About 2 kilometers from the front lines in Pisky - where, despite a ceasefire that officially went into effect February 15th, explosions and gunfire are still regularly heard - is an incomplete bridge that members of Dnipro-1 volunteer battalion have fortified as a last staging area before the front. They call it "The Republic of The Bridge." Members of a volunteer battalion smoke cigarettes under a bridge about two kilometers from the front on March 9, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine.

Members of Dnipro-1 Battalion are seen in their fortified position under a bridge about two kilometers from the front on March 9, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine. The Dnipro-1 men refer to this position as "The Republic of the Bridge."

A volunteer fighter with Dnipro-1 battalion fires the last round from his rifle from his position in a trench on the front on March 20, 2015 in Pisky, Ukraine.

Members of Dnipro-1 Battalion eat under a fortified bridge about two kilometers from the front on March 9, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine.

Volodya, a Dnipro-1 battalion volunteer who serves as second-in-command at the bridge, presents his wife with flowers he picked near the front on March 20, 2015 in Pisky, Ukraine.

A member of Dnipro-1 battalion is seen atop a tank under a fortified bridge about two kilometers from the front on March 9, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine.

Members of Carpathian Sich battalion patrol near the bridge on March 19, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine.

A puppy sleeps while a volunteer fighter lights a cigarette from a fire at a bridge about two kilometers from the front on March 9, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine.

Volodya, a member of Dnipro-1, poses for a portrait under a fortified bridge about two kilometers from the front on March 9, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine. The soldiers who defend this position call it "The Republic of the Bridge."

The commander of the men stationed at the bridge, who is referred to simply as "Captain," flips through channels in a trailer used for sleeping on March 19, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine. Behind the television, a map showing Donetsk Airport and surrounding area hangs on the wall.

Volunteers with Dnipro-1 battalion collect water from a well at a damaged house near the bridge on March 20, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine.

A volunteers with Dnipro-1 battalion walks under the bridge as the sun rises on March 20, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine.

A volunteer with Dnipro-1 battalion atop the bridge fires a heavy machine gun towards separatist positions on March 19, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine.

Holes are seen in a van under a fortified bridge about two kilometers from the front on March 9, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine.

A volunteer with Dnipro-1 battalion lights a cigarette in the trenches on the front on March 20, 2015 in Pisky, Ukraine.

Remnants of weapons fired from atop the bridge are seen on March 19, 2015 near Pisky, Ukraine.

A volunteer with Dnipro-1 battalion does maintenance work on a tank on February 16, 2015 in Pisky, Ukraine.