'It hurts a lot': Soldier on Ukraine frontline speaks about loss and lack of resources

LVIV - Two years after Russian forces invaded parts of southern and eastern Ukraine, clashes on the frontline continue.

Both countries have recorded major losses, with the tally of casualties reported well into the hundreds of thousands.

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And while Ukrainian men are constantly being drafted to join soldiers on the frontline, volunteer fighters from other countries, such as the US, Belarus, and Colombia, continue to offer their support to Ukraine, who remain heavily outnumbered.

'TRYING TO STAY HUMAN' 

Twenty-four-year-old Quan Parker from Virginia in the United States has been fighting alongside Ukrainian forces to defend against Russian attacks on the frontline since February.

Speaking to Eyewitness News from the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, the infantryman said he’d lost 17 fellow brothers in arms in the six months he’d been fighting in the country.

“For the most part, we make jokes about it; we laugh about it, we have a good sense of humour because we’re trying to stay human. We’re not robots, we’re still people. But at a certain point in time, after all these losses occur, it takes a toll on you; it hurts, it hurts a lot.”

Parker, who served in the American army for three years prior to volunteering to fight for Ukraine, said the lack of resources remained a concern.

“It’s rough, man, a lot of it’s underfunded. My first time on the frontline we drove up in SUVs – it’s not the best. Sometimes, you don’t have ammunition or ordnance to drop on certain locations, which you could have used to take out a target or installation, but you just don’t have the weaponry to do it.”

He said he planned to return to the frontline in the coming weeks.