Frontline Transit: Poignant Moments Of Ukrainian Soldiers' Journey To And From War

A Ukrainian soldier embraces his partner, who visited him during a short break from his frontline duties at the train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.

RFE/RL photojournalist Serhiy Nuzhnenko was at the station where he captured these evocative moments as Ukrainian soldiers depart and return from the front line.

Nuzhnenko is one of the few reporters granted access to cover combat on the front lines.

The railway station in Kramatorsk, which lies roughly 150 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border, is a major rail and logistical hub for Ukrainian forces.

A soldier shares a long embrace before bidding farewell.

Scenes such as these have been repeated throughout the country as Ukraine struggles to hold the line against Russian forces who are making operational gains in the Donetsk region.

Another soldier says goodbye to his partner who was visiting him during a short break from his frontline duty.

A woman makes a heart gesture through the window of the train shortly before its departure.

As some soldiers bid farewell on the platform, others, like this man, arrive to the waiting embrace of their partners.

 

Yevhen, who is going home on leave, has brought along a new family pet for his daughter: a puppy named Boyard.

Ukraine’s top general warned on April 28 that the situation for Kyiv’s forces in the east has deteriorated, with Russia attacking “along the entire front line” and achieving “certain tactical successes,” forcing Ukrainian troops to pull back to new defensive positions.

“The situation at the front has worsened,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy wrote on Telegram.