‘They’re different from us’: the Ukrainian teens forged by a decade of war

Russia’s full-scale invasion may have begun in 2022, but for many in the east of the country, the war has been going on for much longer. Sloviansk was occupied for three months by separatist militias in 2014 as Russian- backed militias claimed swathes of territory. It was later liberated, but the frontline remains just a few kilometres away. For Sloviansk’s teenagers, war is almost all they’ve known and the years of fighting means they have had to grow up fast.