The average age of servicemembers in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is over 40. The army is aging, but lawmakers are working to change that. Frontliner explores why young people are joining the military and how they are introducing new technologies.
Along the boundary between Ukraine’s Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Russian forces continue efforts to push the front line forward. The Pokrovsk sector remains among the most intense areas of fighting. Frontliner reports on how Ukrainian artillery operates under these conditions.
Poltava met the war in its usual rhythm, but with an unusual silence. Life here continues by inertia, suspended between indifference, routine and quiet whispers about the future. A Poltava native and Frontliner reporter shares her view of the city during wartime.
Being under fire is terrifying. But it is many times worse for a bedridden person who cannot make it to a shelter or leave a dangerous city on their own. People with limited mobility rely on family, social services, and rescuers, and a single mistake or delay can cost them their lives.
The museum of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade Kholodny Yar is located in one of the frontline towns of the Donetsk region, so for safety reasons it is almost entirely underground. It bears little resemblance to a traditional museum where you can check the website for opening hours, buy tickets, and spend an educational weekend with your family.
The calm at the stabilization point suddenly ends, as if someone flipped a switch. Just moments ago the medics relaxedly drank coffee with snacks, went out for a smoke break, and scrolled through social media, the corridor was filled with the stamping of feet, shouts of “seriously wounded!”, and groans of the wounded.
The sky over Kostiantynivka is swarming with FPV drones, hovering before striking vehicles. The anti-tank warheads attached to them pierce straight through armored cars, while ordinary ones are shredded to pieces.
The American M114 gun is now in action on the Pokrovsk front, holding back the Russian onslaught. Originally built in 1943 to halt the advance of Nazi forces during World War II, it was transferred to Ukraine by the Czech Republic during the full-scale war.
“Korshun,” an infantryman of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade “Edelweiss,” has seen much during his seven months of combat on the front: he captured an enemy soldier, held his position alone for several days, and was wounded. His command has put him forward for the Order of Courage.
Across Kherson runs one of the toughest stretches of the frontline — a shifting maze of river delta channels, overgrown thickets, and elusive crossings. In this watery battlefield, survival depends on adaptation. One of the units that has mastered it is “Buzky Gard”: fighters who fuse intimate knowledge of the terrain with the tactics of asymmetric warfare. Frontliner reports on how they operate in this zone of constant risk.
