The rubber boots of the Ukrainian soldiers squished as they walked through muddy trenches reminiscent of the First World War. Eight hundred metres away Russian-backed separatists watched from their observation point in the ruins of a school.
More than 14,000 people have been killed since fighting erupted seven years ago in Donbas, an east Ukrainian mining region whose largest city, Donetsk, was founded by a Welsh businessman in the 19th century. A peace deal brokered by France and Germany ended full hostilities in 2015, but the violence never stopped entirely.
Now, as Russia masses tens of thousands of troops on Ukraine’s eastern border and in Crimea, annexed by the Kremlin in 2014, there are ominous sign of a return to the dark days. Ukraine says
