Jonathan Beale
They call it "dronocide": new training to deal with what is now the greatest threat to a Ukrainian soldier's life on the battlefield – drones.
These machines saturate the front line and cause the largest number of casualties, according to Ukraine. If Donald Trump can't make Vladimir Putin agree to a ceasefire at their meeting in Alaska on Friday, then this training in eastern Ukraine might be essential to saving lives on the front.
The continuing preparation for battle suggests few in Ukraine are expecting this war to stop any time soon. The training is not especially sophisticated: their defence is a shotgun. The soldiers go through drills to hit fast-moving targets – shooting first from the ground, and then while on the move. Ihor, their experienced instructor, tells the men a shotgun is currently their most effective means to bring down a drone at close range.
Ihor has been fighting on Ukraine's eastern front since 2014, the year Russia illegally annexed Crimea and sent troops into the Donbas region. His call sign is "The Knifer". He also trains troops in hand-to-hand combat.
Ihor's been trying to help stop the Russian advance for the past ten years. He bristles at any suggestion that Ukraine will have to give up territory as part of any "land swap".
"Neither me nor my comrades are ready for this," he tells me. He says they'd rather continue fighting until "we liberate our territories".
That doesn't seem likely, with some Ukrainian front line units now well below strength. One soldier told us renewed efforts to mobilise more troops had been a "disaster". They know they're still outgunned and outnumbered.
Ukrainian troops also admit they're tired and losing ground. It's an undeniable fact. But this training shows they're not giving up.
Oleksii, one of the soldiers honing his skill with a shotgun, says he's already lost his father and friends in the war.
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