Ukrainian troops launch risky mortar shell attacks

"We're facing the enemy," explains a Ukrainian soldier with the battle name Kalyna. He points in the direction of Svatove, a town which lies in the Russian-occupied region of Luhansk. "It's our duty to hold off the enemy and not let them gain more ground in Ukraine." 

Kalyna's combat unit is stationed in the east of the Kharkiv region . Though Ukrainian forces freed the area from Russian occupation last September, it remains on the frontline. The Russian army is stationed just three kilometers (1.8 miles) away, in occupied Luhansk.

'I never would have thought I'd go to war'

"I never would have thought I'd go to war," says Kalyna with a shrug. The small man with a thick beard is from the Lviv region in western Ukraine, where he worked in construction. "I repaired roofs," he recalls, while glancing at bombed-out houses. "When I look at all of this, I see so much hardship," he continues. After the war, Kalyna intends to help repair damaged apartment buildings. "I've already posted ads in as many places as possible," the commander jokes.

On the street, a tipsy older man, the only civilian around, recalls that at one point, there were as many as 2,000 people living in this village. Now, it has fewer than 200 residents. The conversation is suddenly interrupted by a whistling sound and explosions. Despite the potential danger, the man takes his time to go home, which hasn't yet been damaged.

'An artillery battle is raging' 

"The enemy still doesn't intend to push forward in our direction," Kalyna tells DW reassuringly. "There's an artillery battle raging. We're using our artillery to try to keep the enemy at bay, and Russia is using its artillery to try to take ours out." Kalyna was trained to operate mortar shells. "The highest caliber weapons are deployed on this section of the frontline. These shells can put soldiers and light armored vehicles out of action."

Kalyna explains that Russian soldiers mostly stay in their lookout posts. "They have these dugouts that they watch us from. We try to hit them and drive them as far back as possible, so they can't see us anymore."

He explains that Ukrainian reconnaissance teams supply information about the location of such foxholes so that the soldiers can determine where they can best launch their mortar shells from. Then he leads a group of soldiers to one such position. The path to the spot winds through a wooded area with cliffs. When a mortar shell flies through the air, everyone takes cover on the snow-covered ground. The bright sunlight does not help either, as this makes it easier for the Russians to spot the soldiers.

'Reclaiming what belongs to us'

The Ukrainian soldiers set up their mortar launchers in front a field that's covered with wilted sunflowers still lingering from last summer. Kalyna gives the order to open fire on the Russian troops, and then there is a slew of deafening explosions in rapid succession. The soldiers turn away, bend down, and cover their ears.

One of the soldiers lights a cigarette during a short pause. He hasn't quite finished it when Kalyna orders the men to cease fire. They quickly dash back into the forest before the Russians can figure out their location and return fire.

Shortly thereafter, the Ukrainian soldiers have to leave their shelter to hop into their vehicle. The dust that falls from their clothes glitters briefly in the setting sun. As they drive onto the street, a Russian mortar shell can be heard exploding behind the vehicle. "In order to hit the enemy, we have to get very close, which is very dangerous," Kalyna says. "We need large caliber mortars that would allow us to attack from safer positions."

The men are tired after the attack. Nevertheless, Kalyna says with a smile on his face that the exhaustion will be gone in the morning. "This is just how it is for us in wartime. We have to reclaim what belongs to us." 

This article was translated from German.