1/ Three years of gruelling warfare and constant fear of attack, day and night, has left Russian soldiers exhausted and desperate for it to end, even as fresh soldiers are shovelled into the meat grinder. One soldier describes the grim scene among the hills of western Donetsk. ⬇️ 
2/ "The chalk mountains, so unassuming against the backdrop of the kilometres-high, snow-capped giants, certainly make a deceptive impression on the traveler from afar. What's the issue with climbing a hundred metres, really?
3/ "Only when you're lugging several dozen kilograms of gear, wearing armour, with stinging blisters instead of heels, with your nose clogged with lime dust, do you begin to curse the damned hills.
4/ "And the screeching of drones doesn't make such hikes any more pleasant, playing a hellish game of "'Sea Figure, Freeze! [a children's game]," relying on camouflage and the fact that the cameraman will pick his nose instead of looking for human silhouettes under the branches.
5/ "Quite a hike, huh? And on such a route, the gradient of increasing conditions is very clearly visible. There, near the mountain, the guys are still sitting quietly outside, basking in the echoes of the sun, smoking, chatting.
6/ "And the deeper you go, the quieter the soldiers' bivouacs become. Fewer and fewer signs betray to the sky that "someone lives here."
7/ "The climax of this is a fucking pit, with a heat-proof canvas stretched over dry branches, where soldiers can live and work for months. Exhausted, drained, but working like crazy.
8/ "A boy sits at the edge of the tree line in the dawn twilight. He hasn't left this hateful pit for four months now, walking around, performing almost the same tasks. The only things that are different are videos on his phone and his gradually growing beard and hair.
9/ "Every day he takes a photo of the sunrise at the same time. Measuring out his own calendar.
Tired, exhausted soldiers search for bright differences in the monotonous, gloomy, viscous cesspool of war.
Tired, exhausted soldiers search for bright differences in the monotonous, gloomy, viscous cesspool of war.
10/ "And when they're sent to the rear, I constantly catch disgust on their faces as they observe the underground palaces, the toothy smiles of well-groomed soldiers jogging, fattened up for the TV.
11/ "They laugh in response to yet another order: "All mobile units are ordered to sign contracts, otherwise they'll be sent to assault." And they simply wait for the next round of hell to begin on the front lines...
12/ The soldiers are exhausted. The summer offensive campaign has come to an end, and looking at the monstrous overload of my comrades, some of whom have been at the front lines since spring and can no longer, simply physically, function, and are being punished for it,…
13/ …I have no illusions that the Special Military Operation is nearing its end. The inability of "some" commanders to manage personnel leads to a situation where some sit in the rear for years, while others can't release the wounded because "they don't have the men."
14/ "Fortunately, our unit suffered few losses this summer, truly few. But each loss weighed heavily, tearing at the soul. A young man who stepped on a mine, dying over several hours on a stretcher.
15/ "I barely held back after the phrase of a worthless lieutenant, "I didn't really want to live." An older man, honest, responsible, good-natured, and simple.
16/ "He was assembling drones according to orders (which, fortunately, were immediately rescinded). He didn't notice the self-destruct device on the damaged kamikaze.
17/ "Piles of wounds. Horrible, brutal mutilations that leave men disabled.
And yet, for everyone wounded and dead, someone always takes their place. Whether it's pressing buttons like us or escorting transports.
And yet, for everyone wounded and dead, someone always takes their place. Whether it's pressing buttons like us or escorting transports.
18/ "Running, sneaking toward enemy fortifications, spying on the enemy through a drone camera, turning the steering wheel, loading mighty guns, lugging heavy backpacks to the front.
19/ "We ignore the commanders' tyranny. We ignore the fact that they've forgotten us. We simply do our job, grumbling, but doing it.
The foggy, slushy autumn has arrived and settled over the steppes, and we still have a long way to go." /end
The foggy, slushy autumn has arrived and settled over the steppes, and we still have a long way to go." /end
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