And they worry that they have been forgotten and left behind in the face of a slowly advancing Russian army. In the city of Soledar, they leave their apartment buildings now only for emergencies. Prisoners ‘forced to fight for Russia’ – Ukraine live news The odd car screeches down the deserted streets and the threat of shells or rockets is constant – bomb fragments dot the streets. Another reminder that death may never be far away. There is no electricity or water here and the residents are terrified, camping next to their bomb shelters. A woman comes out of the shadows to speak to us but won’t say her name – she’s scared. He tells me he is no longer alive, only surviving in an endless nightmare. “What can I tell you? How can we live here when you get shot or bombed in the head? Can you sleep? And are there children here, little children?” Everyone here is terrified. They don’t know who is winning this war. They just want the fighting to stop. “Every day it’s getting louder – it’s like a week like this. It’s backwards and forwards. And yesterday the bombs fell on the shelter of a woman’s dacha,” he said. But this war is not going to end. As we head towards the positions of the Ukrainian military front, it is clear that this conflict can continue for years. We are guided by one of the soldiers, Mihailovic, who warns that fire may come at any moment. There may be what military generals call an “operational pause” right now, but the trade of deadly fire continues in this relentless duel of artillery attrition. The contact line stretches for miles, both sides heavily dug in. But Ukraine says long-range Western artillery is slowly giving them the upper hand. We hear the sound of a British gun thundering into the Russian positions, which are only 700 meters ahead of us, on the other side of the Siverskyi Donets River. It’s hard to know if Ukraine is capable of winning or just losing slowly. Russia is struggling but winning in the east and you only have to visit the cities in the firing line to see that. Bakhmut is slowly being crushed by shells and rockets land here daily, injuring the local population. Read more from Sky News: US offers Russia prisoner swap deal in bid to free two Americans. Ruslan says he wants Ukraine to win, but more than that he wants peace and stability – even if it means ceding territory and living under Russian occupation. “They should have given it all (the territory of Donbass) in the beginning. You can’t fight this side. “Because if this country wants (Russia) it can take all of Europe.” People here already know what Russia will do to achieve its goals. Political targets are often hit. The local school is in ruins. crashed in an air raid. There are reminders of what life was once like here, pictures of school children hang on the walls among the ruins. But now only the sound of violence can be heard as Russia’s attack approaches.
