DEBALTSEVE, Ukraine – “Hell is over there,” said a Kremlin-backed fighter at a checkpoint, pointing to the ruined city of Debalteve, captured from Ukraine by Russian forces and their proxies on Feb. 18.

The soldier’s name is Pavel Kuzorev. He is only 22 and a student of the Donetsk Polytechnic University before he joined the Novorossiya Armed Forces, part of the Russian-led forces that killed at least 66 Ukrainian soldiers during the attack to reclaim the strategic railway hub in Donetsk Oblast. The separatists claim to have killed more than 100 Ukrainian soldiers in the operation.