zero line (plural zero lines)

1. The very front of the front line, where opposing armed forces meet and engage in direct combat, especially the border between (US forces in) Afghanistan and Pakistan, or between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
   • 2023 March 18, “The Forgotten Villages of Ukraine's 'Zero Line'”, in Rolling Stone:

     Outside of the main roads and major cities, life in small-town Ukraine rides a razor's edge on the “zero line” where two armies collide.

   • 2023 April 11, “'They crawl forward 24/7:' On the zero line with Ukrainian infantry north of Bakhmut”, in The Kyiv Independent:

     Half an hour's drive from the zero line, an unassuming village house marks an important landmark for those unfortunate enough to need to […]

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:zero line.