In far eastern Ukraine, the “Artan” special operations unit prepared for another raid. The volunteer soldiers carried high-tech equipment that appeared to have come from the U.S. or Europe.
The unit has been carrying out daring acts of sabotage against the invading Russian forces — often behind enemy lines. Their motto is: “We know, we find, we destroy.”
President Trump’s repeated claim before he took office, that he could end in just 24 hours the war that Russia launched with its full-scale invasion in February 2022, has fueled fear in Ukraine and across Europe that he could cut off the vital supply of American weapons.
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The Artan commander told CBS News if that happens, he and his men will keep fighting, even if their weapons run out altogether.
But after almost three years of grueling warfare, not everyone in Ukraine is still so gung-ho.
The Ukrainian people have stood up to Vladimir Putin’s invading army, and they’ve paid the price in blood and grief.
A recent poll found that just over half of Ukrainians now believe their government should negotiate a ceasefire with Russia — more than double the figure at the start of the war. But many Ukrainians told CBS News that, while they want peace, it cannot come without conditions.
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CBS News met Yevheniya Puzkiova in a therapy center run by TAPS, an organization founded in the U.S. to support the families of fallen service members. She lost her husband Oleksandr and her eldest son Oleksiy in the fight against Russia.
“If not them, then who? My husband didn’t think twice about signing up, and my son went because of his father’s example,” she said.
Asked if she would support ceasefire negotiations with Russia, the grieving widow and bereaved mother said she would, “but with security guarantees for our people.”
“Simply freezing the front line will not do anything,” she warned. “Because in a few years, Russia will invade again.”
Ukraine’s government shares that fear. The country’s leaders have said they will only agree to a ceasefire deal that comes with security guarantees, such as European peacekeeping forces on the ground, or NATO membership.
Ukraine is fighting for its very survival. It is a nation on a life or death mission, just like the ambulance CBS News rode along in as it raced toward a hospital not far from the front line in eastern Ukraine.
The soldier in the back was hit by shelling and suffered a shrapnel wound to his head. He was unconscious and on ventilation.
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The ambulance was run by MOAS, an international aid group founded by an American entrepreneur that operates a fleet of 50 vehicles along Ukraine’s 600-mile front line.
Dr. Mykhailo Ilyk is a pediatric anesthesiologist, but he left the safety of his hospital job two years ago to use his skills to help in the war effort.
Asked if it was worth the horrendous suffering of the Ukrainian people, which he sees daily, to defend their country, Ilyk didn’t hesitate.
“Definitely,” he said. “This is our land. We have to stand with it, to the last.”
