A year ago, 4 a.m.: This image changed the world forever

This picture was one of the first pictures showing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A lone Ukrainian guard, seen in security cameras, leaving a border checkpoint in the south of the country.

It was only 4: 00 a.m. in Ukraine when this photo was posted on social networks.

A few hours later, Ukraine's Border Guard would post this video of what was approaching them -- vehicles of the Russian invading forces.

The war in Ukraine entered its second year Friday, until President Voldymyr Zelensky pledged that Ukraine “would defeat all of its”, and that the leaders of the Allied countries will impose new sanctions on Russia and other states supporting its war.

Through a video message, Zelensky said: “We are strong. We're ready for everything. We're going to beat all of it”

So it started on February 24th 2022”, he said, sitting behind a table and remembering the moment he addressed Ukrainians a year ago.

The longest day of our lives. The most difficult day in our modern history. We woke up early and stopped sleeping since then”.

Zelensky described 2022 as a year of endurance, courage, pain, and unity.

Its main conclusion is that we have survived. We didn't. And we will do everything to win this year”, he said.

Ukrainians organised memorial collections, candle lighting, and other activities for tens of thousands of their citizens who lost their lives a number growing all the time as fighting intensified, particularly in the east of the country.

On the first anniversary of the start of the invasion on February 24th, the Ukrainian Army said it expects Russia to conduct air strikes that day.

Air strikes alarms were not heard overnight in the capital Kyev. However, the government recommended that schools shift instruction to the internet and office employees be asked to work from home.

Images about Ukraine's stability also came from European countries. The Eiffel Tower in Paris was among the monuments lit with the colors of Ukraine yellow and blue.

A year later, the victims' figures are large on both sides, with Western estimates of hundreds of thousands killed and injured.