NEAR POKROVSK, Ukraine – “What ceasefire? There is no ceasefire,” laughed Dmytro Filatov, commander of the First Separate Assault Regiment based in eastern Ukraine.
Filatov said on Saturday he was aware of the supposed unilateral ceasefire called for May 8-10 by Russian leader Vladimir Putin last week in honor of Victory Day, but saw no signs it ever took place.
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“Despite the fact that I heard something about this ceasefire, we are still fighting against Russian attempts to advance and attack our positions. From the morning of May 8 until now,” he told Kyiv Post during an exclusive interview, on the last day of the ceasefire window, from a command center near the stronghold of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.
“My men have been under attack, nonstop, for years,” he said.
Filatov was recently elevated to regimental commander when his battalion was promoted to a regiment last month, and he now oversees several hundred soldiers in one of the hottest areas along the front line.
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Once a town of over 60,000 people, Pokrovsk has become one of the most contested focal points of the war over the last few months.
“He’s a hypocrite that manipulates the consciousness of society and tries to set them against the whole world.”
Losing the former transportation hub, which sits in a strategically advantageous location, would open up a much larger swath of land to Russian fire if Ukrainians are forced to pull back.
“There was no difference this week,” he confirmed, noting that he was unsure even when the halt was meant to occur. He said all of the ceasefires announced this year have been the same – nonexistent on the battlefield.
The commander explained that he does not closely follow the peace negotiations making headlines in Kyiv and has little time to think about political promises or international treaties.
“We are still fighting the war every day,” he said. “I laugh because when some people talk about it, it’s clear that they believe that it will actually happen, ‘as the president promised.’ It’s funny to me because he is still perceived as a president, not as a dictator… but he’s a hypocrite that manipulates the consciousness of society and tries to set them against the whole world.”
Other soldiers from the First Assault Regiment agreed with Filatov, laughing in disbelief in response to questions about Putin’s reported pause in attacks. A few troops said they were not even aware that there was supposed to be a ceasefire.
Reporting from the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions during the so-called ceasefire, Kyiv Post reporters confirmed what over a dozen soldiers based in the area said – there was no noticeable stop in hostilities over the 72-hour period from May 8-10.
Distant artillery fire echoed regularly through the region, even more than 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the zero line.
On Sunday, the regiment’s chief medical commander, Olena, said she received wounded troops as usual throughout the period.
As she described treating shrapnel and trauma wounds – still the two largest causes of injury in this war – from her base near the battle line, another medic named Natalia treated a soldier for exhaustion and dehydration nearby.
On Monday, soldiers in one of the regiment’s drone units reported the same disregard for Kremlin announcements, including the ceasefire – and skepticism that anyone would believe in Putin’s promises.
But the tech-savvy troops had heard that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s agreed to travel to Turkey on Thursday for in-person peace talks with Putin.
“Let’s see what happens,” said Alex, lead technician for a drone unit, at a training ground in the region. Like the other soldiers interviewed by Kyiv Post, he smiled incredulously when asked about the most recent Victory Day ceasefire.
He said he was more concerned with figuring out how to strengthen Ukraine’s drone technology – and learning how to improve the ones they already had to more successfully dodge Russian defenses – than waiting for an update from Istanbul.
“Whatever happens, we’ll be here,” he said, turning away to focus on the drone controller and screen in his hands.
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