Barricade_builder

I'd say it was actually my very first visit to a forward position, we arrived right when a firefight began. I remember half crouching in a trench, running towards the dugout, as the sounds of bullets and mortars erupted around. In hindsight it was dangerous, but actually you do feel safe in the trenches, they're very well constructed.

Morale is generally high, in terms of what they're fighting for, the belief of defending the homeland. It's no so high when talking about the upcoming peace talks. They fear they're going to be sold out and forced to fall back. The majority have a "why should we fall back on our own land" approach.

The resolution they want is simple.. russian forces to pull out of Ukraine, to secure the border, return Crimea and end the war. How they're going to get it.. not so simple and nobody can say. But they want something swift.. War fatigue is beginning to show.

Well, it's had two elections this year, which led to a new president and a new parliament. It had international observers to monitor the vote, the transfer etc, and they've said it passed pretty well. So I'd put it up there!

We have some relations with the Canadian forces here, but only though online communications. They're based in Western Ukraine so not yet had the opportunity for a face to face.. although I would like to film some of their trainings. However we have met a lot of volunteers from such countries (actually now I think of it, I haven't met a Canadian yet), especially from US and UK.

Hey- Thanks for the support- much appreciated. 1) While we try through out contacts to report from the other side, it's not actually feasible for us to go ourselves for a number of reasons (including that we were once threatened with jail time by them), but from what we can tell and hear, there is a small element of truth to that. I've spoken to a number of organisations and NGO's who travel to that side, and the word they generally use is 'rag-tag' when referring to their soldiers.

2) Not as much as I thought it would. We tried to ask people as part of our weekly update, but no one really had much to say about it. The best answer we got was "we've got our own problems'. I know in the military the decision to hold up the aid did worry them, as it's crucial here, but in terms of the political fallout, that's not really their concern.

3) These far right fears aren't based on nothing, but they're certainly massively exaggerated. A good example of this is the recent election in which 2% of the population voted for far right parties. I don't have much experience with them to be honest, most of these far right groups are based more in Western Ukraine, and you're much less likely to see any here in Eastern Ukraine. People told me there were none at all in Eastern Ukraine before the war started.