At a strategic checkpoint at the eastern entrance to the city of Kharkiv, a dozen soldiers patrol a tight-knit network of trenches and fortifications, digging themselves in to repel all attacks and keep this key checkpoint in Ukrainian hands. Here the fighting between the Ukrainian and Russian forces has been especially fierce, yet among the soldiers there is no question of abandoning their posts: "we are here and we will not let anyone take the city". IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES