Frustration Is Growing On The Ukraine Front Lines

Paul D. Shinkman, US News and World Report: Yards From War, Miles From Peace

Ukraine’s troops at the front lines complain Kiev is needlessly hampering their ability to fight.

AVDIIVKA, Ukraine – Most of the fighting here takes place at night, when deep thuds of artillery and the staccato sounds of gunfire routinely fill the air.

The Ukrainian army’s 128th Brigade occupies a former mine at this extreme front line of the war against separatist forces, connected to Ukraine-held territory by one road that bisects a dense anti-tank minefield designed to thwart pursuit if government troops were forced to retreat. The brigade has witnessed a steady rise in the aggressiveness of the fighting over the last two months.

Col. Bandar Balkovnic, the unit’s second in command, points to the massive craters in grounds of the mine’s compound, holes in the walls and ceilings and fragments from the shoulder-fired 82 mm rockets, mortars and 152 mm artillery shells as evidence of what he and his troops have most recently endured.

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WNU Editor: It is a war that I know is taking 1 or 2 Ukrainian soldiers lives each day .... plus around 5 to 6 wounded. On the other side .... probably the same number but there are also civilian casualties from the sporadic artillery fire that occurs .... even though the above reporter for US News and World Report says that there are none.