Description
Two men walk down along a dirt road leading to a clearing among the trees. At a quick glance, the scene looks like it could be from a travel guide - a picturesque countryside where the birdsong is interrupted by the light breeze - and the occasional explosion heard in the background.
Nestled under a canopy of lush green trees in Ukraine’s Donetsk region sit several T-72 tanks. The cover offered by the leaves aided by camouflaged nets to avoid detection by Russian drones and artillery. A crew of five Ukrainian soldiers surround one of the vehicles as they service it after a mission. It needs some maintenance and the barrel recalibrated before it can go out again.
Company commander of the 59th brigade Maksym says in the last ten to 12 days there has been a marked increase in Russian personnel, vehicles, and artillery in the area. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his recent nightly address that Russian pressure is greatest in the Pokrovsk direction of the Donetsk region.
Tank driver Oleksandr agrees, saying “perhaps the fiercest fighting is taking place in this area. Pokrovsk, Chasiv Yar.” The 36-year-old admits to being afraid sometimes, but says they have their “relatives, parents, wives and children in peaceful cities of Ukraine, and that's why our eyes fear, but our hands do”. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES