Reuters World News - Two years later: On the frontlines of the Ukraine war

Episode Date: February 24, 2024

As the war in Ukraine moves into a third year, soldiers are weary and Ukrainians struggle with an uncertain future. Join reporters Max Hunder and Charlotte Bruneau as they meet with soldiers on the battlefield and villagers living with war on their doorsteps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the war in Ukraine moves into a third year, a lot of the world's focus has switched. A year dominated by elections, the conflict in Gaza, and continuing economic uncertainty, means two years since Russia began its direct military invasion, the conflict is no longer the world's number one issue. Instead, fighting has been playing out in corridors of power, from Kiev to Washington. military recruitment is a challenge for Ukraine and the supply of aid and weapons from the West has been stalling. But on the front lines, the battles continue.

On this episode, we take you to those front lines to hear how the war has changed since 2022. And we hear from communities ripped apart by the conflict. I'm Kim Vinal in London. This week, Vladimir Putin said Russian troops would push further into Ukraine, building on the fall of Avdivka. That victory last weekend is the biggest battlefield win for Russia since its forces captured the city of Bakhmut last May.

Two years after the war began, that victory is seen as significant. Mike Collett White covers Ukraine and says it underlines a wider mood on Ukraine's front line. Well, I think the capture of Avdivka is significant and that it is proof of what we are hearing on the front lines. You'll soon hear from our correspondent, Max Wondo, who spent more than two weeks in Danyetsk near the front lines, that the Ukrainian armed forces are struggling, they're tired, they're under-resourced. Russia has a much larger, more powerful army. It's willing to spend a lot of blood to make small gains. And the latest upshot of this is what President Vladimir Putin casts as a significant victory.

They have captured the town of Avdivka, which has been the scene of bitter fighting for. for months. It's not insignificant. I don't think it changes the course of the war, but it is nonetheless a victory and one which has cost Ukraine dear. And it's not only the loss of Avdivka that has cost Ukraine dear. War fatigue has begun to take hold. On the more than 600-mile front line, soldiers are tired. A downbeat mood reflects a broader acceptance in Kiev and among its allies, that depleted ranks and insufficient arms and ammunition have handed Russia the advantage. As Mike said, Max Hunter has recently spent two weeks near the front line in the Dignetsk region to hear firsthand about morale, but also how the fighting has changed significantly

over the last two years. Max, what did you witness? I spent two weeks going around various. I spent two weeks going round various parts of frontline East Ukraine in late January, early February. It's unseasonably warm. It's as a result, it's very muddy there because the ground's typically frozen there. That slows down big, armor-led assaults. And actually, those big assaults, some of which we saw in the early war, that's not really how it works anymore. We've seen a shift in the war to much smaller,

attacks usually driven by infantry. And that's driven by a variety of factors foremost among them is the preponderance of artillery and FPV drones, which are small battlefield drones. The fact that targets can be hit by such a vast quantity of ordnance from artillery and drones, as well as things like landmines, mean that big armored vehicles have a really, really hard time attacking. And as a result, the Russians who are now on the attack in several places, have adopted this strategy of sending small groups of infantry

and knowing that they'll take enormous losses, but that would also give them a chance to capture some little pockets of land here and there. So the way the war is being fought has changed in the last two years? Yeah, I think it's fair to say that both sides have worked out how to fight this war, how to fight their opponent through experience. Drones have become a major part of the war, having not really been that in 2022. Over time, their role has grown and grown

to the point where infantrymen now say that drones are the biggest threat to them. Actually, Ukrainian infantrymen told me that they find it hard even to dig into a position properly and fortify a position properly because they're so visible that a drone will immediately see them and then another strike drone will come and hit the guys reinforcing that trench or that position. It's a very unpleasant battlefield to be on. To be honest, we couldn't even get right up close to the front line because in our vehicle with our press flack jackets, we'd be far too visible for this sort of battlefield. It's a battlefield where everyone has a vast array of eyes in the sky there all the time,

and it becomes very, very difficult to move at all. It's very stifling. Everyone's always looking up the whole time, checking to see where they can hear drones and It's an incredibly paranoid battlefield and one where you don't really see your enemy unless you're a drone pilot and you see them on the screen. Most infantrymen won't ever see their enemy. And they will be, if they're killed, they'll be killed by ranged fire from artillery drones. It's very, very impersonal sort of warfare.

How are the soldiers you met feeling? The soldiers are certainly very, very. tired. They know they have to keep fighting because they know that the alternative is Russian occupation and they say they're fighting to defend their homes. It's a pretty clear incentive, but no question they're exhausted and they would really like to see new soldiers sent in to replace them. But that's now the subject of a great deal of political wrangling. There's a quite controversial mobilization bill that would really ramp up the conscription of men into the army that's going through parliament right now. Would soldiers hope for an end through diplomacy? I think that among pretty much all the

soldiers, there's a weariness, but also a deep skepticism of Russia. I think that they probably don't quite see Russia as an interlocutor that would observe its promises in any sort of talks. They have this quite frail politique vision of ensuring peace through strength, but they're very, very aware of how much that still relies on the continuation of supplies of arms and ammunition from the West. I think the soldier's general attitude is, we'll keep on fighting as long as we have to, even though we're exhausted and we're taking huge losses, because they still feel, even after all they've been through, that laying down their arms would lead to much worse things. Russia's Defence Ministry didn't respond to a request for comment on the state of play on the front lines.

Away from the front lines, the impact of two years of fighting is visible in many towns and villages, and not just because of damaged buildings and infrastructure, but through broken communities. Charlotte Bruno has been to Lozuvatka, a village six-year-old. 60 miles from the front line to see how the war has impacted day-to-day life. For this story, we were thinking about how to try and give an insight into how two years of war profoundly changed society, people, and also lives across Ukraine, and not only in active conflict areas, but also kilometers away from the frontline.

And so we decided to go to the village of Lozuvatka, which is a village of about 6,800 people near the steel-producing town of Krivery. It has agriculture as a main economic activity, but many also work in the steel industry or services in the city nearby. So we visited one of the villagers' cemeteries, where we met a mother and her five-year-old daughter, Angelina. And the mother, Aliona, told us that she was coming quite frequently at her daughter's request to visit the grave of her husband

who was killed fighting near Bahmoud. And so he was buried there alongside ten others from the village of Luzovatka who were killed in fighting since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. We also met a couple who said they have a son who was captured while he was fighting in the city of Maripol in May 22.

And so until today they said that they don't know how he is, they don't know if they will see him again. And they have spoken about the impact that this uncertainty has had on their lives and the anxiety of not seeing him again. So for them, community has been very important. There are other families in the area that are going through similar experiences. And we went with them to the nearby city of Kriviri to attend a demonstration where where dozens were asking the government to do all it can to free those in Russian captivity. In Lozuvatka, we also visited one of the three large farms, where we met the owner of the farm, Alexander Vasilchenko.

And he spoke to us about the impact that two years of war has had on his business, which is a family business that his family has run for decades. And he said that he was not making any more profits. and that right now he was working using his savings, but that he was determined to keep on working because of the importance his business has for the livelihoods of the people in the area. He's employing 60 people.

30 of them are men and five of them have gone to serve. He's also renting the land of around 600 people in the area, and so these people also depend on the well-being of his business for part of their income. And one of his worries was also having enough skilled workers to work on his farm, because already five of his 30 male employees had gone to serve, and he said that he was struggling to recruit and train new workers, and that he would have to work on a plan

in order to train new workers to be able to repair his equipment and work the equipment and continue cultivating the land. The reason why we picked a village to try and tell the story of the impact of two years of war in Ukraine is also because we were looking for a place that could represent some of the main issues that the country is facing right now and also show how much the society is impacted miles away from the front line. the debate around efforts to increase mobilization, people recovering after coming back from the front line

or dealing with loss and trauma with loved ones who are still missing. And there are also the economic aspect, such as agriculture and the impact of two years of war on one of the large farms in the village. So Mike, given what we've heard from Max and Charlotte, how do you see the war and the overall strategic situation? I think what both pieces, although they're very deep, different tell us is that Ukraine is in probably the most difficult place has been since the early

stages of the war once the shock was out of the way. It's on the back foot militarily, as you heard from Charlotte's piece. It's agriculture sector, which is the backbone of the economy, is struggling. So on many fronts, it is struggling. But I would say that it's easy to look at a country in a particular moment and say it's over or it's not over. I think. that we should kind of resist that temptation. I think that this war could go on for a long time. I do think the Ukraine is unlikely to be completely abandoned. I do think it has certain tactics that it can employ that could help it in the longer term. And let's not forget that the war is costing Russia deer as well, both in terms of the brain drain, the loss of life,

and the enormous costs financially that is pouring into it. So I think there's a lot of still all to play for. I think it's true Russia has the upper hand at the moment. Putin is looking very confident as he goes into his election period in mid-March. But there's going to be a lot more twists and turns and Ukraine is highly motivated. That's it for this special episode. A big thank you to our reporters, Max Hunter, Charlotte Bruno and Mike Collett White. Reuters World News is produced by Jonah Green, Gail Issa, David Spencer and Christopher Wal-Jasper. I'm your host, Kim Vinal. Carmel Crimmons is our senior producer,

and Lila de Kretzer is our executive producer. Engineering, sound design and music composition is by Josh Summer. To make sure you know what's going on in your world, listen in for 10 minutes every weekday. And don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts or download the Reuters app.