A member of the Ukrainian military stands at the entrance to a large underground bunker in the Volyn region, western Ukraine.
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A member of the Ukrainian military stands at the entrance to a large underground bunker in the Volyn region, western Ukraine.
Claire Harbage / NPR
VOLYN AREA, Ukraine — In a dense pine forest in western Ukraine, not far from the border with the Kremlin-linked nation of Belarus, a military engineer named Anton is overseeing a vast construction site underground.
“It’s a bunker,” said Anton, who, like the other soldiers in this story, declined to give his last name for security reasons. “We transport most of the wood because we don’t want to cut the trees here. We need them to cover the trunk.”
He wouldn’t say how many soldiers in the bunker, which is almost complete, would house. But he gave NPR a tour, leading us through a maze of small corridors connecting the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and dining room, and a large central command room lined with desks. and giant TV screens.
“All these videos are coming from the border,” said Stanislav, a 34-year-old computer scientist who works here in technical support. “If something is going to start, we’ll see it.”
Construction of a vast underground bunker in the Volyn region, Ukraine is reinforcing even the quietest stretch of the border with Belarus.
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Construction of a vast underground bunker in the Volyn region, Ukraine is reinforcing even the quietest stretch of the border with Belarus.
Claire Harbage / NPR
Russian troops entered Ukraine via Belarus at the start of the war, before retreating after failing to capture the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Since then, the border has been largely quiet, although Ukrainian authorities have sometimes warned of the possibility of a Russian attack there. Ukrainian authorities say about 10,000 Russian troops are still in Belarus, about 10 percent of what they were before the Russian invasion.
But with Russian President Vladimir Putin signaling a long war ahead, Ukraine is reinforcing even the quietest stretch of border with Belarus.
“In this war,” Anton said, “we can’t risk it.”
The bunker complex includes a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and dining room, office space, and a large central command room with a desk and giant TV screen.
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The bunker complex includes a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and dining room, office space, and a large central command room with a desk and giant TV screen.
Claire Harbage / NPR
On the Belarusian border: trees, mud and swamps
The jungle terrain in the northwestern Volyn district made it difficult for tanks to cross the border. This winter is also unusually mild like dams built by local beaver populationshas also made the border area particularly muddy and boggy.
But that doesn’t mean infantry and saboteurs can’t cross on foot, said Oleksii, the hoarse middle-aged commander of a small unit deployed here.
“We walk along the border every day and monitor what’s happening in real time,” he said. “We capture what the camera can miss.”
A group of soldiers monitor the Belarusian border in the Volyn region.
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A group of soldiers monitor the Belarusian border in the Volyn region.
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A gray-haired soldier using a Sturman sign says he noticed something disturbing on the Belarusian side of the border during one of his recent patrols: men in military uniforms walking trenches and fortifications.
“I’ve seen them with my own eyes,” he said.
Sturman said his unit recently blew up a road leading to the border because it looked like tanks could pass through it. Other parts of the border are mined.
“This war is likely to be protracted,” Oleksii said. “Even the safest places are not safe.”
A puppy sits above a military post in western Ukraine, near the Belarusian border.
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A puppy sits above a military post in western Ukraine, near the Belarusian border.
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When the border is peaceful, it’s time to train
Ukraine is using this quiet area to train troops for the eastern front line.
Far from the border, in muddy fields through forests, soldiers teach each other how to use heavy artillery, including howitzers, a large type of artillery, something between a cannon and a mortar. .
Vadim, a banker turned soldier, was among the soldiers trained here, not bothering to cover his ears from the explosions.
“I hope Lukashenko heard that,” he said, referring to Aleksandr Lukashenko, Belarus’s pro-Kremlin autocrat. “In case he thinks we’re just sitting here drinking coffee all day.”
A howitzer is fired at a training ground in the Volyn region. Ukraine is using this quiet area to train troops for the eastern front line.
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A howitzer is fired at a training ground in the Volyn region. Ukraine is using this quiet area to train troops for the eastern front line.
Claire Harbage / NPR
Lukashenko recently visited Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Xi is expected to be in Moscow this week. The prospect of China supporting Russia and Belarus worried Vadim.
“That doesn’t matter, though,” Vadim said. “We have no choice. We will still fight.”
He was cleaning some seashells that were rusty after years of storage. He took out a marker and wrote a message on one of them: “Biden, thanks for the weapon, we need more.”
“If we have the F-16 [jet fighters]maybe we can even win this year,” he said.
A message on the cartridge case at a training ground in western Ukraine read: “Biden, thanks for the weapon, we need more.”
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A message on the cartridge case at a training ground in western Ukraine read: “Biden, thanks for the weapon, we need more.”
Claire Harbage / NPR
“Well, most of the tanks haven’t even arrived yet,” said Alex, another soldier, referring to the M1 Abrams and Leopard 2 battle tanks promised by the US and European nations. “So… fight with what you have.”
He considers the northwestern region of Ukraine “not only a training ground, but also a support center.”
“Our troops can regroup here, get new equipment, new ammunition,” he said. “That’s why we have to defend it. Because if the Russians cut off this line of support, our troops in Donbas will not be able to receive supplies or reinforcements.”
Soldiers trained here will deploy to Donbas. Alex is a bomb expert who worked in security in Afghanistan. But the other soldiers didn’t have much experience.
Soldiers practice with drones in western Ukraine.
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Soldiers practice with drones in western Ukraine.
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Volunteers put aside their civilian lives and head for war
“Before the war, I was a father in a suit and tie and went to work at a bank,” says Vadim.
Then, the day after the full-scale invasion of Russia on February 24 last year, he enlisted in the army. A few days later, Vadim was fighting Russian soldiers trying to take Kyiv.
“This is my job,” he said. “Keep Russian soldiers out of Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian military relies on volunteer units to supplement the professional army. Vadim is training with carpenters, plumbers and accountants. Some of the men were older than the typical soldier – one was a four-year-old grandfather.
A soldier checks surveillance drones.
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A soldier checks surveillance drones.
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Some of the soldiers in their battalion had just left Bakhmut, the devastated city in the east, where the longest and bloodiest battle of the war took place.
Russian forces, including mercenaries of the Wagner Corporation, a private army funded by a Russian oligarch, have occupied part of the city. Ukrainian forces are struggling to hold them back.
“The Russians may never come [to Volyn],” said Alex, “so we’ll go see them.”
Soldiers fry potatoes and ham over a fire for lunch. They raised mugs of hot instant coffee to their colleagues, who had deployed to the east. Then they returned to the grenades, knowing they had no time to waste.
NPR researchers Zazil Davis-Vasquez and Barclay Walsh contributed to this report.
A soldier fried potatoes on a fire.
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A soldier fried potatoes on a fire.
Claire Harbage / NPR
