A Ukrainian soldier mans a gunner position in a front-line trench in Avdiivka, Ukraine, on Sunday, January 23.
Local residents drive past an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Marinka on Saturday. The building was badly damaged during fighting in 2015 between the Ukrainian army and Russian-backed separatists.
Ukrainian soldiers take shelter in a front-line trench in Pisky, Ukraine, on Monday. This trench was about 100 meters (109 yards) from separatist positions, photographer Timothy Fadek said.
Boys fish for carp and perch in Marinka on Saturday. “They don’t read the news and have no opinion about the Russian military buildup,” Fadek said. “But they said their parents were extremely worried and watch television news constantly.”
A Ukrainian soldier walks through a destroyed industrial zone in Avdiivka that, in some areas, is only 50 meters (about 55 yards) from the separatist trenches.
Zhanna, 42, is a lieutenant and doctor in the Ukrainian army, based in Avdiivka. Before joining the army last year, she was a pediatric physician in a local hospital. Her husband is an officer in the army. “I’m not sure that there will be an attack by Russia,” she said, “but I am ready to treat the soldiers in case they are wounded in fighting.”
Soldiers keeps watch at their front-line position in Avdiivka on Sunday.
A Ukrainian soldier holds a cat in Avdiivka on Sunday.
Soldiers sit in the back of a truck in Slov’yanoserbs’k, Ukraine, on Friday.
A soldier stands in a trench in Avdiivka.
A resident rides a bicycle in Marinka on Saturday. “Although this small city is less than 15 miles from the separatist front line, residents try to continue their lives as normal as possible,” Fadek said.
A soldier motions toward a dog at a front-line trench on Friday. Dogs live in these trenches with the soldiers and provide an early warning against intruders.
Ukrainian soldiers keep watch on the front line in Avdiivka.
A woman walks past a damaged apartment building in Marinka on Saturday. “The mood was somber, depressed and resigned,” Fadek said. “People are going through the motions of their daily lives.”
Viktoria, right, watches television with her 10-year-old daughter and her son and his girlfriend in Marinka on Saturday. When asked if she had a message for the world leaders involved in the conflict Viktoria said: “Stop. Just stop. It’s enough. Think about your children if they were here.”
A look inside a Ukrainian trench on the front lines.
Ukrainian soldiers guard a front-line trench position on Friday.
A Ukrainian soldier keeps watch in Avdiivka.
A destroyed car is seen outside a damaged building in Avdiivka.
A Ukrainian soldier walks through the industrial zone in Avdiivka.
A Ukrainian soldier on the front lines mans a gunner position on Friday.
Men play billiards in Marinka during a local tournament on Saturday.
A Ukrainian soldier walks through a destroyed industrial zone in Avdiivka that has seen heavy shelling over the years.
A farmer in Muratove, Ukraine, chops wood on Friday while family members collect it to sell to a nearby Ukrainian army base.
The Ukrainian soldiers Fadek spent time with Friday were extremely relaxed, he said. “They have embraced the inevitability.”
A woman sells dried fish on the road leading to Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on Thursday.
A soldier walks with dogs in a front-line trench. “I’ve been in the trenches many times before in the summer,” Fadek said. “This is the first time it was in the winter. Visually, because the trenches and the landscape are covered in snow, it reminds me of World War I trenches. Cold misery.”