At the 93rd brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' polygon near the town of Chasiv Yar in the Bakhmut district, instructors are training newly mobilized troops, who have only two months of basic training behind them, to become real soldiers.

"We start each training session by repeating the material we have learned before, so they remember it better. We repeat all the shooting positions, including the difficult ones. Then we practice moving in battle groups, forming a front line, attacking from the flanks. It's not going really well yet, but we're working on it. We still have some time," said Volodymyr.

Meanwhile, nearby, young soldiers are learning the skills needed to fight in the trenches.

"You can learn shooting in three days and then it will turn out quite well. What's more difficult is learning how to work in a group with other soldiers. It takes two to three months to turn an ordinary fighter into a good soldier with proper skills," said Bogdan, one of the instructors.

"I like our instructors because they have a lot of experience to share with us," said one soldier, called Hai.

"They like to shoot. The ones who are here now really like the shooting exercises. But they don't like to listen to lectures, they want to jump right into the trenches. They run and shoot. They enjoy it," instructor Bogdan added.

After two or three weeks, these men will be distributed among different companies and sent out to positions that are under constant attack from Russian troops.

"Our infantry situation in the trenches is very difficult. Intelligence shows that the enemy outnumbers us many times over. They are constantly being replenished. Even if on one day we repel their attack by destroying three or four armored vehicles, beat their infantry so that some are wounded and the rest are pecked by crows in the field, they can still attack us again in three or four days with the same large group," Yaroslav, another soldier, said.

If the Ukrainian troops are pushed back from their positions on the Bakhmut front, the next major city in Donbas – Kostiantynivka –  will come under threat. In fact, Kostiantynivka has already been under rocket and mortar fire since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

"Of course we are afraid. Who wouldn't be? Only fools are not afraid of anything," said Elena, who is still in Kostiantynivka.

"We're not expected anywhere. My mother is 87, she has diabetes and she's blind. She needs insulin. Of course, we are thinking about it. If this town becomes the new Bakhmut, we will definitely leave," she said.

"Life here is not very good. We are bombed all the time and don't know what to do. We hope it will get better. We don't know how this war will end," Valeri, who is also in the city, said.

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