HNUTOVE, Ukraine – Weighed down by heavy flak jackets and helmets, and shouldering Kalashnikov automatic rifles, Ukrainian soldiers trudge through a worsening blizzard towards the front line on Jan. 6, Ukrainian Christmas Eve.

Most wear snow camouflage uniforms, mainly white with streaks of black – to make it harder for the Russian snipers operating all along the front lines to spot them. The previous week, on the first day of 2019, Russian snipers a few kilometers from here shot a Ukrainian soldier – the first Ukrainian killed in action this year.