Servicemen of the Svoboda (Freedom) battalion from the elite Storm Brigade “Rubizh” have been pictured relaxing at an awards ceremony after returning from the front line.

Looking weary from brutal fighting and happy to mingle with their comrades, soldiers from the National Guard of Ukraine listened to a concert ahead of the ceremony on Friday.

A proud Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, even posed for photos with some of them.

The men returned from fierce fighting in the Bakhmut area of the eastern Donetsk region amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

As the soldiers rest, the war rages on the front line around the Bakhmut area.

Russia, which captured the eastern town of Avdiivka in February and controls 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory, has inched forward in the Donetsk region, keeping up pressure on the fronts west of Avdiivka and Bakhmut.

Over the past 24 hours, Vladimir Putin’s forces launched five attacks in the Bakhmut area, as well as the nearby Novopavlivka front. 

Ukrainian and Russian soldiers reportedly clashed 53 times.

On the Bakhmut front, Ukrainian soldiers are said to have repelled 15 Russian attacks, where the enemy, supported by aircraft, sought to improve their tactical position. 

Civilian areas have been vulnerable to the attacks.

Kyiv’s forces have found themselves on the back foot in recent weeks, facing shortages of artillery shells and air defences, and grappling with manpower problems.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, who inspected defensive fortifications in the Kharkiv region on Tuesday, has said that Russia may be preparing a big offensive in late May or in June.