A village in the Novoazovsky district in the south of the DNR lives under constant fire. Ukrainian soldiers attack it every week.
Alexander Sladkov with the details from the scene.
The south of DNR, the Azov Sea coast, the village of Sakhanka. When the military talks about bombings this village gets mentioned almost every week. There are no soldiers here and the village seems lifeless but that's not true. People and even children live here. The front line runs outside of the village but the soldiers are also being shot at.
Eduard Basurin, the official representative of the DNR army, who's usually seen at briefings in Donetsk, is now studying the frontline dressed in protective gear and carrying an assault rifle. The DNR military expects a major provocation in the south which will be followed by a Ukrainian offensive.
Eduard Basurin, DNR Operational Command: "They need some reason to launch an offensive. The information war is part of the larger-scale war".
A DNR marine codenamed "Seal" tells Eduard Basurin about life on the frontline.
Codename Seal, DNR marine: "Here's our small recreation room".
DNR marines — patches with an anchor and a motto: "better to die on your feet than to live on your knees". A steering wheel on the wall of the dug-out.
Codename Seal, DNR marine: "I don't even know what to call it... It's our talisman".
The marines aren't going to retreat. Besides ammo, they have food and water in case they get surrounded.
Codename Klim, DNR marine: "Here you go — chickpea soup. It was cooked this morning. We have everything that we need — food, tea... We won't die from hunger. The food's fine".
The only Ukrainian things in the trenches are borsch and Kiev TV. The DNR channels don't air on this territory.
Codename Seal, DNR marine: "Yeah, we have a TV. We love to listen to them talking".
The marines complain about Ukrainian propaganda.
Codename Seal, DNR marine: "Some of the shows on the TV drive me mad. How can they say stuff like that? Nobody's afraid of them. We've never been and never will be".
A curious observation. After Alexander Zakharchenko was killed the number of those willing to serve in the DNR 9th Marine Regiment increased.
Codename Seal, DNR marine: "People started volunteering after the terrorist attack. We had four new recruits join us yesterday".
The positions of the Ukrainian are really close to the marines.
"See their flag at the bell tower? Yeah, the yellow and blue one".
At night, the Ukrainian soldiers begin shooting. Their bullets and explosives usually target DNR towns and villages.
Codename Seal, DNR marine: "Shouting. Shooting at someone. Arguing. Some cars driving around. I don't know if they are high or something randomly shooting our villages. They are shooting at villages located 1-2 miles beyond the frontline where elderly people live".
The shooting stops in the morning. While sneaking back, Eduard Basurin points at the Ukrainian dug-outs. They are clearly seen — the landscape desolated with artillery strikes hides nothing.
Despite the disturbing news about the possible Ukrainian offensive people don't leave their homes in the southern villages of the DNR. They're sure that the offensive won't be successful.
Alexander Sladkov, Pavel Vydrin Igor Uklein, Andrey Bondarenko, and Andrey Rudenko Vesti, Donbass
