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Lyman Front, Ukraine: Towers of smoke rising over Green Valley betray the Russians’ positions in their new incursion into eastern Ukraine.
It instills far less fear in Private Admin than a similar attack on the Ukrainian town of Liman just over a year earlier.
“The past month has been like a long day for us,” said the 23-year-old at a secret location near Russia’s main advance site during the last few weeks of the war.
“In terms of morale, we’re holding on tight. We just want victory to come as soon as possible.”
Ukraine’s ability to pull off the elusive breakthrough in its summer offensive depends in part on the morale of soldiers like Admin.
Russia launched a new offensive along the northeastern crescent-shaped front line a few weeks after Ukraine began its offensive south in early June.
Moscow claimed last week to have advanced 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) near Liman – the railway hub that Ukraine recaptured in October.
The Russians seemed intent on forcing the Ukrainians to abandon their advance on captured cities such as Bakhmut and to redeploy forces to defend the Liman front.
Soldier Admin — a call name befitting his burly frame and background as an IT consultant — feels the momentum is still on Ukraine’s side.
“Any war ends with negotiations, but how can you negotiate with… I will not use the name we use for them here,” he said.
“A lot of good young men are either wounded or are no longer with us. They are bombing civilians, so how can you talk to them? I think they should only be destroyed.”
For Viktoria Tamusievska, Russia’s push to capture Liman and other ruined villages to the north fills hope.
The 53-year-old former postal worker was selling cucumbers and parsley at the Lyman intersection where a Russian raid killed eight people two weeks ago.
She fondly remembers the day the Russians entered Liman for the first time in the fourth month of the war.
She recalls in a trembling voice: “We were waiting for them as if they were God.”
“And if they enter again, they will not harm us. But the Ukrainians are doing bad things.”
The Russians took Lyman after weeks of savage battles that reduced the surrounding forests to rows of logs and stumps.
Many of the villagers who refused to flee the fighting were elderly Russian-speakers who had no qualms about being ruled by Moscow.
This meant that far from everyone welcomed back the Ukrainian forces with open arms.
These tensions have forced fellow greengrocer Volodymyr Seravatsky to extol the virtues of Ukraine’s armed forces in muted tones.
“What if the Russians advance. They all have a death wish. They will come here and die,” he said after glancing at the Tamusievska Road.
“If we had had the same weapons last year as we have now, they wouldn’t have come here in the first place,” said the 69-year-old former power station worker.
Ukraine’s new stock of larger and better Western weapons does little to change the shape of the front.
But it brightened the mood of the villagers who support the Ukrainian soldiers and bear the brunt of the new Russian offensive.
The small hut of factory worker Valentina Omelchenko in the village of Zakytyn lies within striking distance of the Russian forces about 10 kilometers to the north.
She saw a missile fly over her house a few days ago and kill a man in his late 30s.
Omelchenko smiles softly and admits that he sometimes feels sorry for the Russian troops.
“They have no idea why they are fighting,” said the 53-year-old. “You look at the people we captured and they are just scared children.”
Yuliya Polyakova looked equally agitated as she grazed her three surviving cows on the northern edge of Leman.
“We hope they don’t get to us,” the 63-year-old said of the Russians.
“But we’ve already overcome our worst fears. Maybe it’s simply because we got used to it, but I don’t know, it just feels okay now.”
That glimmer of hope was sorely missed when the Russians were cutting down entire cities as they were making their biggest advances in these parts of Ukraine a year ago.
The Ukrainian forces themselves appear quietly self-assured but close to exhaustion.
Captain Reese moved tired eyes from soldier to soldier as he tried to find the right words to capture the mood of his regiment.
He wobbled slightly and ran his hand over his shaved head.
“We are mentally exhausted after 17 months of war,” the captain finally said.
“My memory was photographed. I called my wife last night and she asked me about something we had discussed the day before. I had no idea what she was talking about.”
He paused to take another look at his troops.
“I think we are,” Reese said.
It instills far less fear in Private Admin than a similar attack on the Ukrainian town of Liman just over a year earlier.
“The past month has been like a long day for us,” said the 23-year-old at a secret location near Russia’s main advance site during the last few weeks of the war.
“In terms of morale, we’re holding on tight. We just want victory to come as soon as possible.”
Ukraine’s ability to pull off the elusive breakthrough in its summer offensive depends in part on the morale of soldiers like Admin.
Russia launched a new offensive along the northeastern crescent-shaped front line a few weeks after Ukraine began its offensive south in early June.
Moscow claimed last week to have advanced 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) near Liman – the railway hub that Ukraine recaptured in October.
The Russians seemed intent on forcing the Ukrainians to abandon their advance on captured cities such as Bakhmut and to redeploy forces to defend the Liman front.
Soldier Admin — a call name befitting his burly frame and background as an IT consultant — feels the momentum is still on Ukraine’s side.
“Any war ends with negotiations, but how can you negotiate with… I will not use the name we use for them here,” he said.
“A lot of good young men are either wounded or are no longer with us. They are bombing civilians, so how can you talk to them? I think they should only be destroyed.”
For Viktoria Tamusievska, Russia’s push to capture Liman and other ruined villages to the north fills hope.
The 53-year-old former postal worker was selling cucumbers and parsley at the Lyman intersection where a Russian raid killed eight people two weeks ago.
She fondly remembers the day the Russians entered Liman for the first time in the fourth month of the war.
She recalls in a trembling voice: “We were waiting for them as if they were God.”
“And if they enter again, they will not harm us. But the Ukrainians are doing bad things.”
The Russians took Lyman after weeks of savage battles that reduced the surrounding forests to rows of logs and stumps.
Many of the villagers who refused to flee the fighting were elderly Russian-speakers who had no qualms about being ruled by Moscow.
This meant that far from everyone welcomed back the Ukrainian forces with open arms.
These tensions have forced fellow greengrocer Volodymyr Seravatsky to extol the virtues of Ukraine’s armed forces in muted tones.
“What if the Russians advance. They all have a death wish. They will come here and die,” he said after glancing at the Tamusievska Road.
“If we had had the same weapons last year as we have now, they wouldn’t have come here in the first place,” said the 69-year-old former power station worker.
Ukraine’s new stock of larger and better Western weapons does little to change the shape of the front.
But it brightened the mood of the villagers who support the Ukrainian soldiers and bear the brunt of the new Russian offensive.
The small hut of factory worker Valentina Omelchenko in the village of Zakytyn lies within striking distance of the Russian forces about 10 kilometers to the north.
She saw a missile fly over her house a few days ago and kill a man in his late 30s.
Omelchenko smiles softly and admits that he sometimes feels sorry for the Russian troops.
“They have no idea why they are fighting,” said the 53-year-old. “You look at the people we captured and they are just scared children.”
Yuliya Polyakova looked equally agitated as she grazed her three surviving cows on the northern edge of Leman.
“We hope they don’t get to us,” the 63-year-old said of the Russians.
“But we’ve already overcome our worst fears. Maybe it’s simply because we got used to it, but I don’t know, it just feels okay now.”
That glimmer of hope was sorely missed when the Russians were cutting down entire cities as they were making their biggest advances in these parts of Ukraine a year ago.
The Ukrainian forces themselves appear quietly self-assured but close to exhaustion.
Captain Reese moved tired eyes from soldier to soldier as he tried to find the right words to capture the mood of his regiment.
He wobbled slightly and ran his hand over his shaved head.
“We are mentally exhausted after 17 months of war,” the captain finally said.
“My memory was photographed. I called my wife last night and she asked me about something we had discussed the day before. I had no idea what she was talking about.”
He paused to take another look at his troops.
“I think we are,” Reese said.
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