They are under fire, day and night, continuously attacked by the Russian infantry. 'The Ukrainian military is fighting at the very limits of human strength,' he said, adding they have no chance to sleep. Like everyone here, Ihor, a 40-something infantryman, was clearly exhausted. 'We can even hear the enemy commanders' orders.' Ukrainian military near Bahkmut Image: O. Time and again, the soldiers are engaged in hand-to-hand combat, he said. Along this section of the front, the Ukrainian soldiers are mainly facing members of the Wagner Group, a private force that has recently been recruiting inmates from Russian prisons.Īt Bakhmut and Soledar, Russian and Ukrainian forces' positions are very close together, said Oleh, one of the commanders. 'They have such huge losses'Īccording to the officers of this armored unit, the balance of forces in the area is currently about 10 Russian soldiers to one Ukrainian one. In some cases, their families didn't even know they were on the frontline. Some have relatives in areas occupied by the Russians. Like Ihor, they did not want to give their full names and not everyone wanted their picture taken. 'Imagine the guys lying in the frozen trenches, where you're not even allowed to light stoves so their positions aren't betrayed,' he said.ĭW spoke to the soldiers here during a break. 'So, is it hard to walk in a bulletproof vest? Are your arms and legs freezing yet?' asked Ihor, an officer in the armored unit, who accompanied DW to where the troops was deployed. To reach the spot, they had to walk several kilometers crosscountry. Soldiers from a Ukrainian tank unit were training here in the middle of a field, just a few days after being pulled from the fighting near Bakhmut for a short break.

The frontline of the war against Russia, where fighting is taking place for the towns of Bakhmut and Soledar, is just a few kilometers away. The thermometer showed minus 17 degrees Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit). A freezing wind swept across the steppe near Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Modern russian tank