Ukraine's front lines are so dangerous that troops take casualties just moving in and out of their own trenches

Ukraine's front lines are unforgivingly brutal, and soldiers are often injured or killed just rotating in and out of their own trench systems, a Western commander leading a training program for Ukrainian soldiers told Business Insider.

"We hear that Ukrainian forces take quite a few casualties infiltrating and exfiltrating out of their own trench systems because the front has been static for a very long time," said Brigadier Atle Molde, the commander of Task Force Legio, a Norway-led multinational effort to train Ukrainian soldiers on NATO soil.

Swarms of drones overhead gather intelligence and attack, making any movement a risk. Ukrainian commanders have described troop rotations as among the most vulnerable moments for front-line soldiers.

The drone-saturated area around the front lines is often described as a "kill zone." A Ukrainian official previously told Business Insider that just getting to front-line positions can take days and that it is the most dangerous part of the mission in many cases.

Troop rotation, resupply, and relocation also present tremendous risks.

That danger is why the Western training program puts particular emphasis on moving in and out of trench systems. At Camp Jomsborg, a purpose-built training site in eastern Poland, "it's all about saving lives," Molde said.

Jørgen, a Norwegian Army instructor for the operation's platoon leader course who spoke on the condition that only his first name be used, told Business Insider that the training includes using supporting fire to suppress the enemy so that friendly forces can move into trenches.

He said that many of the Ukrainians who come through already have an "incredibly high" level of combat experience and have developed effective methods of their own. The input he has received from Ukrainian trainees "worked when I actually tried to do it," he shared, and resulted in "less risk to our guys."

Trenches have long been surrounded by death and difficulty in this war. Worsening threats, particularly the drone threat, however, have at times made this situation significantly more dangerous.

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Soldiers can get stuck inside trenches, dugouts, and other defensive positions for long periods.

Some troops have described having to spend months in a single position because drones and artillery made it too dangerous to move out safely. They had to wait for weather, friendly fire support, or a lucky break to move without immediately being detected and attacked.