[Stars & Stripes] PISKY, Ukraine -- The staccato of machine-gun fire begins at dusk, just as the sunflower fields here turn orange with the setting sun.A Ukrainian army company of 110 soldiers defends the right flank of this largely deserted village, less than a mile outside of separatist-controlled Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, and close to the city's strategically key airport.
The unit -- 7th company of the 93rd brigade -- is headquartered in a partially destroyed two-story house known only as Point 18. In the front yard are Point 18's defenses, a series of trenches and firing positions that start at the house's garage and extend a hundred yards into the farmland beyond. The trenches are six feet deep and shored with felled birch trees and wood panels to keep them from turning into a morass when it rains.