Zaporizhzhia (Ukraine) (AFP) – “We advance gradually, thicket by thicket” says ‘Poltava’, the deputy commander of Ukraine’s first battalion. He’s sitting in a shelter in the country’s southeast, where Ukraine’s army has come up against heavily armed and fortified Russian positions. Even small advances come at a high price on a front line that has ground to a near halt. “Moving by day means death” explains Igor Korol, the battalion’s commander.