Standing in front of a Soviet-era industrial elevator, ready to descend 2,000ft for a gruelling six-hour shift at a coalmine in eastern Ukraine, Ludmyla Vashkatova looked unfazed.
The last thing she saw before stepping into the metal cage and plunging into darkness with dozens of other miners was a towering sign urging workers to take care. “You are awaited at home,” it read, a stark reminder of the perils working at a frontline mine in the heavily shelled city of Pokrovsk.
