The gas station, the last major roadside stop before the Ukrainian front lines 50 miles away, was buzzing. Soldiers squeezed beside civilians as cashiers yelled out order numbers, sliding hot dogs across the counter. Screens tracked donations to the army being made at the pump, the figure climbing by the second. Outside, pickups covered in camouflage pulled in, and a truck rumbled past with a rocket launcher strapped to its bed.
Once mere pit stops, gas stations are now pillars of Ukraine’s war effort. Offering a fleeting taste of regular life for soldiers subsisting on rations and enduring constant Russian fire, they have become symbols of resilience through a grinding conflict and won a place in Ukrainians’ hearts.
At the busy station along the road to the front lines one recent Saturday, Dmytro, a 25-year-old drone unit commander, was grabbing a quick lunch of chicken nuggets before heading to Kyiv to collect equipment for his men. The station, in the eastern city of Pavlohrad, has become a ritual stop on his way to or from the front, a place to stock up on cigarettes and get a bite.
His favorite gas station, he said, was one in the embattled eastern city of Kostiantynivka, which became iconic among soldiers for having stayed open even as fighting raged nearby.
“You could call it the first outpost of civilization,” said Dmytro, who gave only his first name for security reasons and per military protocol. The station, its shelves stacked with energy drinks and its grills humming with sausages, felt to soldiers “like Las Vegas,” he added.
Since Russia’s invasion more than three and a half years ago, gas stations have become wartime hubs, providing fuel for generators during blackouts caused by Russian bombings and serving as handoff points for volunteers delivering crowdfunded pickup trucks to the army.
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