A wounded Ukrainian after returning from battle in the Donetsk region on Sunday Photo: Libkos/Getty Images Europe
New photos reveal hellish conditions and injuries encountered by Ukrainian troops fighting Russian forces near the eastern town of Bakhmut.
This series of images shows soldiers heading into battle, followed by wounded survivors.
The photographs show see the nervous members of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade preparing to storm enemy positions under cover of darkness.
Not all of those pictured will return from the so-called zero position, the furthest edge of the front line, from which you can see Moscow's troops nearby.
Photos taken after the assault show a small group of wounded returning from hostilities.
Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade prepare to attack Russian positions. Photo: Libkos/Getty Images Europe
One Ukrainian soldier's head is wrapped in a bloody bandage. His left eye is swollen shut and his face is dirty, covered in dirt and blood. The soldier’s left hand is also tightly wrapped in gauze.
“Behind every defended landing, every defended dugout, every millimeter of earth is the blood of our people,” wrote photographer Kostya Liberov.
< p>The men photographed were part of an assault force sent to dislodge entrenched Russians on the outskirts of Bakhmut, which Ukraine is trying to retake after it fell to Moscow's control in May.
“Those who say they are not afraid They're lying. Everyone is scared. It's scary every time. But we are here,” the military driver told the photographer.
Ukrainian soldiers described their experience as if they were dropped “in the middle of hell” before they got within 300 meters of the enemy.
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First aid is given to a Ukrainian soldier Photo: Libkos/Getty Images European forest “takes away our friends”
Men fight from forest line to forest line trees, trying to carry out an ambitious double envelopment of Russian troops in the Donetsk region city.
Fighters saw their friends cut down by Russian machine gun fire as they advanced through the apocalyptic shell. — a mottled landscape on the outskirts of Bakhmut.
“This forest is taking our friends,” said the Ukrainian, codenamed “Courier.”
“And when I think about how far we still have to go forward… most likely, someday I will remain that who will remain.» lie in the forest, and my friends will just move on.»
Long stretches of dead forest, which took months to combat, were largely ignored in the announcement of the liberation of Andreevka and Klishchevka, two villages that lie south Bakhmuta was recently recaptured by Ukrainian troops.
Troops fighting in Bakhmut Photo: Libkos/Getty Images Europe
The 3rd Assault Brigade, consisting mainly of volunteers, is considered As one of Ukraine's most experienced fighters, they have been fighting in the area almost non-stop since January.
A recent video posted by the brigade on the Telegram app shows its members hiding in a trench. once occupied by Russian troops.
You can hear artillery and mortar fire whistling overhead as soldiers resupply from enemy remnants before the next advance.
It took them three months to capture Andreevka. The village is now little more than a pile of bricks and scorched earth, according to those lucky enough to survive the mission to liberate it.
But Fedya, who carried the Ukrainian flag to hoist over the village, insisted that the struggle was worth it.
“Look at these fields, at this forest. Everything is growing again,” he said.
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