KYSELIVKA, Ukraine—When Ukrainian troops deployed to Kyselivka on the Kherson front in April, the village’s empty houses provided some protection from relentless Russian shelling.
“Now, there aren’t many places left to hide here,” said a soldier who goes by his Kulak call sign, pointing to a landscape of craters and twisted trees. “Most of the houses have burned down from the incendiary shells, and the church is gone too. It’s never quiet down here.”