Author: David Kirichenko

The fields around us smolder from recent Russian strikes, dark smoke drifting into the sky as Shahed drones roar overhead. The trees are charred and skeletal after years of fighting. The Serebryansky Forest, near the Lyman sector of the front, is part of the fiercely contested Donbas region, which Russia’s Vladimir Putin told the US in August he plans to seize within “two to three months, maximum four.” That gives him until the end of the year, and Moscow is pouring resources and men into the fight. Before heading on the perilous route to the frontline headquarters of 63...

In a Soviet-era warehouse near the Kharkiv front, Eugene, a company commander in the 92nd Assault Brigade, oversees preparations for a night mission. There is a debate over whether to send an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) to rescue a wounded Ukrainian soldier waiting for evacuation. “We’re crossing our fingers it will happen soon,” he says, as he explains injured soldiers sometimes remain at the front for weeks as they wait to be recovered. “Many are so badly hurt they’re unconscious most of the time.” The average wait for an evacuation is a week, with some taking as long as...