"For almost all of their 62-day deployment on the frontline west of Pokrovske, Bohdan and Ivan hid first in a village shop, then, after a deadly firefight with Russian soldiers, in a tiny basement where the infantrymen from Ukraine's 31st Brigade had to survive seven more weeks. Food, water, cigarettes and other supplies were airlifted in by a friendly drone, their toilet was their 3 sq metre room, their nearest comrades 200 metres or so away."
"Their only hope was to remain underground, because they knew if they were detected a Russian drone could kill them all. Though the fight in Ukraine is characterised as a war of remotely piloted craft, the role of infantry is easily forgotten. In large parts of the front, the job of Ukrainian ground troops is to quietly hold a position, while danger looms overhead. I can't sleep properly now, says Bohdan, easily the more talkative of the pair. It's too quiet for me."
"from the south-east of the Dnipropetrovsk region, a new Russian-US peace plan had emerged. Hand over all of Donetsk province, just east of the soldiers' position, abandon occupied territory to Russia, give up permanently on joining Nato, and only then, Moscow said, it would be willing to consider peace. It was in effect a demand for a surrender. Ukraine objected. But a revised plan with Ukrainian input was then deemed unacceptable by Russia."
Bohdan and Ivan spent almost their entire 62-day frontline deployment west of Pokrovske hiding first in a village shop and then in a tiny basement, surviving seven additional weeks there. Food, water, cigarettes and other supplies were airlifted by a friendly drone. Their three-square-metre room served as toilet; their nearest comrades were roughly 200 metres away. Detection by a Russian drone could have been lethal, so remaining underground was essential. Infantry duties often consist of quietly holding positions under aerial threat. Russian peace demands included handing over Donetsk province and abandoning occupied territory, which Ukraine rejected, leaving infantry to continue resisting.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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