The soldiers were dug into their positions southeast of Pokrovsk when the Russian assault started. Over the next 20 hours, artillery rained down on their trenches, interspersed with dozens of glide bombs launched from Russian territory. As the Ukrainians were forced to pull back, newly mobilised Russian reserves swooped in on their position and swiftly dug in.
“I’d never seen anything like it,” Vitaliy Milovidov, an officer in the Ukrainian armed forces, said. “I don’t know how we can take such positions back.”
