A town in Ukraine’s east finds itself squarely in the path of Russia’s advance.

Spartak Kyurdzhiev thought he knew what war was. At 16 years old, he has lived in the shadow of Ukraine’s fight against Russian-backed separatist fighters in the east for half his life, playing computer games or doing schoolwork against a backdrop of artillery attacks that periodically rocked his hometown, Avdiivka.

“I’m not 5 anymore,” he said. “To run and hide somewhere doesn’t make any sense.”

As he spoke, a volley of rocket fire landed with such intensity nearby that it forced the teenager to take cover.

Avdiivka is no longer simply a town on the front lines of the conflict with the separatists, absorbing the volleys of a simmering war. It is now an impediment to Moscow’s military goals as Russian forces press forward with a potentially decisive operation in the east. The town’s force of Ukrainian fighters, dug into an extensive trench system, will be difficult to dislodge without massive firepower. Read more

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