As hopes for peace fade, infantry soldiers face longer missions, risking their lives against Russian attacks. During the nearly 62 days spent on the front line east of Pokrovske, Bohdan and Ivan hid – first in a village shop, then, after a deadly exchange of fire with Russian soldiers, in a tiny basement, where the soldiers from the 31st Brigade of Ukraine were forced to survive for another seven weeks, reports The Guardian.
Food, water, cigarettes and other supplies were transported with the help of a friendly drone, their toilet was a 3 square meter room, and their closest comrades were about 200 meters away. Their only hope was to stay hidden, because they knew that if they were discovered, a Russian drone could kill them all.
Although the conflict in Ukraine is characterized as a war of remotely piloted aircraft, the role of the infantry is easy to forget. In much of the front, the task of the Ukrainian ground troops is to quietly maintain a position, while danger looms above them. “I can’t sleep well now,” said Bohdan, the more talkative of the two. “It’s too quiet for me.”
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