Two days ago was a good day, Nazarii Kishak boasts as his pickup truck slides through muddy ravines towards military lines on the outskirts of Vuhledar, a bitterly contested hilltop town in eastern Ukraine. His men, part of the 48th Separate Rifle battalion, within the 72nd Motorised Brigade, managed to kill 11 Russians.
“A day without dead Russians isn’t a complete day,” says the 30-year-old commander. “We killed around 400 Russian troops over four days last month and destroyed half of their vehicles. We were in immediate contact with the enemy using anti-tank guided missiles, machine-guns, grenade launchers and drone strikes.”
