Donetsk Region, Ukraine (AP) – In a dugout where each nearby blast sends rain through the ceiling and black plastic slips down the walls, Ukrainian soldiers say the story of peace is far away and it’s unlikely to end the war. Explosions from Russian weapons, from glide bombs to shells, regularly thunder overhead and keep them underground, except when firing M777 Howitzer buried near Trench.
On the Eastern Front, nothing suggests that the war could end soon.
Diplomatic peace efforts So far, they feel they are away from the battlefield as many soldiers suspect they can achieve results. Their skepticism is rooted in the months of what we see as broken.
There will be some recent proposals from US President Donald Trump.” Territory exchange” – Like the media, it reports that it involves leaving the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian forces have fought for years to protect all lands.
Few people believe that current consultations can end the war. They say it is likely that there is a short pause of hostility before Russia resumes its attack with greater force.
“At least it’s stopping an aggressive fight. That’s the first sign of a sort of reconciliation,” said Dmytro Loviniukov, a soldier from the 148th Brigade. “Now that’s not happening. And while these consultations are taking place, they (the Russians) will only strengthen their frontline position.”
Long war, relief
In one artillery position, the story often turns to the house. Many Ukrainian soldiers joined the army on the first day of the full-scale invasion, leaving behind civilian work. Some thought they would only serve for a short time. Others had no idea about the future – because at that moment it didn’t exist.
Many have been killed since then. The survivors were in their fourth year of a tough war, far from the civilian lives they once knew. With mobilization shaking and the war dragging on much longer than expected, there is no one to replace them as the Ukrainian army struggles to recruit new people.
The military is also unable to demobilize those who serve without risking the collapse of the front.
That’s why soldiers even wait for the possibility of a pause of hostilities. When direct consultations between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul in May, soldiers from the 148th Brigade were told by soldiers from Callsign Bronson, who once worked as tattoo artists.
A few months later, hope was replaced by dark humor. The night before the deadline, when President Donald Trump reportedly gave Russia’s Vladimir Putin A story about a meeting in Alaska – Russian fires roe every minute for hours. Soldiers joked that the artillery was due to a “slow deadline.”
“We are on the land. There’s no way to go back,” said Dmytro Loviniukov, commander of the artillery group. “We stand here because we have no choice. No one else will come here to protect us.”
Future training
Tens of kilometers from the Zaporidia region to the north to Donetsk region are shaking fierce battles towards Pokrovsk. It is now the epicenter of the battle.
The city, once home to about 60,000 people, has been attacked by Russia for several months. The Russians formed pockets around Pokrovsk, but the Ukrainian troops still hold the city and street fighting has not yet begun. Reports of Russian destroyers entering the city began to appear almost every day, but the military says these groups have been neutralised.
Ukrainian soldiers of the Spartan Brigade push and push drills with full strength to hone their skills in the battlefield of the Pokrovsk region.
All of the training range, just 45km (28 miles) from the front, is designed to reflect actual combat conditions, namely terrain. A thin strip of forest destroys a vast field of blooming sunflowers that stretch in the distance until the next tree line appears.
One of the soldiers training there is a 35-year-old with a call sign comrad. He says there is no illusion that the war will soon end.
“My motivation is that there’s simply no way to go back,” he said. “If you’re in the army, you have to fight. If we’re here, we need to cover our brothers with weapons.”
A ceasefire does not mean peace
For Serkhiifilimov, commander of the “Davinci Wolves” battalion of the 59th Brigade, the end of the war is invisible, and current news does not affect the ongoing struggle to find sufficient resources to equip the units fighting around Pokrovsk.
“We are preparing for a long war. There is no illusion that Russia will stop,” he said in the Field Command Post. “There may be a ceasefire, but there is no peace.”
Filimonov has dismissed his recent talk about exchanging territory or signing contracts as a temporary amendment at best.
“Russia will not abandon its goal of winning everything in Ukraine,” he said. “They attack again. The big question is how we get security guarantees and how we paused.”
Soldiers with Milche in the call sign of the 68th Brigade said hostilities will intensify around Pokrovsk whenever there is a new round of speech.
Every time peace begins, “the front is scary,” he said.
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Associated Press reporters Vasilisa Stepanenko, Evgeniy Maloletka and Volodymyr Yurchuk of the Dmytro Zhyhinas in the Donetsk region and Kyiv in Ukraine contributed to the report.
