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On the front line in the Donetsk region.
Dmytro, alias "Davinchi", is commander of a unit of volunteers.
His unit positions the howitzer.
It's February 24, 2022 - the day the war began in Ukraine.
Dmytro is 26 years old and has been working for eight years.
On this day he is not only on the road with his unit.
His girlfriend Alina has also come to the front in eastern Ukraine, and the two have not seen each other for two months.
Now they are sitting together in the barracks, in full gear, there is very little room for romance at the moment.
And yet it helps to be together.
Alina Mykhailova, former military volunteer
»I came back to my division at the front yesterday, February 23.
The government declared a state of emergency and everyone was in turmoil and alarmed.
And in a situation like that, you just have to be with your people.
Being here helps me get rid of the fear.
Today I woke up at 5am in the middle of a real war.
It's not the war of the last eight years - now it's a full war."
The two have been a couple for five years, they met as volunteers at the front.
Alina Mykhailova
»We lived in the forest for a whole year.
Now and then a bomb would land nearby.
One morning we were woken up by a blast.
We lived in a small room, two by three meters, with our dogs.
In 2019, Davinchi didn't want me directly on position anymore - there was a lot of argument between us about that.«
Alina:
»Did you call your mother?«
Dmytro:
»Yes, I woke her up to say that the war had started .
She was still asleep, I said: Get up, the war has started.
She asked how?
I said: just like that.«
Ukrainian television reported nonstop attacks on cities across the country.
The Russian broadcaster's account is completely different: there is no danger to civilians.
Russian TV on Youtube
»Russian military doesn't conduct rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities.«
Dmytro
»What the fuck is this?«
Nobody here has the slightest doubt that this is the absolute real thing - from now on everything is at stake for them.
Alina Mykhailova, ex-military volunteer
»Of course I'm worried about him.
I try to fight the worry as best I can.
I know he has a lot of responsibility – and the pressure is just so great.«
Kyiv, February 22, 2022
Alina also has a lot of responsibility for a 27-year-old.
This is what her life looked like two days before the start of the war: meeting with colleagues, she is one of the few young deputies in the Kiev parliament.
She has just returned from an important business trip – to the Munich Security Conference.
A trip that left her disillusioned:
Alina Mykhailova, Deputy of the Kiev City Parliament
»I had prepared a speech.
I said: My country has learned to survive.
Then the tears welled up in my eyes, I couldn't breathe.
I just thought, stop, you can't cry here now.
I looked at my papers, my hands were shaking.
And that was one of those moments for me: I looked at these people and, to be honest, they didn't give a damn."
Dmytro has rarely been able to visit their home for two years, and Alina's work also did not allow for weekly visits to the front.
And yet it was still possible to do normal things in everyday life:
Alina
"Snowboarding...Davinchi, Andro."
Snowboarding with friends or getting the dog together, life went on.
They were in a long-distance relationship, as so many young people around the world are - and yet their reality has always been very different:
Alina
»Here, this is in Avdiivka, Davinchi is sitting on the tank.«
Alina Mykhailova, Member of the Kiev City Parliament
»Our generation, these are people who experienced the war and go to war.
We spent our whole conscious life, everything we could build up, how we developed, in the war: I was a volunteer helper in 2014-16, a soldier volunteer in 2016-18.
All these experiences have shaped my life principles that I cannot give up.«
The turning point for Alina and Dmytro's generation dates back more than eight years and is linked to this square: the Euro Maidan protests of November 2013 escalated quickly.
What began as a protest movement against the Yanukovych regime reached a bloody climax in February 2014.
The popular uprising ended in street battles: feared Interior Ministry troops are to clear the Maidan – this was described as an “anti-terrorist operation”.
They open fire on the Maidan activists.
Alina was there as a volunteer.
Alina Mykhailova, Former Military Volunteer
»The days when they started shooting people – we had so many wounded and dead, they were all brought to us in the church.
I remember: a man came through the gate of Mikhailovski Dom, his head was smashed, wrapped in cloth.
I was 18. It was scary.
For me, there on the Maidan – that was the turning point in my life.«
It was also the turning point in Dmytro's life.
He celebrated his 18th birthday on the Maidan.
Just three years later, at 21, he was named the youngest commander.
Alina shows us the medals he got.
At 26, her boyfriend was honored with the Ukrainian state's highest award for his services, and the President himself presented him with the Hero of Ukraine medal.
Donetsk region, February 24, 2022
Back in Donbass, on the day the war began.
The men get the message: the Russian units are said to have made an advance near Cherson in the south.
The mood in the barracks is noticeably tense.
It's time to go, get in position.
Alina Mykhailova, Former Military Volunteer
»Many soldiers in his battalion are older than Davinchi, but they have faith in him.
They are willing to entrust their lives to him, the most precious thing we have.
I do too.
Of course, he's been my boyfriend for five years.
But I also trust him as commander.«
Originally, they had planned to visit Alina's parents in Dnipro together.
Nothing will come of it now.
Alina decided that day to stay at the front with Dmytro.
She later lets us know that she plans to stay until the end.
She says: until victory.
The radio call does not bring good news.
The Russians occupied Cherson.
And the war has only just begun.