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A machine gun placement is seen along the front line where Ukranian troops are based, near Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv on April 17, 2022. From a muddied hideout on the edge of Kharkiv a Ukrainian officer peers at the horizon, tracing the Russian lines with his outstretched finger. On the left, the land is in Ukrainian hands, he says. To the right, the Russians are dug in, hammering Ukraine's second city with constant bombardment. He stands at “point zero”: the spot where the two sides meet in combat. “How long it will last I cannot say”, said Petro, a 42-year-old army captain. ”The enemy is entrenching, making a frontline, trying to gain a foothold”. AFP was asked not to reveal the exact location or details of Ukrainian positions on a visit to the frontline outside Kharkiv on April 17, 2022. (Photo by Maryke Vermaak/AFP Photo)
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