'If you stop, you die' — Inside Ukraine's last fight for Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad (kyivindependent.com)
from breakfastmtn@piefed.ca to world@lemmy.world on 17 Feb 22:13
https://piefed.ca/c/world/p/532806/if-you-stop-you-die-inside-ukraine-s-last-fight-for-pokrovsk-and-myrnohrad

Walking through the mine-infested field under intense Russian drone surveillance was the scariest part of the mission for 22-year-old infantryman Mykola.

“If you stop, you die,” said Mykola, a small-framed soldier with dark circles under his eyes and a tired stare.

“When we were walking to get to the positions, it wasn’t hard to walk — it was hard to realize that you may not walk out alive because there were a lot of our dead around.”

The walk to his positions near the eastern town of Myrnohrad was 22 kilometers (about 14 miles). Weather conditions and the intensity of Russian drones dictate the pace. It can take anywhere from a day to two weeks, depending on how often he and his comrades need to take cover from Russian drones. Soldiers and commanders interviewed for this story are not identified by their full names due to security concerns.

Located merely five kilometers (about three miles) northeast of Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in Donetsk Oblast, Myrnohrad — once a quiet town — has faced an onslaught of Russian offensives since the fall of 2025.

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