While Russian and Ukrainian officials arrived in Turkey for a fresh attempt at direct peace talks, Roman, a 26-year-old Ukrainian artillery commander, raced to man his artillery gun after Russian strikes landed near his position.

The talks came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by U.S. President Donald Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly.

A senior Ukrainian official at the peace talks in Istanbul accused Moscow on Friday of introducing “unacceptable demands” that had not been previously discussed, including calls for Kyiv's forces to withdraw from large swaths of territory they control so a complete ceasefire to be implemented.