With our special envoys in eastern Ukraine, Anastasia Becchio And Boris Vicit
Laughter, light discussions at the edge of a snowy forest: relaxation is the order of the day for these soldiers of the 92nd Brigade.
An atmosphere that contrasts with the front, about ten kilometers away, as Yuri Doubovik tells in white camouflage.
It’s not happy. The Russians are sending so much that we have to stay in our trenches. Sometimes we don’t even have time to smoke a cigarette. You can’t even get out of your nose. At the moment we are in a defensive position.
Ivan, a 35-year-old Donbass veteran, hid his T62 tank in the undergrowth. He also notices that the opposing party activates.
They began firing more weapons and even dropping cluster bombs. They launch attacks all the time… all the time!
After a year of high-intensity warfare, fatigue is making itself felt and the ranks are thinning. In the unit of this mobilized nickname “Scotch” there are only 40 fighters out of 116.
Most are injured in the hospital. We had few deaths, ten in all. But they don’t want to give us new recruits because they count those who are in the hospital among our workforce.
Despite it all, Scotch assures his morale remains high and says he’s ready to keep fighting for as long as it takes.
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