Desertions spark panic, and pardons, in Ukraine's army

Oleksandr deserted from the front line in eastern Ukraine after watching his fellow servicemen being pulverised by Russian bombardments for six months. Then, those remaining were ordered to counterattack. It was the final straw for Oleksandr, 45, who had been holding the line in the embattled Lugansk region in the early... read full story

"We wanted to live. We had no combat experience. We were just ordinary working people from villages,"