the war consumes every waking hour in ukraine. a day on the zero line can feel like a lifetime. but the cover of darkness brings dima relief. ..for now. in the gloom beyond lies a constant threat. russia could attack again at any moment. and while its guns are silent, dima shows us the path out. distant explosion but dima will stand his ground here. and he s not alone.
to the russian positions. brigade infantryman dima he s just 22 years old is escorting us forward. gunfire mortars, tank fires, grads they get hit by everything here. dima s just told me the village over here is half held by the ukrainians and half held by the russians. we re told to tread carefully. land mines litter the ground. and they re not the only danger. gunfire as we move closer, russian fire begins to fly overhead. explosion it s time to head for cover. even the shallowest
men is in the trenches. they ve already taken a couple of casualties here in the last week. he breathes heavily you all right? yeah. keep down. there s no time to pause for breath. dima leads the way to better cover. these few logs offer some protection, but it s already packed tight in here. explosion that was even closer. they grab every inch of shelter they can. explosion and when the next distant boom might end in a direct hit, it s hard not to flinch. what is dima fighting for, we ask.
trenches will do. gunfire but the team is split up after the first strike, and some of us are left exposed, out in the open. gunfire he breathes heavily whoa! explosion whoa! that shell hits just a few metres away. dima and my colleague darren conway
the war consumes every waking hour in ukraine. a day on the zero line can feel like a lifetime. but the cover of darkness brings dima relief. ..for now. in the gloom beyond lies a constant threat. russia could attack again at any moment. and while its guns are silent, dima shows us the path out. distant explosion but dima will stand his ground here. and he s not alone. a shift change brings fresh reserves to the front. for the defenders of donbas, this is more thanjust the fight of their lives. their country is at stake, but so too is the right to live free for generations of ukrainians