KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Five years after a deadly separatist conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine, the front line between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has become a de-facto border, cutting off a generation of first-time voters from Sunday's presidential election.

Only those who left their homes in the east to live in areas under government control will be able to cast ballots for Ukraine's new president.

Ukraine says 35 million people will be able to vote in Sunday's election, but does not say how many of those voters are stuck in separatist regions or in Russian-occupied Crimea.

One young rebel fighter says many young people in the east are conflicted about the future of the rebel Donetsk and Luhansk regions