Heading out on night patrols and transporting ammunition are not the day-to-day tasks that most private equity associates have to endure, but as Russia ramps up its attacks on cities across Ukraine, it has become the dark new reality for Petro Kocherhan.

The 25-year-old finance worker returned to Ukraine last year after nearly a decade in Europe studying and working at several large corporations. Last month he moved from the capital, Kyiv, back to his hometown in Lviv, western Ukraine, which has become one of the key cities for distributing supplies to soldiers on the frontline.