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Serhii, a soldier in the Ukrainian army, walks in the dark under a summer rain. Equipped with a headlamp, he makes his way through tall grass.
In the distance, reddish flashes fracture the sky. “Russian artillery,” the 45-year-old whispers, pointing towards the front line in Kharkiv Oblast.
After a few minutes of walking, we arrive at a village located a few kilometers from the Russian lines.
In front of a small wooden house, Sacha, one of the soldiers from the unit, stands guard.
Inside, his comrades are sleeping. In the corners of the room, assault rifles and backpacks are piled haphazardly.
Denis, 35, is not sleeping. Lying on his bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling, he counts each artillery shot. “They’re getting closer,” he murmurs.
All from the region, the soldiers of the unit have been fighting on the Kharkiv front since the beginning of the new Russian counter-offensive that started on 11 May.
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Although weeks of intense combat have taken a toll on their faces, their spirits are high.
On 17 June, Volodymyr Zelensky said after receiving reports from the military command, “Our forces are gradually pushing (Russian troops) out of Kharkiv Oblast.”
“The fighting has been very tough,” explains Viatcheslav, one of the unit commanders, adding: “Once again, with the limited equipment and men we had, we managed to stop the Russians.”
For the commander, it’s proof that Ukraine will eventually win the war. “We know why we are fighting, especially here in Kharkiv, where our families and friends live. So of course, we are even more motivated.”
When we capture Russian prisoners, we can see that they don’t know why they are fighting. To me, they have no chance of winning the war.
Viatcheslav, Ukraine army commander
The Donbas Front
While the first weeks of the Russian offensive were marked by Ukrainian uncertainty in holding the front, the Russian assault in Kharkiv Oblast ultimately failed. Nevertheless, despite this positive outcome for the Ukrainian army, it is still struggling in the Donbas, where its forces have been gradually retreating since February.
For Hamlet, the unit’s chief drone operator, the Russian dynamics in the Donbas are not related to the Russian counter-offensive in Kharkiv Oblast.
“We knew the Russians would launch an offensive in this sector. We prepared for it and sent reserve units allocated to this part of the front,” he explained to Byline Times. “There has been a dynamic in the Donbas for several months explained more by the efforts of the Russian army and our lack of ammunition than by any real strategy on their part.”
Serhii, one of the brigade’s soldiers, is more categorical: “For Moscow, Kharkiv is Russian, so they try, as at the beginning of the war, to take as much territory as possible. I don’t think they are thinking beyond that.”
