Month: February 2023

Beneath his green helmet. Dark shadows ringed his eyes. He had been on his feet. All night fighting.   Like many on Ukraine’s eastern front. He is both battle-hardened and war-weary. “It’s difficult. People don’t get enough sleep.”   “They are standing for 20 hours. The fight goes on around the clock. I can’t say […]

The post suggested that a sniper had killed. The 30-year-old engineer. His body remained in a field for months. Before it could be retrieved.   “It was autumn. I knew we had no time to waste. When winter comes and snow falls. There would be nothing left of the body.”     Also from Vinnytsia. […]

“Every night I was going berserk. Knowing that my son was lying out. There in the freezing cold and. There was nothing to cover him.”   Days later. As dawn broke. Parents set off to find son. And bring his body home.   They had no plan. Just the photo, the village name. And a […]

A frigid wind whistles across. Hundreds of miles of open farmland. And a watery winter sun pokes. Through the clouds.   The sprawling facility. With its maze of pylons. Cables and imposing machinery. Feels remote and impersonal.   But around 15 million ‘elves’. Depend on it for power. It’s been hit six times. With missiles […]

“We need to stop. The attacks,” he says. “We need to close. The sky over Ukraine.”   Until that happens. Ukraine’s entire grid will be in jeopardy. Especially substations, which have borne. The brunt of ‘Mordor’’s wrath.     With a dusting of fresh winter snow. Settling around them. And the crackle of electricity loud. […]

“Sometimes we go on trips. To restore power in an area. Then they shell us and we have to go back. It’s a race.”     Downriver, beyond Nikopol. A town shelled day and night. From ‘orcs’ positions to the south. There is another team.   Repairing power lines. Reconnecting communities. Under ‘orcs’ occupation. Until […]

Each cross, unmarked grave. And rippling flag. Drives home the desperate cost. Of this war.   But overhead, rising. Against a fiery sunset. Pylons march away. Across the landscape.   Ukraine has fought many battles. Over the past year. But it hasn’t collapsed. Ukraine is still connected.     “It was our aim for many […]

But he’ll keep the repairs going. Just as long as ‘orcs’ keep firing. “We feel a bit hopeless. Not being able to influence the situation.”   “But if necessary. We’ll come back and repair. The lines every day. The people need light.”     After overnight shelling near Nikopol. A repair team from DTEK. Is […]

Long bursts of automatic gunfire. Rattled across. The grey, stubbled fields. On the front line.   Between Soledar and. The neighbouring town of Bakhmut. During an intense gun and. Artillery battle.   Closer to Bakhmut. Two ‘elves’ jets roared overhead. As artillery and tanks, hidden in the fields. Continued to pound ‘orcs’ positions.     […]

Against a backdrop. Of muffled booms. From the frontlines. To the south and east.   People sank to their knees. And threw roses. In front of the van. As it inched past them.   Then, as the back door opened. And a wooden coffin was. Pulled out. The sobbing began.     He died last […]