The Ukrainian infantryman spent 22 days in a foxhole. Every attempt to climb up and advance toward a Russian-occupied village, he said, felt like a one-way trip.
“Constant mortar shelling. Drones flying overhead,” said the infantryman, who gave only his call sign, Knyaz, per military protocol. “Running and hiding under trees. Digging into the tree lines. Sleeping there. Living there.”
After a month of fighting, Knyaz’s unit liberated the village, which is no bigger than a few streets, in the northeastern region of Sumy, according to independent groups monitoring the battlefield. The village, Kindrativka, is one of two that Ukraine has retaken in the region this summer, and its forces are now pushing close to other Russian-held villages — modest gains that matter deeply to Kyiv.
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Ukraine Counterattacks, Scoring Rare, if Modest, Success in Northeast
The gains could help counter Moscow’s narrative that Russian advances are

