(21 Nov 2019) US-made medical equipment, night-vision devices and counter-mortar radars make a difference for Ukrainian troops fighting Kremlin-backed separatists on the front line of the stand-off between Russia and the West. Sometimes it's the difference between life and death.
So when US President Donald Trump froze US $400 million in US military aid to Ukraine, allegedly to pressure the country's leader for personal political favours, Ukrainians got nervous.
Every little bit of assistance helps in the World War I-style trenches of Avdiivka, where conscripts and volunteer soldiers use shovels to shore up mud walls, chop wood for makeshift stoves, and cook their own food from local vegetables and canned supplies.
Rostyslav Pokotylo shows off the American flag inside the case for his night-vision gun scope, which he credits with saving his life in 2017.
"I ended up in a combat zone ... If not for this, who knows what would have happened," he says. "With its help, I could see the enemy. I saw the enemy first, and we opened fire."
As impeachment hearings play out in Washington, Ukrainian troops at the front described their hopes and fears to The Associated Press after a five-year conflict that has taken 13,000 lives and still simmers on, sporadic gunfire punctuating the autumn calm.
The aid freeze wasn't something palpable that immediately affected the Ukrainian troops in action; it had more of a psychological impact, raising fears here that the US was turning its back on Ukraine.
The aid was later released, but the resulting scandal has effectively frozen US-Ukrainian relations and thrown long-term US backing into doubt.
"We need support, and without support of our allies we won't win this war," Pokotylo said.
Already Avdiivka feels a world away from Washington. A soldier works his trench with a pickaxe. Another hangs out wet laundry in the damp chill.
Another cleans his Kalashnikov rifle with a piece of old rag.
While the US aid helped fill some of the gaps in Ukraine's military capability, with counter-mortar radars being one highly welcome addition, the Ukrainian army has continued to rely on aging Soviet-era weapons and often lacks essential supplies.
On the other side of the front line, separatists work from a similar, Soviet-made arsenal.
After large-scale battles involving tanks and long-range artillery early in the conflict, fighting has devolved into an oddly primitive standoff, with both sides stuck in trenches and occasionally exchanging artillery salvos and gunfire.
Ukraine used warplanes and helicopter gun ships early on, but grounded them after heavy losses from anti-aircraft fire.
Strategically located near the airport of regional capital Donetsk and home to Ukraine's main coke and chemical plant, Avdiivka was seized by separatists at the outset of the 2014 uprising, then taken back by Ukrainian forces a few months later.
Heavy fighting erupted again in 2017, and Avdiivka remains a key spot on the front.
Around 10 days ago, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed by light artillery fire as they unloaded firewood from their vehicle.
"Sometimes it's scary. Sometimes, it's so dark that you walk and can't see yourself, can't see even your hand in front of you. You might get scared when you walk down the trenches at night. The trenches are long," said Kyrylo, a 21-year-old soldier who spoke on condition his last name not be used for security reasons.
"I want all my comrades to survive," he said, his eyes welling up. "Many die."
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