Can Ukraine face another year of war?

Ukraine is losing the battle on the ground. Many of her soldiers are tired and worn out after three years of fighting. The question is, can the country survive another year of war?

Their forces are still resisting the Russian advance in the east. But they are almost surrounded near the town of Kurakhove, the scene of some of the most intense fighting in recent weeks.

The Black Pack, a mortar unit, is trying to prevent their encirclement around Kurahovo. The Russians are approaching from three sides.

We meet the team in a sheltered house where we rest from the battle. They are not ordinary soldiers. These include a vegan chef, a mechanic, a web developer and an artist. A group of friends with non-conformist views. Some call themselves anarchists. Everyone volunteered to fight.

Surt, their 31-year-old commander, joined the army soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion. He told me at the beginning that he thought the war would last three years. Now, he says, he is mentally preparing for another ten years of fighting.

Everyone knows that Donald Trump wants to end the war. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s president have indicated they are also open to talks, but the idea of ​​a workable agreement seems hard to imagine.

For now, there is only talk.

Surt doesn’t dismiss Trump’s goal.

“He’s a pretty ambitious guy and I think he’s going to try to do it,” he says. But he worries about the outcome of any negotiations.

“We are realists, we understand that there will be no justice for Ukraine – many will have to accept the fact that their homes have been destroyed by rockets and shells, that their loved ones have been killed, and that will be difficult.”

When I ask him if he prefers to negotiate or to keep fighting, Surt says flatly: “Keep fighting.”

It’s a view mirrored by most of the device. Sergio, the vegan chef, believes the talks would simply freeze the war temporarily – “and the conflict will return in a year or two”.

He admits that the current situation is “not good” for Ukraine. But he is also ready to continue the fight. Getting killed, he says, “is just an occupational hazard.”

David, the artist, finds Trump disturbingly unpredictable. “It can either be very good or very bad for Ukraine,” he says.

The unit spends one week at the front and rests the next. But even when they rest, they continue to train because, they say, it motivates them.

In a frozen field, they go through mortar fire drills. The team was recently joined by Dennis, who voluntarily left the safety of his home in Germany.

“I asked myself the question – can I live in a world where Ukraine does not exist? he says. He reluctantly admits that he now appears to be losing, but adds: “If you don’t try, then you will surely lose. At least I’ll die trying to win instead of just laying down and taking it.’

But unlike others, Dennis says he thinks Ukraine should at least consider a ceasefire. He believes that the victims of Ukraine are more than officially recognized – over 400,000 killed and wounded. Mobilizing more of the population, he believes, will not solve the problem.

“I just think a lot of the motivated soldiers are either lost or they’re pretty damn worn out – so to me it’s not that we want a ceasefire, but we can’t go on for many more years,” he says.

Dnipro, Ukraine’s third largest city, also reflects this sense of war weariness. It is regularly targeted by Russian missiles and drones. Air raid sirens wail intermittently day and night. When they are silent, Ukrainians try to find some sense of normalcy in these unusual times – including by going to the theater.

There were still reminders of the war in the afternoon performance of a comedy play called “Kaidashev Family” – a minute’s silence in memory of the dead, followed by the Ukrainian national anthem.

But some in the audience admit they’re also hoping for a longer release. Ludmila tells me “unfortunately we are less. We get some help, but it’s not enough – so we have to sit down and negotiate.”

Ksenia says: “There is no easy answer. Many of our soldiers were killed. They were fighting for something – for our territories. But I want the war to end.”

Opinion polls also show growing support for talks.

Some of the loudest calls for a ceasefire have come from those who have been forced to flee the fighting. In a shelter near the theater, in a former student dormitory, a group of four elderly women reminisce about the homes they left behind.

Eighty-seven-year-old Valentina says they arrived with nothing but were provided with shoes, clothes and food. She says they were treated well. “It’s good to be away, but it’s better to be home.”

Her home is now in Russian-occupied territory. All four women want peace talks. But Maria, 89, says she does not know how both sides will be able to “look each other in the eye after the hell they have done”.

She adds: “It is now clear that nobody will win militarily, so we need negotiations.”

If there are negotiations, these women may have to sacrifice the most – as Ukraine may have to sacrifice land for peace.

Additional reporting by Daniel Wittenberg and Anastasia Levchenko.