‘Learn fast or you’ll be dead’: The bloody stalemate on Ukraine’s front line

Ukraine – a year of war: In the eastern region of Luhansk, Kim Sengupta speaks to soldiers who have spent a year under intense shelling, battling Russians for every inch of ground as they fight for the survival of a nation

There has been fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces across eastern Ukraine since the start of the invasion (AP)

There is a roar of noise in the far distance, echoing through the falling snowflakes. It fades away, leaving a moment of stillness over the frozen fields, and then the shells land – flame and ice, orange and white, bursting up from the ground.

The attacks on the Ukrainian positions have started once again on this front line in the eastern region of Luhansk, where Russian forces have been making small advances. It is attritional fighting, as both sides in the conflict try to claw their way out of a wider, and bloody, stalemate.

There is silence after the last round lands, with no one sure whether yet more are incoming. Eventually, we slowly get up and begin to shake down our clothes. Some of the mortar rounds were close, but there have been no casualties, apart from a young trooper who gashed his forehead when diving down.