While Ukraine's counteroffensive this month was hailed as stunning by military observers, Ukrainian troops tell NPR that Russian forces put up stiff resistance in parts of the Kharkiv region.
Progress has been slow but Ukrainian military officers say U.S.-supplied rockets and training are making a difference from when NPR visited in the spring.
Evacuation 200 is a special volunteer unit that scours the country for the bodies of soldiers left on battlefields. "My job is to accompany these heroes on their last trip home," one volunteer says.