Ukraine stunted by conflict

Near Mariupol, a Ukrainian marine peers at separatist positions through artillery damage in a former sanatorium, now a frontline outpost. Shelling occurs daily despite a ceasefire. Marines along the Sea of Avoz are tasked with keeping pro-Russian separatists from Mariupol, which would provide their self-declared republics with profitable industry and a land bridge between Russia and Crimea.

A marine patrols in the remains of Shirokino, five kilometers from Mariupol. A holiday town on the beaches of the Sea of Avoz, it was leveled by fighting in August. The town was a source of local revenue to Mariupol, as it swelled with thousands of tourists every summer. It now marks the frontline held by Ukraine along the Mariupol city limits, with separatists a mere 600 meters down the beach.

A series of WWI-like trenches make-up the marine station "Tiger," on the outskirts of Mariupol. Continued shelling and sniper fire along this line keeps marines in a constant state of preparedness, grinding nerves while they reinforce their positions for a drawn-out conflict. The earth and wood trenches and bunkers are not just defenses; they are soldiers' homes during their time on the front.

A marine shaves on an autumn morning on the Donetsk front, 500 meters (550 yards) from pro-Russian separatist positions. Ukraine has conscripted thousands through its mobilization act, swelling its military ranks to 280,000 personnel from just 130,000 in December 2014. Now men from across the social spectrum man a 200-kilometer (125-mile) front stretching from the coast into the Ukrainian Steppe.

Alla, 31, an actor turned military volunteer, works with a civil-military cooperation unit on the Mariupol front. The unit delivers aid to the civilians still living in the war zone and tends to marines with goods and medical treatment. Women are not subject to Ukraine's mobilization draft and must volunteer: "My friend was an officer and said I should serve my country in a time of war. I agreed."

With an anti-tank RPG at her bedside, Alla checks Facebook after a day on the line and showering with bottled water. She is the only woman living with 20 other male soldiers in an occupied holiday home on the Sea of Avoz. Her comrades built her a makeshift private room from bookshelves and shower curtains: "They're good boys, my friends. I trust them."

Volunteer Canadian doctors operate on wounded Ukrainian troops in Kyiv's Military Hospital. A group of 40 doctors came from Canada to perform complex surgeries beyond the technical ability of local surgeons. Citizens of Canada and other countries with large Ukrainian diaspora have been crucial in filling the financial and technical gaps of Ukraine's war effort.

Andriy, 28, a conscript from Kyiv, was injured by a mine explosion in the Donetsk region. He waits for plastic surgery by Canadian doctors to reduce his scars and remove the shrapnel in his face. The shards are so big he can stick magnets to his cheek and forehead. Before the war he had a business working with satellites. He must finish his 12 months in the military before he can return to work.

Katja sits in her Kyiv flat, where she now lives alone with her daughters, two-year-old Tasha and nine-year-old Anja. Her husband was drafted and serves on the Mariupol front. "It's horrible for me here without him," she says. "I don't need a big house or lots of money, but I need my husband here to raise his daughters."

Katja's husband Maxim, 29, sits on his bed in an underground earth and wood bunker on the frontline outside Mariupol, his home for the last three months. Before mobilization he imported clothes from Germany for his three clothing stores. They are now closed without him in Kyiv to run the business, and he will need to rebuild the stores and contacts after his year of conscripted duty is over.

A government soldier mans a checkpoint in Donetsk. Despite the ceasefire, the peace is broken daily by shelling and sniper fire - a war without flashy battles, but rather muddy attrition, with reinforced positions and indiscriminate fire, rendering eastern Ukraine uninhabitable. The state of pseudo-war has left the nation of 45 million in economic and political paralysis.