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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Isobel Koshiw and Ed Ram in Zaporizhzhia and Dan Sabbagh

Motivated but outgunned: Ukrainian soldiers discuss life on the southern front

Members of the Ukrainian services in Marhanets in the Zaporizhzhia region carry the coffin of an officer killed in battle.
Members of the Ukrainian services in Marhanets in the Zaporizhzhia region carry the coffin of an officer killed in battle. Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

A group of Ukrainian infantry soldiers stood in a warehouse in south-western Ukraine when they were shelled by Russian artillery. Serhiy was hit in the face with shrapnel. He and his recent best friend Hennadiy took a selfie clutching part of the shell which did not hit them.

Moments later, Russian tanks appeared on a hill opposite and fired across the village in front of them, including at the warehouse. Hennadiy and the rest of the group – all natives of the Zaporizhzhia region – were also hit by shrapnel and all of them suffered hearing damage.

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