A farm converted into a barracks on the Avdiivka front: “We need weapons and ammunition; hurry up!"

Where there used to be wheat, corn, beets or sunflowers, the Russians have planted mines.

In the agricultural operation that Román manages on one side of the road that connects Prokrovsk (Donestk) with Ocheretine, less than 10 kilometers to the east and already on the Donbas front, guided bombs weighing up to 500 kilos, projectiles of cluster, artillery fire of different calibers and even missiles of the Tochka-U type, capable of hitting the target at a distance of 120 kilometers and with a warhead of up to 450 kilos of explosive.

Since Ukraine withdrew from Avdiivka, 26 kilometers away, on February 17, the Kremlin's aviation has not stopped bombing this point trying to pave the way for its infantry that, just a few kilometers further back, has advanced in recent times. days.

“Do they not see it in Europe?” asks this 58-year-old farmer who refuses to leave the land of his ancestors despite the siege.

“We need weapons and ammunition.

Please hurry up!”

In recent days, Ukraine has managed to contain Russia in this part of the front that, since the departure of Avdiivka - a suburb of the city of Donestk, the Russian bastion of occupied Ukraine - has not stopped leaking.

kyiv's new defensive strategy, leaving the initiative to the enemy and concentrating on defending its positions, did not bear fruit.

The Kremlin's guided bombs wreaked havoc on their rear, forcing their soldiers to retreat, but in recent days, the artillery has received ammunition and rockets that have been in short supply for months and have managed to stop Putin's troops.

However, "the orcs" - as the Ukrainians call the Russians in reference to the bad guys from JRR Tolkien's

The Lord of the Rings

trilogy - do not stop attacking in what they call "a battle of flesh."

The fallen are replaced by others, and the next to fall are replaced by others.

“That is their advantage,” say the soldiers of the 47th Ukrainian Brigade stationed in this area.

“They send their men without caring how many they may lose.”

Román, in one of the warehouses of his farm that he has given to the Ukrainian soldiers, on March 5. Manuel Altozano

This situation has once again brought war to the doors of Román's payments, from which he has never left since the Donbas conflict broke out in 2014.

“Look what I found this morning,” he says while uncovering the dumpster of his van parked next to his house.

Inside are the wings, rear fins and nose of a Russian guided bomb that, fortunately, did not explode.

With that vehicle, he tours his fields to show how the war has affected his exploitation.

Dozens of Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles hide camouflaged in narrow, long rows of trees that surround huge fields so as not to be detected, but the farmer, without apparent fear, enters the open fields where one feels small and naked.

A perfect target for the attacker.

While he shows the hole caused in the ground by a bomb, a fighter plane flies by with its enormous roar.

Minutes later, a large explosion is heard.

A projectile has fallen just 300 meters away.

In the surrounding area, a group of workers with yellow excavators are digging hundreds of meters of trenches to stop a possible offensive.

“Just yesterday I sent 75 pigs to a farm in Dnipro,” he says while showing his herd, in which the remaining animals remain under a precarious roof with holes from the impacts.

“If the Russians kill them, I want to keep something to start over,” she says.

Next to the warehouse, Román opens the door of the little house where he keeps the tools and feed for the animals, but there is nothing of that.

The building has been transformed into an immense dormitory for soldiers with dozens of field bunks lying on the floor with sleeping bags, clotheslines and an immense mess of food scraps, cigarette packs, rifles and khaki clothing.

In the center, a wood-burning salamander heats the enormous room.

Each of the warehouses on his farm, where machinery was previously stored or grain was stored, now serves to accommodate combatants when they are not in their positions or in the trenches.

In total, about a hundred men are hiding in each corner of their land.

The food is ready.

On the kitchen table, two of the employees who work in this farm-barracks arrange a plate of salo - the typical Ukrainian salty bacon - with garlic and onion and another with slices of fried fish caught in the surrounding lakes.

Also three other huge platters with seasoned lard to spread on bread, Olivier-type potato salad and another beet-based salad.

While the soldiers, who eat in turns, begin to snack, the women prepare a pasta-based ranch with pork giblets that the men devour as if there were no tomorrow.

To drink, they give them

uvar

, a cold infusion made of water, sugar and different fruits and herbs.

They also wash their clothes when they need it.

“All these kids have now become our children,” says Román.

“They lead a very hard life at the front and we try to ensure that they rest well here and have everything they need.”

The suitcases packed

In the rooms that the farmer and Yulia, his wife, occupy, everything is provisional.

The suitcases are packed and their most valuable items are packed, in case they have to run.

Some of their things have already been sent to safer places.

The little time the soldiers leave them is spent stuffing food—tomato sauce, vegetables, pork stew (the typical

tushonka

in eastern countries)—in large jars that they store on shelves under a trapdoor with jugs of oil and other non-perishable products in the bomb shelter that have been built in the basement.

His two daughters, one an 18-year-old student and the other, 31, married to an army instructor, are safe in the city of Dnipro, 240 kilometers to the west, where the war is barely felt.

“For us that is the most important thing, that the girls are well while we are still here,” says Román with his wife.

A Russian Toshka-U missile fell on the Román.Manuel Altozano farm

Yulia, with misty eyes, says that they call them every day asking them to leave there at once.

That there is no point in being in danger.

That the Russians could arrive and come after them.

But this strong-looking woman quickly recovers.

“We live well here.

We like to be with the soldiers and feed them homemade food every day so they feel at home.

We are very grateful to them because they are fighting for us and what we want is to help them with everything we have,” says the woman.

“We know perfectly well the danger we are in, but we are prepared in case they approach.

Just today we heard planes and there were several explosions, but so what?

Here we take care of the kids and we are at home.

Are we going to leave all this abandoned?

No, for now, we are not going to leave.”

After two years of intense fighting, the life of the soldiers on the Avdiivka front is very precarious.

Despite risking their lives every day for their country, those who are not lucky enough to be with people like Yulia and Román have to rent their own houses with their salaries, if they do not want to live permanently in the open, in the trenches.

The Starlink antennas that the army provided them are now in short supply, and they are the ones who have to pay for the telephone and internet access.

The few provisions they provide them, they complete with their budget and they cook them.

Even getting a new uniform is a pipe dream when the ones they wear deteriorate.

Sitting at his kitchen table, Román, looking tired, rubs his face and head with his hands and reflects out loud.

“We have to win this war, we cannot leave this problem to our children and our grandchildren,” he says.

“If our allies don't want to send us soldiers, they should at least give us the weapons and ammunition we need to continue fighting, but they should hurry up,” he continues.

“If they don't, sooner or later they will be the ones who will have to fight the Russians on the battlefield.”

Meanwhile, Yulia covers the last glass jars with food fresh from the oven.

Tomorrow we will have to feed the pigs again, monitor the crops, fetch firewood and prepare food for the soldiers.

Protect and care for your agricultural operation.

Defend your homeland.

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