War in Donbas: On the Front Line
Those living on the frontline of conflict with Russia
After a week spent in Donbass, our journalists bring back images of a Ukrainian army worn out by years of conflict. The troops now have to confront the suicide of young soldiers at the end of their nerves. In Avdiivka, on the front line, some civilians are willing to join the pro-Russian separatists zone. Ukrainian inhabitants and soldiers continue to live in fear and uncertainty, while Moscow continues to blow hot and cold on Ukraine.
‘Soldiers live on the razor’s edge. My role is to give them a message of hope’, says Father Oleksandr, who regularly visits soldiers on the front line. There is a high rate of suicide in the Ukrainian army, as soldiers begin to lose hope. ‘Russia is like a dragon with many heads. You cut off one head and three more grow back’, says Zurab, an officer in the Ukrainian army.
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