Life on the eastern front with Ukraine’s troops

After the rapid progress of Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region, progress has slowed in Luhansk as the wet and cold weather moves in, writes Isabelle Khurshudyan

A Ukrainian military unit moves toward a front-line position near Kreminna on Sunday (The Washington Post by Serhiy Morgunov)

Deep in the forest and less than a mile from enemy Russian positions, the sound of incoming artillery landing nearby thunders every few minutes. The landscape is littered with unexploded ordnance, so the Ukrainian soldiers don’t dare step anywhere they have not before. They pack light because they might be on the move quickly – forward, they hope.

In their cramped, hastily dug mud outpost, they apologise that they only have tea – no room for coffee.

A commander manning one of Ukraine’s forward-most positions did not flinch at the roar of shells crashing close by as he zoomed in on his tablet to show how Kyiv’s forces in the area have advanced within five miles of Kreminna – an occupied stronghold for the Russian military and potential gateway for the Ukrainian forces as they press into the eastern Luhansk region.