Ukraine: not quiet on the eastern front Fighting persists despite the two-year anniversary of the Minsk 2 cease-fire agreement.

The gut-churning bass of artillery rockets dispels the myth that a cease-fire is holding in eastern Ukraine, two years after the Minsk 2 agreement between Russian-backed separatists and pro-government forces was signed.

At least 30 civilians died when the fighting escalated again in January, following what the government in Kiev described as an unsuccessful offensive by pro-Moscow rebels on the city of Avdiivka. In a sluggish 20th-century war of attrition, where undersupplied trenches are hit by sporadic artillery fire, graffiti on a Ukrainian soldier’s helmet paraphrases the title of Erich Maria Remarque's classic on the First World War: "Nothing new on the western eastern front."

Civilians trapped in the fighting initially fled to safer ground in 2014. However, when their money ran out many of those families saw no option other than to return to their homes on the front line.

“Most people went to the seaside or Kiev at the beginning,” says Oksana Sidorenko, who lives in Marinka — less than 100 meters from the trenches — with her boyfriend and two sons. “But there is no work, and local people in Kiev or Kharkiv take advantage — they raise the rent costs overnight, forcing people to move back.”

In Marinka, a Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk satellite town, the front line has not shifted since the war began. Daily shelling sprays shrapnel and separatist snipers continue to fire on civilians. The majority of houses here have suffered direct hits and the gas supply has been cut for three years.

With up to 5,000 people still estimated to be living in the town, a school continues to operate “practically on the front line,” according to its director, Liudmila Panchenko. “I honestly can’t remember how many times we already had to run to the basement,” says Artiom, Oksana Sidorenko’s son.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission patrols the roughly 500 kilometers of front line and buffer zones mostly in vain — they’re often met with suspicion and outright hostility on both sides.

Visits from the OSCE are often followed by direct hits on even newly-entrenched positions, according to residents, ingraining cynicism toward lasting peace prospects and international cooperation.

During the recently-concluded Munich Security Conference, Russian, Ukrainian and European representatives reaffirmed their commitment to the Minsk agreement and signed a truce that was due to start on Monday, February 20. Nevertheless, the war continues and people on both sides of the barricades have grown weary.