Prisoners ‘forced to fight for Russia’, Poland agency says; Moscow planted agents long before invasion – investigation finds | Ukraine updates

By Alex Rossi, correspondent

Ukraine says it is launching a counter-offensive in the south but as this gruesome war enters its sixth month, people living on the front line in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine fear the shelling will never end.

They worry they’ve been forgotten about and left behind in the face of a slowly advancing Russian army. In the city of Soledar, they only leave their apartment blocks now for emergencies. 

The odd car screeches through the deserted streets. The threat of shell or rocket fire is constant and bomb fragments pock-mark the roads. Another reminder that death is never far away.

There’s no power or water here and residents are terrified, camping next to their bomb shelters. 

A woman emerges from the shadows to speak to us but won’t give her name – she’s frightened. She tells me that she’s no longer living, only surviving in an endless nightmare.

“What can I tell you? How can we live here when they are shooting or shelling on your head? Can you sleep? And there are children here, small children,” she says. 

Everyone here is terrified. They don’t know who’s winning this war. They just want the fighting to stop.

But this war is not about to end. As we make our way to the Ukrainian military front-line positions, it’s clear this conflict could go on for years. We’re guided by one of the soldiers, Mikhailovich, who warns there could be incoming fire at any time. 

There may be what the military strategists call an “operational pause” at the moment but the trade in deadly fire continues in this relentless artillery duel of attrition. The line of contact stretches for miles, and both sides are heavily dug in.

But Ukraine says Western long-range artillery is slowly giving them the advantage. It is hard to know whether Ukraine is capable of victory, or is just losing slowly. 

Russia is finding it difficult but is making gains in the east, and you only have to visit the cities in the firing line to see that. Bakhmut is slowly being crushed. Nearly every day shells and rockets are landing here, traumatising the local population.

People here already know what Russia will do to achieve its ends. Civilian targets are often being hit. The local school lies in ruins; smashed in an airstrike. There are reminders of what life was once like here. Pictures of the school children hang on the walls amidst the rubble. But now there’s only the sound of violence as Russia’s assault gets closer.