JUST a few months ago, married couple Oksana and Stanislav Krasnova were both working at the same law firm in Kyiv. Now they are fighting next to each other in the trenches of Donbas in eastern Ukraine. "I'm not frightened, I'm bored... I've heard this a million times now," says Oksana, 26, a rifle slung over her shoulder as she nods to the artillery thundering over the barracks where she and several others from their unit of 70 soldiers are enjoying a few days of (relative) rest and relaxation. Alongside them is Nikolai, a young soldier from the city of Cherkasy who says he plans to celebrate his 22nd birthday tomorrow with his first day of fighting Putin's army on the frontline.
Some of Russia's artillery is hitting just a kilometre away and troops like Nikolai know the threats are very real. Oksana points to a farmhouse right next to the barracks, which is burnt-out from a recent artillery strike. "Luckily, they got the wrong building," she says, insisting she's not worried about her own safety - just her five cats, who are being looked after by her parents back in Kyiv, where residents have started flocking to riverside beaches in recent days as the city enjoys a relative sense of peace.
Oksana's husband Stanislav, 35, shows me drone footage of their front-line positions - soldiers' dugouts on a field covered with black craters. It looks like something from the First World War.
Oksana and Stanislav are just two of thousands of soldiers - many previously ordinary civilians - desperately defending what remains of Ukrainian possessions in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Donbas, the outcome of which could dictate the course of the war. Both signed up to fight as soon as the conflict started, defending their capital in the suburbs of Kyiv until it was liberated before joining the deadlier battle in the east.
Denne historien er fra June 14, 2022-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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Denne historien er fra June 14, 2022-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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