out: the blue and yellow bracelet around the dead man's wrist.

The Ukrainian flag's colors had barely faded.

The corpse, one of hundreds exhumed after Ukraine reclaimed Izium from the Russians this month, was another reminder of the savage toll of the war. The bracelet conveyed something different: the fortitude and individuality amid a grim tableau of mass death. It seemed to send a very defiant message: Ukraine lives on, even if some of its people don't.

The image captured the imagination of the nation.

It was shared widely on Facebook and the Telegram messaging app. Russian atrocities were evidenced by Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, when he spoke to the UN Security Council on Thursday.