It has taken Ukrainian forces a month to push the Russians back by six miles in Novomykolaivka, west of DonetskEvery time one of the two T-72 tanks under the command of Viktor Pokropyvayi fires a shell at the Russian front line three miles away, five are returned in his direction. It has been like that since the end of February, when the 56-year-old from Kyiv was called up by the Ukrainian army to resume a career he abandoned in 1986. Working as an industrial abseiler, Pokropyvayi left the Soviet army 36 years ago and never imagined he would be recalled. Sponsored“We cannot compete in terms of equipment but our forces are better trained and are more determined than the invaders,” he says after moving the Soviet-era tanks into woods where they cannot be spotted near the village of Novomykolaivka, about 90 miles west of

Source: The Times June 10, 2022 23:02 UTC