A city that once knew peace and beauty has become known around the world as a symbol of war and resilience. Frontliner reporter Artem Derkachov traces Bakhmut’s transformation from a modest Soviet town into a fortress defined by Ukrainian identity.
A veteran who lost the ability to walk after being wounded returned to a full life when he refused to let a spinal injury define him. Frontliner spent a day with Ivan Nedobryk – from morning coffee to evening training – to witness the life of a veteran who learned to live again.
After Russia’s extensive attacks on energy infrastructure, thousands of buildings in Kyiv were left without heating. Frontliner reporters went out to report on the conditions people are living in and the places they can turn for help.
Amid simulated explosions and the buzzing of drones, cadets drill until their reactions become automatic – ready to fight and to help a comrade. They are not superheroes, but ordinary people who were recently mobilized.
Despite amputations and severe wounds, they prove that injury doesn't stand in the way of reaching your goals. Fourteen veterans from across Ukraine entered the ring.
After returning from captivity, he spent months fighting the consequences of Russian abuse – broken ribs, ulcers and other injuries. He also struggled with nightmares, fear of silence and recurring memories of what he had endured. On Nov. 16, 2025, the heart of 36th Marine Brigade serviceman Oleksandr Savov stopped.
Radiation, wild animals, and “Shaheds.” At night near the ghost city of Prypiat, a mobile fire group from the 25th Brigade stands guard under a sky where threats can appear without warning.
He survived the hell of Mariupol and several Russian prisons—and never broke. Oleksandr Savov, 33, was one of the last Ukrainian soldiers to surrender at the Azovstal steel plant — the vast industrial fortress in the besieged southern city of Mariupol— in May 2022. Three years later, on March 19, 2025, he stepped off a prisoner-exchange flight with broken ribs, missing teeth and a single thought: to hug his 12-year-old daughter.
Ukraine has successfully returned 175 defenders from Russian captivity, along with 22 more heroes who are coming home through efforts beyond formal exchange processes. Among them are severely wounded soldiers and those imprisoned on fabricated charges. All will receive full medical and psychological care.
Ukraine has been in a full-scale war with Russia for the third year. 2024 was especially difficult and exhausting for the army, society, and economy. Every day, 100-200 combat clashes along the thousand-kilometer front line. Hundreds of drones and missiles are launched at cities and villages in the depths of the country.
