Barely a kilometer from the Russian positions defending the captured eastern city of Izjum, Ukrainian and foreign fighters are huddled in a damp basement, under artillery fire almost every night.
The Carpathian Sich Battalion, a unit of Ukrainians and foreign nationals who responded to Kiev's call to help oppose the invader, is at the center of the fight to stop the Russian army's advance in eastern Ukraine, Reuters writes.
"Now it's more of an artillery war. It is a more difficult, more terrible war, where only those who are strong in spirit can fight," said Dzvin, the field commander of the battalion. For security reasons due to his leadership role, he asked to be identified only by his military name.
These fighters said they were united by fierce loyalty to Ukraine.
"Each of our warriors is aware that at some point they will come face to face with a tank," Dzvin told Reuters.
The unit recently captured one tank almost intact. But he also has to contend with Russian drones - which fighters call "black clouds" - that help direct deadly artillery fire at their positions.
"It's getting harder here. The longer it goes on, the more tiring it definitely gets," said Connor, a British volunteer and former front-line army medic.
"Yesterday they shelled at one, two and four in the morning, so it obviously disturbs our sleeping routine, but we have to stay positive."
Motivation
Whether a native Ukrainian or a foreigner who responded to President Volodymyr Zelensky's call for help, each fighter has his reasons for being on the front line, aware of the risk of death, injury or capture, writes Reuters.
"We all know the possible consequences of being here and we've all come to terms with that," Dzvin said.
The job of his battalion in Izjum is to prevent a Russian penetration that could lead to other Ukrainian units being surrounded, he said.
"It is of great importance. Our deterrence makes it impossible for a large-scale encirclement of our troops to occur."
Another fighter, Denis Poliščuk, said that he hopes that after participating in the battlefield, he will have a worthy answer when the children, whom he hopes to have, will ask him how he helped during the war.
"I felt that the only dignified answer would be that I made my contribution. I fought along with everyone else,” said Polishchuk, who was born in Ukraine but lived in Vancouver for years, giving him the nickname Canada.
Briton Connor said that the sight of wounded women, children and soldiers who failed to receive adequate medical care motivated him to leave Britain and go to the front line. He added that he would use some of the skills he had been training for.
"I also helped set up Polish hospitals".
"The Russians are our enemies"
Reuters writes that Carpathian Sich is one of several paramilitary nationalist groups that began as volunteers in 2014, when Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and backed pro-Russian armed separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region. However, since mid-May, fighters of that battalion can sign military contracts that entitle them to pensions and treatment in military hospitals. Ukrainian authorities say the move shows that nationalist units have been reformed and successfully integrated into the regular armed forces.
Russia is justifying the invasion by saying it wants to "denazify" Ukraine and has labeled some of the former paramilitary groups as far-right extremists, a charge they vehemently deny.
"I'm not a Nazi, I'm a nationalist," said Leo, a 33-year-old new member of the Karpatska Sich battalion who previously worked in video production in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
"I respect other nations... I love all people of all skin colors - except Russians. These are our enemies.”
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