INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
In a forest in the Kharkiv region, Commander Vyacheslav walks briskly, his eyes fixed on the sky
The radio on his shoulder crackles: "The sky is clear, no more drones, we can go."The men of one Territorial Defense Brigade of Kharkiv have
come to locate a Ukrainian tank destroyed earlier by a Russian drone in the Peremoha sector, a small village situated between the third and
second lines of the front.Vyacheslav, a 45-year-old former MMA fighter in Kharkiv, knows the region well
war games here when I was a kid," the commander explains with a sly smile.Despite weeks of intense combat showing on their faces, morale is
"Once again, with the little equipment and men we had, we managed to stop the Russians."Nicolas Cleuet for Le PictoriumFor the commander,
So of course, we are even more motivated," he says
"On the other hand, when we capture Russian prisoners, we see that they don't know why they are fighting
For me, they have no chance of winning the war."The Donbas frontAt the end of May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the
Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region had failed
However, the Ukrainian army is still struggling in the Donbas, where its forces have been retreating step by step since February 2024.For
Russians were going to launch an offensive in this sector
We prepared for it and sent reserve units allocated to this part of the front," he explains
"There has been momentum in the Donbas for several months due to the Russian army's efforts and our lack of ammunition rather than a real
Russian, so they try to take as much territory as they did at the beginning of the war
their daily lives."I am worried about a Trump victory," Vyacheslav says
"I still think Biden is more loyal to Ukraine, and he has a very good team that understands what needs to be done
I don't think if Trump wins the election, he will abandon Ukraine, but what is certain is that the support will not be the same, and it
won't be for the better."Nicolas Cleuet for Le PictoriumEurope's support, on the other hand, seems more assured to him
With the victory of the Labour Party in Britain, which has renewed its support for Ukraine, and the defeat of far-right candidate Marine Le
Pen, known for her pro-Putin leanings, in the French legislative elections, Vyacheslav is not too worried about defection in the European
commander.Keeping the faithDespite the risks of a reduction in American aid following the election, Vyacheslav, buoyed by their successes on
The offensive wasn't a surprise, and they had to sacrifice a lot of men and equipment that they can no longer use in the Donbas," he
said.Vyacheslav also believes that the difficult days are behind them and that Western aid is starting to make a difference on the front."I
can't reveal everything because it's classified, but all I can say is that we are seeing an improvement in our capabilities and that our
our firing rate since the beginning of the Russian offensive
their logistical lines."But now that we have Western authorization to strike Russian territory with their weapons, we can just hit their
logistics with HIMARS," explains Ansar, who also confides that, in his opinion, this offensive highlights the dysfunctions of the Russian
army."The Russians had no particular strategy
They just knew we were about to receive a new influx of American aid, so they tried to exploit this window of opportunity to break our front
Again, without success."Nicolas Cleuet for Le PictoriumBack from the missionBack from the mission, the team, settled in a wooden house about
Next to him, on a wooden chair, Denis, 35, smokes a cigarette and heats a white tin coffee pot on a small stove
Everyone around the rusty metal barbecue relaxes and laughs.Serhii explains that they try to have a good time and eat well almost every
"We don't know if we will still be alive next week, so we live as if there is no tomorrow.""It's also important to keep morale up, and we
need moments like these to relax," explains Vyacheslav
"They have all been fighting since the beginning of the war and don't often see their families."Yann, a former bus driver in Kharkiv, has
hardest part was not seeing our family
Then it was Bakhmut where I was injured
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