Dispatch from Libya: Photographs by Yuri Kozyrev

  • Libyan rebels scrawl graffiti on a wall near a hospital in Ras Lanuf, March 27, 2011. The wall was previously defaced, in green, by Gaddafi troops.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    1 of 37
  • A Libyan rebel soldier, armed with a knife, on the outskirts of Bin Jawad, March 29, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    2 of 37
  • Rebels retreat in a traffic jam of gun trucks and civilian cars outside of Bin Jawad, March 29, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    3 of 37
  • Libyan rebels retreat from Bin Jawad, after Gaddafi forces pounded them with missile fire, March 29, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    4 of 37
  • Rebel soldiers on the highway near Bin Jawad, March 28, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    5 of 37
  • Libyan rebel soldiers gather near Bin Jawad, March 28, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    6 of 37
  • A wounded rebel is treated at the hospital in Ras Lanuf, March 29, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    7 of 37
  • Libyan rebels celebrate on top of a Gaddafi loyalist tank outside of Ajdabiyah, March 26, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    8 of 37
  • Libyan rebels outside the town of Bin Jawad, March 27, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    9 of 37
  • A Libyan rebel stands over the dead body of a Gaddafi soldier killed during an allied airstrike, March 26, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    10 of 37
  • Allied airstrikes left a battlefield of charred remains outside of Ajdabiyah, March 26, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    11 of 37
  • Libyan rebels near a destroyed Gaddafi tank near Ajdabiyah, March 26, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    12 of 37
  • Libyan rebels collect the bodies of dead Gaddafi soldiers killed during allied airstrikes, March 26, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    13 of 37
  • Libyan rebels celebrate the retaking of Ajdabiyah near a smoldering tank, March 26, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    14 of 37
  • A Libyan rebel surveys the landscape near Brega, March 26, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    15 of 37
  • A rebel stands on the turret of a destroyed Libyan tank outside the city of Ajdabiyah, where hundreds of fighters have gathered, March 23, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    16 of 37
  • Libyan rebels gather outside the city of Ajdabiyah, March 22, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    17 of 37
  • Rebel fighters scatter under fire outside the city of Ajdabiyah, March 22, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    18 of 37
  • The battlefield in Ras Lanuf, March 11, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    19 of 37
  • Rebels flee under fire from the Libyan army in Ras Lanuf, March 11, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    20 of 37
  • Rebels move across the battlefield near the oil town of Ras Lanuf, March 11, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    21 of 37
  • Rebels fire towards Libyan army planes, March 11, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    22 of 37
  • A damaged oil facility burns as a man prays in Ras Lanuf, March 11, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    23 of 37
  • Libyan rebels raise their flag at a checkpoint in Ras Lanuf, March 8, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    24 of 37
  • Libyan rebels advance during a battle with government troops as an oil facility burns, March 9, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    25 of 37
  • Rebels take cover while battling government troops in Ras Lanuf, March 9, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    26 of 37
  • Rebels fire rockets toward government positions in Ras Lanuf, March 9, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    27 of 37
  • Rebels fire an anti-aircraft gun at Libyan jets near a checkpoint in Ras Lanuf, March 7, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    28 of 37
  • A Libyan rebel prays near the front line in Bin Jawad, March 6, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    29 of 37
  • Rebels return fire on a government helicopter in Bin Jawad, March 6, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    30 of 37
  • A rebel fires a rocket propelled grenade at Libyan troops near the frontline near Bin Jawad, March 6, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    31 of 37
  • Libyan rebels embrace after retreating near Bin Jawad, March 6, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    32 of 37
  • A rebel fires towards a Libyan government helicopter during a firefight in Bin Jawad, March 5, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    33 of 37
  • An ambulance burns after a battle in Brega, March 2, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    34 of 37
  • An ambulance burns after a battle between rebels and the Libyan army in Brega, March 2, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    35 of 37
  • Libyan rebels before battle, March 2, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    36 of 37
  • Rebels celebrate as they pass a destroyed Libyan army vehicle, March 2, 2011.
    Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME
    37 of 37
By TIME Photo Department

Updated March 31, 2011

TIME contract photographer Yuri Kozyrev is in eastern Libya, documenting the battle between Gaddafi loyalists and rebel forces. Though he’s been covering conflict for years, he said this is the most dangerous place he’s worked. “It’s like Russian roulette,” he said. “Nobody knows where the bomb will fall.” There were “helicopters shooting at us, rockets — it was heavy. There was no place to hide.”

Kozyrev spoke to TIME as Libyan rebels, emboldened by allied airstrikes, pushed westward toward Sert, birthplace of Muammar Gaddafi. “When we reached the western gate outside of Ajdabiyah, the rebels told us tamam, good all the way to Brega. We followed the rebel trucks to Ras Lanouf. As we pushed forward, more rebels stayed behind, camping on the highway.”

“We have been chasing the rebels all day,” he wrote Sunday, from an abandoned, looted hotel in Ras Lanouf. The highway behind them was littered with crippled tanks, trucks, cars and stores of unspent ammunition. “Gaddafi’s troops appear to have left in a hurry,” he wrote, “abandoning ammunition and disappearing without a fight.”

However, the tables turned Tuesday as the rebels, pounded by Gaddafi missile fire, fled east – again. “Gaddafi’s troops have been moving fast,” Kozyrev wrote in an email Wednesday. “They drive in trucks now. It will be hard to hit them by air strikes – if there will be any.”

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com.

You May Also Like
Next Up: Editor's Pick
What America's Richest Ski Town's Handling of COVID-19 Shows
EDIT POST