A Ukrainian soldier’s story: Fading hope on the front line after four years of fighting

DW News · Feb 22, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Journalist Kostiantyn Honcharov worked with DW until 2022, when he, like many Ukrainians, returned home to join the volunteer army defending against Russia's invasion. The following is his personal report on four years of war in his country. I honestly still don't understand why this war started, why it continues, and how, when and at what cost it could be brought to an end. To me, war is something archaic, a return to the logic of brute force, at a time when humanity is talking about colonizing Mars. When the war reached my homeland, I, a man who had never held a weapon in my hand, was faced with the choice of remaining a spectator or helping defend my country. My decision to join the army has less to do with a sense of duty than with the desire to have agency, rather than become a subject of history. It was about the right not to become a victim of circumstances. Over time, the war lost its abstract nature for me and became deeply personal. It has become a routine, a part of my everyday life. I don't notice any profound psychological changes in myself, perhaps because they have already taken place and become a habit. I can no longer imagine what it's like to live any other way. I'm pained by the friends who are gone and the places of my past that have been laid to waste. I see what is happening in front-line cities. But I am particularly worried when Kyiv is attacked, writing my loved ones after every bombardment, asking them, "How are you? Do you have electricity? Is your home without heating?" Problems facing Ukrainian forces It's not just the fighting that is destroying people. The Ukrainian army has been dogged by problems that have accumulated over the years, and this is aside from discussions over the technological transformation of modern warfare. These persistent problems are beginning to break front-line fighters faster than the enemy. Mass desertions in the Ukrainian army are not occurring because soldiers have suddenly become cowards or stopped being patriots. The reason is that fighters in front-line units are physically and mentally exhausted.Kostiantyn Honcharov says Ukrainian soldiers endure a lotImage: Vitalii Pavlenko/ArmyInform Exhausted front-line units are not withdrawn to recover. Instead, their deployment is prolonged to the point of inhumanity. Their reinforcements either never arrive or find themselves ill-prepared for what awaits them. After I was wounded and evacuated from the front line in the winter of 2023, only five members of my 30‑man platoon remained behind — all others had been wounded or killed. With this infantry shortage, decision-makers resort to transferring drivers, cooks, mortarmen, anti-aircraft gunners and supply unit members to the infantry, expecting them to hold the front line without the necessary combat experience. Yet they, too, are wounded, killed or desert. And so, the fighter shortage is only exacerbated.Ukraine's difficulty replacing exhausted troops A person's resilience has limits. If rotations were more regular, if soldiers were replaced more often and circumstances a little more humane, we would not have such a dire situation along the front line. We often require soldiers to be heroes when we should allow them to be soldiers — well-trained, equipped and somewhat rested fighters. The widespread use of drones has made rotations on the front line much more difficult. Detailed route planning, tracking of enemy drones and coordination with electronic warfare units are needed when advancing to the foremost front-line positions and then withdrawing through the "death zone," which stretches for miles. In favorable weather, however, rotations are vital and possible. After all, if infantrymen spend an average of 60 days on the front line, they can hardly be efficient fighters. The prevailing battle stress is so enormous that it eats a person up inside. Who is defending Ukraine? Yes, the war is indeed being waged over much greater distances. Today, fighting and battlefield monitoring are mainly done by using drones. This is a major technological advance. There are drone units that work closely with the infantry. Yet ultimately, it all boils down to the people in the trenches holding positions. The future of the country depends on how long they can hold out and remain capable of fighting. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of such fighters.The fighting is taking a huge psychological toll on soldiers, Honcharov says Image: Vitalii Pavlenko/ArmyInform I am not an expert on critical infrastructure or military service fitness. But when the number of men on leave of absence has exceeded 1 million, and you see a group of conscription-age workers painting a small bridge for days on end in the hinterland, you can't shake the feeling that some people are contributing more to the war effort than others. The illusion of peace negotiations Soldiers, therefore, have a different take on peace negotiations than civilians. Among the military personnel I speak to, only a few think peace talks offer a real prospect for Ukraine. News of a possible ceasefire creates an illusion that has little to do with what is happening on the battlefield. For people far from the front line, news of negotiators meeting could give the impression that a kind of peace process has begun, suggesting a solution to end the conflict may be closer than it was yesterday. There may be a sense of a "turning point" and that peace, or a ceasefire, may be on the horizon. Yet for those on the battlefield, nothing changes. Artillery keeps firing, attacks continue, drones keep flying, and people continue dying. I really wish I was wrong. I want to return to my family as soon as possible. But the reality is that this battle will rage on for a long time. This article was translated from German.