#Donetsk

Families in the East of Ukraine lived through a war long before Russia’s 2022 invasion. In  5k from the Frontline , a digital platform and short film, British-Swedish photojournalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind and Donetsk native Alisa Sopova captured the everyday lives of civilians in towns like Avdiivka and Toretsk before the Russian army wiped them off the map.

FPV drone warfare and Russia’s meat-grinder tactics forced Ukraine to redesign its fortifications. A new continuous kill-zone system aims to stop rapid Russian assaults through layered trenches, wider fire lanes, and anti-vehicle obstacles. This is what modern trench warfare looks like.

In every ceasefire proposal, Putin insists on the demand to the transfer of the Donetsk region to Moscow’s control. His motive is clear: Ukraine has heavily fortified the region, turning major cities into a massive defensive barrier. Capturing these areas would cost Russia hundreds of thousands of lives and tens of billions of dollars.