Yogitarimei
BBC News
Reports from the eastern part of Ukraine
Some soldiers like Kozak believe that many people were killed to hand over the land to Russia.
A large amount of smoke appears on the screen, providing live feeds from Ukrainian drones floating outside the eastern city of Pokrovsk, one of Ukraine’s most intense frontlines.
A few seconds ago, Ukrainian artillery strikes Russia’s position. This is where we saw Russian soldiers move around as they tried to advance towards the important path towards Pokrovsk.
At least one Russian soldier was injured and probably died after the strike.
Watching live footage is calm. It drives the bloody consequences of the war that Russia has begun, where Russia has been killed so far.
We are in a country house converted into the command centre of the 155th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Army. It is a few miles from the front line artillery location.
The scale of devastation, completely flattened to screens, houses and buildings, is much larger than what we saw six months ago.
This is evidence of the fierce battles fought over the past few months to defend Pokrovsk, a key transport hub in the Donetsk region.
This week, diplomatic efforts from the US, Europe, Turkey and others have urged Russia and Ukraine to direct consultations for the first time in three years, so even among skeptical soldiers who have witnessed hopes that a ceasefire will be shattered multiple times, there is cautious optimism.
“I think something should happen as Russia was the first to push forward these consultations. In other words, since 2022, they have refused to go to contact us,” says the official who wants to be featured in his call sign “Kozak.”
“I want to believe this will be the beginning of the end of the war.
“But now we are successful in destroying their rear position and their supply lines. Russia doesn’t have the same strength and strength in the first place, so I think something will happen.”
Yurii(R) does not believe that if Ukraine gives up its territory now, Russia will stop
Yurii, 37, worked for a technology company before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “They (Russia and Ukraine) have to start talking. Our soldiers, we hope that this war will end. But it’s important to remember that we can’t stop it because we didn’t start it,” he says.
He looks up at the screen and moves the Russian soldiers again. He and his colleagues calculate the coordinates of their positions and pass them on to the artillery forces.
Watch: BBC’s Yogitalimei joins Ukrainian soldiers on the front line
From the command center to the artillery location, drive over the mud marks passing through a wide wide open field. A mass of mud flies through the air and our car slides and slides the car to make it move as quickly as possible. This speed is a mitigation against strikes from drones, and since its massive deployment in 2023, deaths in both Russia and Ukraine have increased significantly.
And war technology continues to evolve. Now there is a new threat – drones equipped with actual fiber optic cables that unfold as they fly. “We can’t detect or neutralize them, so there are probably more drones in this area than we know,” says Yurii.
When you drive to the position of cannon hidden under trees and bushes, the soldiers are already carrying guns. It is a French homemade artillery called “Cesar.” The scores have been rolled out in Ukraine since the start of the war, and France is trying to bolster production.
France has sent dozens of Caesar vending cannons to Ukraine since 2022
“I’m very impressed with its accuracy and can use an incredible range. Most importantly, it’s very fast to bring it into combat. It’s much more effective than the old Soviet equipment I used,” says Kozak.
The Ukrainian soldiers fire four rounds, each making deafening noises. From around us, we also hear the sound of incoming shells. The fight is furious.
“As we can hear, there is a wave of attack from the enemy and we need a lot of ammunition to curb it. We hope that our international partners can give as much ammunition as possible.
We ask soldiers how they feel about the proposal that Ukraine must make concessions, and ask them if they may have to abandon the land to ensure peace.
“It hurts to hear that. I want to go home to my family. My daughter is eight years old and I miss her very much. But we need to be strong. I don’t think it will stop if I give up on territory. I’ll go back and try again in a few years.”
“People who haven’t come here, those who don’t feel the consequences of the Russian attack, those armchair commentators say you can give up on the land and everything is over. They never understand the number of brothers and friends we have lost.
The effects of the three-year war can be seen anywhere in all of Ukraine
The costs Ukraine paid to protect the land are visible everywhere, most rapidly in the photo of a smiling photograph, the young soldiers posted on the side of the highway, commemorative walls in the central city square, and the rows and rows of freshly excavated graves around the country.
Yana Stepanenko loves to buy her son’s favorite snacks – steamed hot chocolate and chocolate rolls.
She then drives to a cemetery in the city of Southern Zaporisia and places it neatly in the grave of 22-year-old Vladislav. She and her daughter, 13-year-old Nicole, wipes the grave with wet tissue. Eventually, they glitter and break into each other’s arms.
Vladislav was a drone operator for the Ukrainian army. He was killed in battle on a Russian strike on February 21st this year.
For Jana, news of the in-person meeting has resumed and there is no hope.
“This war seems eternal. Of course, I hope they find a solution, because people are dying everywhere. But Putin is greedy.
Jana, whose son was killed earlier this year, says she cannot live in the land that was taken over by Russia.
Part of the Zaporizhzhia region is currently occupied by Russia, the front line less than 40 miles from the city. However, Russia has called for multiple times to control the full region of Zaporisia, Luhansk, Donetsk and Herson as part of the peace agreement.
“No way. I want to live in Ukraine, not Russia. We’ve seen what they’re doing under occupation, what they did in places like Bucha, their cruelty and torture,” Jana says. “Can you imagine, they didn’t spare this cemetery,” she adds, pointing to a large crater nearby where the bomb exploded a few months ago.
She adds as tears roll down her eyes.
“I hope my child didn’t die without doing anything. I hope there is still victory and everything in Ukraine is free.”
Additional reports by Imogen Anderson, Volodymyr Lozhko, Anastasiia Levchenko and Sanjay Ganguly
