Dmytro, a member of the 15th Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard, discards a spent shell casing after firing onto Russian positions near Pokrovsk on September 5, 2024. The city is a key logistical hub for the Ukrainian military. The Russian Defense Ministry reported on September 8 that its forces had captured the town of Novohrodivka, some 12 kilometers from Pokrovsk. (Photo by Serhiy Nuzhnenko/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)





A wounded Ukrainian serviceman visits a designated area for commemorating fallen Ukrainian soldiers at the Independence Square in Kyiv on August 29, 2024, during the Remembrance Day of Defenders of Ukraine. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP Photo)





Sniper of the 1st brigade of National Guard "Bureviy' takes part in a military training in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on July 9, 2024. Ukrainian snipers are highly trained and capable of causing damage, and are therefore a priority target for Russian troops. Their frontline tasks include shooting down soldiers at Russian observation posts, providing observation to assist artillery fire, and stopping Russian waves when they attack. (Photo by Pablo Miranzo/Anadolu via Getty Images)





A Ukrainian serviceman reacts after being released from Russian captivity at an undisclosed location near the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, on September 13, 2024, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. 49 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been returned to their country from Russia on September 13, 2024, with photographs of the men and women wrapped in Ukrainian flags published. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/AFP Photo)





Ukrainian soldiers of 3rd assault brigade fly an FPV suicide drone over Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Sunday, August 25, 2024. (Photo by Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo)





Ukrainian serviceman Mykola, 42, jammer specialist of the "Achilles" drone battalion of the 92nd assault brigade sets an antenna of a drone signal jamming system on an armored four-wheel-drive vehicle in an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region on April 30, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya Savilov/AFP Photo)





Honor guards shoot into the air during the funeral ceremony of six Ukrainian servicemen killed in a Russian rocket attack at a Ukrainian military academy, during their funeral ceremony in Poltava, Ukraine, Saturday September 7, 2024. (Photo by Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo)





Sasha, 22, a member of the unit who previously worked as a welder, enjoys a cigarette near Pokrovsk on September 5, 2024. (Photo by Serhiy Nuzhnenko/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)





Ukrainian servicemen of 148th separate artillery brigade of the Air Assault Forces prepare a M777 howitzer to fire towards Russian positions at the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, August 21, 2024. (Photo by Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo)





Ukrainian servicemen ride a military vehicle near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine on August 13, 2024. (Photo by Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters)





A Ukrainian soldier walks in the city centre of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region on August 16, 2024. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s military incursion into Kursk aims to create a buffer zone to prevent further attacks by Moscow across the border. (Photo by AP Photo)





Ukrainian servicemen hide from shelling near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine on August 13, 2024. (Photo by Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters)





A Ukrainian soldier points out the window of an armored vehicle while traveling on Russian territory in the Kursk region on August 18, 2024. Ukrainian forces operating in the region destroyed a second key bridge, the commander of the Ukrainian air force said, as they attempt to push farther into Russia. (Photo by Ed Ram for The Washington Post)





A Ukrainian serviceman plays with a dog, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine on August 16, 2024. (Photo by Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters)





Ukrainian soldier loads shells into a vehicle adapted to fire helicopter shells in the direction of Toretsk, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on August 19, 2024. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)