ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AFP) -- On the eve of the fourth anniversary of Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II, Ukrainian soldiers told Agence France-Presse that they hoped to see their families again.
For "Tourouk," a 37-year-old soldier in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia who wished to be identified solely by his nom de guerre, "to return home safe and sound" would be victory enough.
Today, the conflict looks very different to the early days after Russia launched its invasion on Feb, 24, 2022. "On the whole, it's more technological, as unmanned craft are being constantly modernised," Tourouk said.
According to Kyiv, the by-now ever-present drones are responsible for nearly 80 percent of destruction at the front, with Ukraine and Russia constantly striving to keep abreast of that revolution in modern warfare. Despite the fighting dragging on, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict began anew in 2025 at the urging of US President Donald Trump.
But successive rounds of talks in Istanbul, Abu Dhabi and Geneva have yet to silence the guns on the ground.
In particular, Russia has demanded that Ukraine abandon the whole of the Donetsk region, the current epicentre of the fighting, where the Ukrainian army still occupies territory.
But Kyiv has rejected ceding the territory.
Given the impasse, many believe there to be no swift end to the war in sight. "I wouldn't dare to predict how this whole story will end," said Tourouk, speaking from Zaporizhzhia, just a few dozen kilometers away from the front.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that he will pursue his goals by force if negotiations fail. In recent months, his troops have ground their way toward Zaporizhzhia, a large town previously far removed from the fighting which counted some 700,000 residents before the invasion began.
The Russian Army is now just 30 kilometers to the south, despite an ongoing counteroffensive in which Ukraine claims to have retaken 300 square kilometers.
Moscow occupies around one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and claims to have annexed four of the country's regions.
That comes on top of Russia's seizure of the Crimean peninsula in a 2014 invasion. Yet another soldier, a red-bearded 50-year-old nicknamed "Irishman," still holds an ambitious vision of Ukrainian victory, "the 1991 borders, reparations from the aggressor country and Ukraine in both the European Union and NATO."
Irishman, who hopes to one day return to his publishing house for children's books, said he fights the Russians so that his kids will not have to do so in the future. His fellow soldier, Jigoul, 39, said he wanted "justice."
"It's not us who started this war ... for me justice would be that the people of the enemy, Russia, understand that they are wrong."
