A ceasefire, with Kalashnikovs in hand A photo series by Max Avdeev from separatist base camps in eastern Ukraine
In the wake of the Minsk agreement signed on February 13, when the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France signed a ceasefire, the situation in eastern Ukraine seems to have stabilized. Following the retreat of Ukrainian troops from the city of Debaltseve, a strategic railway hub, both sides began to observe the terms of the treaty and the OSCE was allowed access to the conflict zone. Meduza sent photographer Max Avdeev to film the separatists living in their trenches, digging new ones, and preparing artillery, should this ceasefire end, like others before it.
Fighters who had helped seize Debaltseve are now stationed near Belaya Kamenka, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the city of Donetsk.
A sniper, callsign Lynx.
A covered T-64 tank.
Inside a bunker.
A soldier, callsign List.
During the ceasefire, the combatants have spare time to clean themselves up.
Carpets in the shelters help keep out moisture and the cold.
“Lynx” in her mini-bunker.
A nurse just before departing for medical training in Donetsk.
Ali Baba (left), a Lezgian man from Dagestan (in Russia's North Caucasus), has been fighting in eastern Ukraine for some time already.
The early morning shift.
Firearms practice.
Covering a new bunker with earth.
Mechanics have to warm up the tanks and the oil inside to keep them functional. It takes about 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of diesel to warm up one tank.
There is no water in the village. Water is brought from a bigger village 15 kilometers (9 miles) down the road.
OSCE cars accompany a string of military vehicles on their way from Gorlovka towards the Russian border, in accordance with provisions of the Minsk agreement's requirement for the withdrawal of multiple rocket launchers from the conflict zone.
Colonel Olga Kachura, commander of the missile unit, with representatives of the OSCE.
Colonel Olga Kachura.
The repair shop of the “Vostok” battalion near Donetsk. These are 2S19 “Msta-S’s,” 152 mm howitzers designed in the Soviet Union and Russia. The howitzers pictured here were captured near Starobeshevo in the southeast of the conflict zone.
Ammunition has also been captured. There is a live shell still in this tank’s barrel, but this repair shop can’t remove it. The separatists are waiting for the end of the ceasefire, before disposing of the ammo that’s waited, locked and loaded, in this tank for the past six months.
The mined road between Debaltseve and Artemivsk.
Ammunition in the village of Logvinovo.
A combatant uses a sniper rifle's scope as binoculars.
An armored towing vehicle removes a damaged car from a rebel base camp.
A bridge over a railroad to Debaltseve that once connected the city to Donetsk.