Day 17: Images of destruction, Ukrainian defiance

In besieged towns and cities around Ukraine on Saturday, smoke rose from destroyed buildings and burned-out cars. Soldiers patrolled deserted, debris-filled streets. And hospitals struggled to treat the injured, provide shelter and deliver babies.

Meanwhile, the exodus of refugees from the country continued. There were tearful goodbyes at train stations, and tears of joy when some family members were united across the border in Poland.

Among the images captured by Associated Press photographers on Day 17 of the war there were also pictures of defiance — from a welder working on tire-deflating spikes to a refugee with fingernails painted the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Soldiers walk on a path as smoke billows from the town of Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Kyiv northwest suburbs such as Irpin and Bucha have been enduring Russian shellfire and bombardments for over a week prompting residents to leave their homes. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A Ukrainian welder builds a tyre deflation stringer spike system in Lviv, western Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022, in Lviv. Russia's war on Ukraine is now in its third week, the war has expanded to areas in western Ukraine, closer to NATO members Poland and Romania. The war has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee Ukraine. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Women and children sit on the floor of a corridor in a hospital in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine Friday, March 11, 2022. Mariupol has been under siege for over a week, with no electricity, gas or water. Repeated efforts to evacuate people from the city of 430,000 have fallen apart as humanitarian convoys come under shelling. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A woman on a Lviv bound train cries while she bids goodbye to a man in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Fighting raged in the outskirts of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and Russia kept up its bombardment of other resisting cities. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A smoke from shelling rises as a wreath of flowers is placed at a cemetery in Vasylkiv south west of Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian forces appeared to make progress from northeast Ukraine in their slow fight to reach the capital, Kyiv, while tanks and artillery pounded places already under siege. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A man plays with a child before she boards a Lviv bound train, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Fighting raged in the outskirts of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and Russia kept up its bombardment of other resisting cities. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Tatianna, left, who fled the war from Ukraine reunites with her daughter Katerina who is living in Poland as she arrives at the Przemysl train station, southeastern Poland, on Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya Ñ where opposing cities were reduced to rubble. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Refugees that fled the war in Ukraine, with their pets and belongings wait at the Przemysl train station, southeastern Poland, on Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya Ñ where opposing cities were reduced to rubble. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

A view of a destroyed tram damaged by shelling, at a tram depot, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)

Refugees fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine sit in the waiting room of the Suceava railway station, in Suceava, Romania, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya - where opposing cities were reduced to rubble. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

A Ukrainian serviceman walks near the position he was guarding in Mariupol, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Ukraine’s military says Russian forces have captured the eastern outskirts of the besieged city of Mariupol. In a Facebook update Saturday, the military said the capture of Mariupol and Severodonetsk in the east were a priority for Russian forces. Mariupol has been under siege for over a week, with no electricity, gas or water.(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Medical workers hold a newborn girl Alana close to her mother after a cesarian section at a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. Alana's mother had to be evacuated from another maternity hospital and lost some of her toes after it was shelled. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

An refugee with painted fingernails in the colors of Ukraine, holds a suitcase while waiting at the Przemysl train station, southeastern Poland, on Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya Ñ where opposing cities were reduced to rubble. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Refugee that fled the war in Ukraine rest at the Przemysl train station, southeastern Poland, on Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya Ñ where opposing cities were reduced to rubble. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

A fire burns in an apartment building after it was hit by the shelling of a residential district in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Poland's soldier helps a refugee who fled the war from Ukraine at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, on Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya Ñ where opposing cities were reduced to rubble. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A resident passes by the cars burnt in the Russian shellfire as he flees from his hometown on the road towards Kyiv, in the town of Irpin, some 25 km (16 miles) northwest of Kyiv, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Kyiv northwest suburbs such as Irpin and Bucha have been enduring Russian shellfire and bombardments for over a week prompting residents to leave their home. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Refugees that fled the war in Ukraine wait at the Przemysl train station, southeastern Poland, on Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya Ñ where opposing cities were reduced to rubble. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Ukrainians pick clothes inside a cinema turned aid center in Lviv, western Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022, in Lviv. Russia's war on Ukraine is now in its third week, the war has expanded to areas in western Ukraine, closer to NATO members Poland and Romania. The war has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee Ukraine. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Refugees fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine switch platforms at the Suceava railway station, in Suceava, Romania, Saturday, March 12, 2022. Russian troops are pressing their offensive across Ukraine, pounding populated areas with artillery and airstrikes and deploying siege tactics honed in Syria and Chechnya - where opposing cities were reduced to rubble. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

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