DW got a close-up look at how Ukrainian soldiers continue to risk their lives in their war against Russia. They rely on mortar shell attacks despite the dangers of short range combat and need more powerful artillery.
DW Reporter Hanna Sokolova accompanied Ukrainian soldiers on a mortar attack against RussiaImage: Hanna Sokolova/DW
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"We're facing the enemy," explains a Ukrainian soldier with the battle name Kalyna. He points in the direction of Svatove, a town which lies in the Russian-occupied region of Luhansk. "It's our duty to hold off the enemy and not let them gain more ground in Ukraine."
Kalyna's combat unit is stationed in the east of the Kharkiv region . Though Ukrainian forces freed the area from Russian occupation last September, it remains on the frontline. The Russian army is stationed just three kilometers (1.8 miles) away, in occupied Luhansk.
'I never would have thought I'd go to war'
"I never would have thought I'd go to war," says Kalyna with a shrug. The small man with a thick beard is from the Lviv region in western Ukraine, where he worked in construction. "I repaired roofs," he recalls, while glancing at bombed-out houses. "When I look at all of this, I see so much hardship," he continues. After the war, Kalyna intends to help repair damaged apartment buildings. "I've already posted ads in as many places as possible," the commander jokes.
A Ukrainian soldier who goes by the name of Kalyna used to repair roofs before the war intensifiedImage: Hanna Sokolova/DW
On the street, a tipsy older man, the only civilian around, recalls that at one point, there were as many as 2,000 people living in this village. Now, it has fewer than 200 residents. The conversation is suddenly interrupted by a whistling sound and explosions. Despite the potential danger, the man takes his time to go home, which hasn't yet been damaged.
'An artillery battle is raging'
"The enemy still doesn't intend to push forward in our direction," Kalyna tells DW reassuringly. "There's an artillery battle raging. We're using our artillery to try to keep the enemy at bay, and Russia is using its artillery to try to take ours out." Kalyna was trained to operate mortar shells. "The highest caliber weapons are deployed on this section of the frontline. These shells can put soldiers and light armored vehicles out of action."
Kalyna explains that Russian soldiers mostly stay in their lookout posts. "They have these dugouts that they watch us from. We try to hit them and drive them as far back as possible, so they can't see us anymore."
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to launch a mortar shell Image: Hanna Sokolova/DW
He explains that Ukrainian reconnaissance teams supply information about the location of such foxholes so that the soldiers can determine where they can best launch their mortar shells from. Then he leads a group of soldiers to one such position. The path to the spot winds through a wooded area with cliffs. When a mortar shell flies through the air, everyone takes cover on the snow-covered ground. The bright sunlight does not help either, as this makes it easier for the Russians to spot the soldiers.
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'Reclaiming what belongs to us'
The Ukrainian soldiers set up their mortar launchers in front a field that's covered with wilted sunflowers still lingering from last summer. Kalyna gives the order to open fire on the Russian troops, and then there is a slew of deafening explosions in rapid succession. The soldiers turn away, bend down, and cover their ears.
Ukrainian soldiers duck down as they fire a mortar shell against Russian troopsImage: Hanna Sokolova/DW
One of the soldiers lights a cigarette during a short pause. He hasn't quite finished it when Kalyna orders the men to cease fire. They quickly dash back into the forest before the Russians can figure out their location and return fire.
Shortly thereafter, the Ukrainian soldiers have to leave their shelter to hop into their vehicle. The dust that falls from their clothes glitters briefly in the setting sun. As they drive onto the street, a Russian mortar shell can be heard exploding behind the vehicle. "In order to hit the enemy, we have to get very close, which is very dangerous," Kalyna says. "We need large caliber mortars that would allow us to attack from safer positions."
The men are tired after the attack. Nevertheless, Kalyna says with a smile on his face that the exhaustion will be gone in the morning. "This is just how it is for us in wartime. We have to reclaim what belongs to us."
This article was translated from German.
Russia's war in Ukraine: A timeline in pictures
On the morning of February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. According to the United Nations, thousands of soldiers and civilians have already lost their lives. A timeline of the shocking events in pictures.
Image: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images
A dark day for millions
On the morning of February 24, 2022, many Ukrainians woke up to explosions like these in the capital, Kyiv. Russia had launched a full-scale invasion, marking the biggest attack by one state against another since World War II. Ukraine immediately declared martial law. Civil structures were targeted, and the first deaths were reported soon after.
Image: Ukrainian President s Office/Zuma/imago images
Merciless shelling
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of a "special military operation," and said he aimed to capture the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Residents of the city of Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast took shelter in basements for weeks. Many died under rubble. A Russian airstrike on a theater where hundreds of people had taken refuge in March has been condemned by human rights groups.
Image: Nikolai Trishin/TASS/dpa/picture alliance
Mass exodus
The war in Ukraine has caused a rate of forced emigration unseen in Europe since World War II. According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 8 million people have fled the country. Poland alone has taken in 1.5 million people, more than any other EU state. Millions of people, primarily from eastern and southern Ukraine, were forced to flee.
Image: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP
Scenes of horror in Bucha
After just a few weeks, the Ukrainian army managed to drive Russian military forces from areas in the north and northeast of the country. Russia's plan to besiege the capital, Kyiv, failed. After the regions were freed, the extent of alleged Russian atrocities became apparent. Images of tortured and murdered civilians in Bucha, near Kyiv, went around the world. Officials reported 461 deaths.
Image: Carol Guzy/ZUMA PRESS/dpa/picture alliance
Devastation and death in Kramatorsk
The number of civilian victims in Donbas increased rapidly. Officials told the civilian population to retreat to safer areas, but Russian missiles also targeted people as they attempted to escape, including in Kramatorsk. More than 61 were killed and 120 injured at the city's railway station in April, as thousands were hoping to reach safety.
During Russian aerial attacks, millions of Ukrainians have sought refuge in shelters of some kind. For people close to the front lines within artillery range, basements have become like second homes. Residents of big cities have also sought shelter from the missiles. In Kyiv (as seen above) and Kharkiv, subway stations have double as safe havens.
Image: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
High nuclear risk in Zaporizhzhia
In the first weeks after the invasion, Russia occupied a large area of the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine, including near Kyiv. Fighting spilled over on to the premises of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the southeast, which has been under Russian control ever since. The International Atomic Energy Agency sent experts to the plant and called for a safe zone around the area.
Image: Str./AFP/Getty Images
Desperate last stand in Mariupol
The Russian army held Mariupol under siege for three months, preventing shipments of ammunition and other supplies. The Asovstal steel plant was seen as the last Ukrainian stronghold in the city, sheltering thousands of soldiers and civilians. After an extended attack last May, thousands of Russian soldiers took control of the plant, capturing more than 2,000 people in the process.
Image: Dmytro 'Orest' Kozatskyi/AFP
Symbol of resistance
Russia conquered Snake Island in the Black Sea on the first day of the war. A conversation between Ukrainian and Russian service members, during which the Ukrainians refused to surrender, went viral online. In April, the Ukrainians claimed to have sunk the Russian warship Moskva, one of two vessels involved in the attack on the island. In June, Ukraine said it had driven Russians off the island.
Image: Ukraine's border guard service/AFP
Death toll unclear
The war's exact death toll remains unclear. According to the UN, at least 7,200 civilians have been killed and another 12,000 wounded — and the numbers could much higher. The exact number of Ukrainian soldiers killed is also uncertain. In December, Ukraine's presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak estimated the number as being up to 13,000. Impartial statistics aren't available.
Image: Raphael Lafargue/abaca/picture alliance
Game changer for Ukraine
The delivery of Western weapons to Ukraine has been a hot topic since the early days of the war, but Kyiv received few of them at first. The US-manufactured HIMARS rocket launchers were a definite help. They have allowed the Ukrainian military to cut off the ammunition resupply to Russian artillery, and have likely also contributed to Ukraine's successful counteroffensives.
Image: James Lefty Larimer/US Army/Zuma Wire/IMAGO
Relief at liberations
At the start of September, the Ukrainian military conducted a successful counteroffensive in the northeastern city of Kharkiv. The surprised Russians quickly retreated, leaving equipment, ammunition and even evidence of alleged war crimes behind. The Ukrainian military was also able to liberate Kherson in the south, and its residents cheered at the arrival of Ukrainian soldiers.
Image: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
Explosion on Crimean bridge
At the beginning of October, a massive explosion occurred on the bridge Russia built across the Kerch Strait to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula it has occupied since 2014. The bridge was partially destroyed. Russia claims an explosives-laden truck from Ukraine caused the damage, but officials in Kyiv have not claimed responsibility for any attack.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
Massive attacks on energy infrastructure
A few days after the blast on the Crimean bridge, Russia carried out its first large-scale assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Power outages occurred in regions from Lviv to Kharkiv. Since then, such attacks have become common. Due to the enormous damage to power plants and other civil infrastructure, people in Ukraine have endured power outages and water shortages almost daily.
Image: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images
European integration
Daily video messages from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which he reports on the state of the country and the ongoing war, are viewed by millions of people. Zelenskyy hasn't only been able to unify his country's population, but has also gained Western support. European integration has progressed greatly under his leadership, and Ukraine is now on the path to EU membership.
Image: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP
Hoping for Leopard 2 tanks
How well Ukraine can fend off Russian attacks depends greatly on the aid the country receives. A US-led group of countries has offered a billion-dollar package of humanitarian, financial and military aid. Shipping heavy artillery was hotly debated in the West, largely due to concerns about reaction from Russia. But Ukraine will end up receiving Western tanks, most of them German-made Leopard 2s.
Image: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images
Bakhmut: A city in ruins
For months, fierce battles have been raging over Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Since Ukrainian troops lost control of the nearby settlement of Soledar in early 2023, defending the city has become even harder. In January, Germany's secret service reported daily losses in three figures on the Ukrainian side. But the Russian death toll is believed to be even higher.
