Taking Cover

A Ukrainian mortar team waits for Russian shelling to cease before attempting to return fire toward an enemy position on February 16. The city of Bakhmut lies in the Donetsk province, part of Ukraine’s heavily industrialized eastern Donbas region, now partially occupied by Russia. Ukrainian forces have been holding the city for months against assaults led by Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, at great cost to both sides. As the February 24 one-year anniversary of the war approached, Russia intensified attacks across southern and eastern Ukraine.