On May 26, 2014, I rushed to Donetsk's Sergei Prokofiev International Airport, but not to catch a flight. Instead, I was there to report on the first major battle of a new war.

The airport -- a symbol of transformation from gritty, post-Soviet malaise to vibrant modernity -- had morphed into a battleground for close-quarters fighting between Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed insurgents who had seized much of Donetsk.

By nightfall, the terminal was a mess of spattered blood, shattered glass, and mangled steel.

The next morning, at Donetsk's central morgue, lay the new reality. Dozens of mangled corpses -- almost all Russian men, according to their passports -- were piled as high as my waist. Other bodies filled the hallway amid the summer heat. Even the overwhelmed morgue workers gagged on the stench of death.

Ukraine was at war.