Ukrainians dig deep to help soldiers on the eastern front

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainians are knitting socks, donating scrap metal and even crowd-funding a tank to keep their woefully underfunded army going as its standoff with pro-Russian rebels in the east drags on towards the new year.

Since separatism erupted in Ukraine's east in April, the struggle to equip the army adequately has grown ever more acute as the country teeters on the edge of bankruptcy.