Ukraine's troops fight off 'massive' Russian attacks in Bakhmut with World War I-era machine guns and sniper traps

• Ukraine has used a WWI-era machine gun on the front line to mow down the enemy.
• "It only works when there is a massive attack going on," a Ukrainian soldier told BBC News.
• The brutal fighting in Ukraine, filled with trenches and heavy casualties, has frequently been compared to WWI.

Ukrainian forces have used Maxim machine guns, a weapon often associated with World War I, to mow down frontal assaults by Russian troops in the battle for Bakhmut.

"It only works when there is a massive attack going on," a Ukrainian soldier identified as Borys, 48, recently told BBC News of the Maxim gun. "Then it really works."

"We use it every week," Borys added.