When he signed up to become a surgeon in the Ukrainian army, Vitaliy promised that he'd not tire himself out so that he could last the distance. After more than two years of war, with Russia battering the Ukrainian lines on the eastern front where he serves, that promise is being put to the test. "There isn't a day when they don't press and advance" he says, describing the soldiers arriving at his stabilisation point as "so poorly and miserable...that it breaks my heart." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES