Ukrainians’ hopes and concerns as Trump presidency nears

Anastasiia Fedchenko, 36, cries bitterly – her pain echoes around the walls of St Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv.

He sits with his hands resting on either side of his stomach. She is pregnant with her first child, a daughter. Her husband Andriy Kusmenko is inches away, in uniform – in an open box.

A naval officer was killed in action in eastern Ukraine on January 4 this year. He is now forever 33. When Andriy fought, Anastasiia wrote about it, as a journalist.

His brothers in arms passed by, throwing red flowers into his casket. After the funeral prayers, Anastasiia leans forward and gives the “love of her life” a final kiss.

Outside the church she pays tribute to her “beautiful husband” who died for his country.

“I’m sorry my daughter will not see her father,” he told the BBC, “but she will know that he was a soldier, a soldier, and he did everything he could to make Ukraine exist for her and other generations.”

“The war will continue as Russia is doing. I am really afraid that our children will inherit from us and will have to go to fight.”

Not according to Donald Trump, who was known to be able to end the war in one day, and who will return to the White House next week. He is already pushing for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

This would insult the dead, according to Sgt Dmytro, a sign called “Smile”, who fought Andriy and came to the church to mourn him.

“Let the people who are in power choose, but I don’t think they will want those who have fallen.” [Ukraine’s leadership] sitting around the table,” he says.

“After the funeral, we are going back to work. We will fight for the freedom of every Ukrainian who has fallen.”

Many here believe – like Anastasiia and Dmytro – that many Ukrainians have been killed trying to make an alliance with Russia. But public opinion is changing, and some believe that there is too much death and destruction to avoid a deal.

When Ukraine is fighting in the third winter, one word is not being said here – “victory”.

At the beginning of the Russian war in February 2022, we heard it everywhere. It was the loud cry of a nation suddenly faced with piles of enemy tanks. But the past is indeed a strange world – and one with more territory.

Moscow now controls about a fifth of its neighbors (including the Crimea Peninsula, which was annexed in 2014) and says any peace talks should take this into account.

The Ukraine of 2025 is a cold, harsh place – where cities are empty, graveyards are full, and many soldiers leave their posts.

Six hours by car from the capital, in the heart of Ukraine, a young soldier is at the port.

Serhiy Hnezdilov, a 24-year-old man, is locked in a glass cubicle in a crowded courtroom in the city of Dnipro. He is accused of running away, and he is one of many.

Since 2022, about 100,000 cases have been opened against soldiers who deserted their units, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

After Hnezdilov left without leave, he told people to name a time to leave the army. He says he is ready to fight but not without a plan to remove people. He has already served five years, including two before the Russian invasion.

“We have to keep fighting,” he told me during a break, “we don’t have another chance.”

“But soldiers are not slaves. Anyone who has been in the war for three years or more should have the right to rest. The authorities have been promising for a long time to establish a time to work, but they have not done it.”

In court, he also complained about corruption among government officials, and lack of knowledge.

After a lengthy trial, he was handcuffed on the way back to prison. If found guilty, he will be in prison for 12 years. “Help Ukraine,” he told us, as he was being taken away.

Many other Ukrainian soldiers are still clinging to each front line, trying to slow the Russian advance.

Mykhailo, 42, the smoking chief of the drone team, fights every night for “Non-Stop” – a strong Ukrainian drink.

With the 68th “Jaeger” Brigade, they are fighting to capture the eastern part of the city of Pokrovsk – a very important place. The Russians are closing in on two sides.

Mykhailo drives us to the Ukrainian territory – a dangerous journey in the dark, and in a military vehicle. The Russians also have their eyes on the sky. Their drones are always dangerous. He is awake, he is tired.

He said: “I went to the recruitment office in the early days, and I expected everything to go quickly. Honestly, I’m tired. [in his case a total of 40 days in three years]. The only thing that saves me is that I can chat with my family on video. “

We arrive at a disused building where Mykhailo and his men unload their equipment and set up a drone launch site. The screens are taken inside, and the cables are connected.

Outside, soldiers put up an antenna taller than a two-story building. They work faster under the lights – using red columns rather than white because these are difficult to detect. They then collect bombs to use on their “vampire” – a high-powered attack drone.

For the next few hours, we have a front-row seat as Mykhailo – call sign “Admin” – drives the plane, his eyes fixed on the screen. First, they drop explosives on the frontline Ukrainian troops and drop an anti-tank mine on Russian troops in secret. It falls short of the scope of its purpose.

He is fighting a storm with Russia’s congestion. All the while they are watching for incoming drones.

Mykhailo noticed a Russian fighter jet in the air. A few minutes later we hear the loud crash of three Russian bombs. “It’s far,” he tells us. This means that the distance is two or three kilometers.

If I were to remain silent, I would ask Mykhailo if he thought it was possible to make peace. “Maybe not,” he says. “This [Putin] he’s an unstable man, and I’m putting it mildly.”

“I hope that at some point the enemies will stop because they are tired, or someone with a better mind will take over.”

He did not comment on President Trump.

While Mykhailo is a veteran of the war, one of his men is the first. 24-year-old David joined them last September when the Russians approached his village. He now spends his time handling explosives – although he would rather be at college studying languages.

“No one knows how long the war will last,” he says, “maybe not even the politicians”.

“I want it to end soon so that the common people don’t suffer, and the people don’t have to. But considering the current situation, it won’t happen soon.”

They believe that if the guns are shut down, it will be a while before Moscow comes back.

The winds are strong and the vampire drone is shaking. It is not working at this time. The group packs up and leaves, as quickly as they came. They will return to action at night, re-initiating duels in the sky.

But on the ground, the Russians continue to advance, and the Trump presidency will mean forcing a deal. And there is another very difficult truth here: if it comes, it is unlikely to be on the Ukrainian mind.

Additional reporting by Wietske Burema, Goktay Koraltan, Anastasiia Levchenko and Volodymyr Lozhko.