Extraordinary footage has revealed the breathtaking intensity of trench warfare in eastern Ukraine, with Ukrainian soldiers firing at Russian troops just meters away.
Footage shows Ukrainian soldiers sneaking through a Russian trench in the Donetsk region and shooting dead one of Vladimir Putin’s men.
Video captured by helmet cameras also shows Ukrainian soldiers firing at Russian soldiers from their small bunkers amid warped tree roots blackened by artillery fire.
In the video, Ukrainian soldiers fire their automatic weapons at Russian soldiers from their positions, while a tank supports the troops.
The Ukrainian troops were then seen in drone footage running through a no man’s land reminiscent of a desolate World War I battlefield and storming a trench before capturing the Russian position.
The thrilling footage shows a Ukrainian soldier fighting his way through the narrow trench and throwing a grenade at where he thought enemy soldiers were hiding. As soon as he sees a Russian soldier, he quickly opens fire and shoots him dead.
Video captured by helmet cameras also shows Ukrainian soldiers firing at Russian soldiers from their small bunkers amid warped tree roots blackened by artillery fire
Extraordinary footage has revealed the breathtaking intensity of trench warfare in eastern Ukraine, with Ukrainian soldiers firing at Russian troops just meters away
The Ukrainian troops were then seen in drone footage running through a no man’s land reminiscent of a desolate World War I battlefield and storming a Russian trench before capturing it
The thrilling footage shows a Ukrainian soldier fighting his way through the narrow trench and throwing a grenade at where he thought enemy soldiers were hiding.
As soon as he sees a Russian soldier, he quickly opens fire and shoots him dead.
The six-minute footage showed Ukrainian soldiers in intense combat firing at the Russian soldiers before a lull in hostilities as they reloaded their weapons and smoked cigarettes to calm their nerves.
The footage then shows a Ukrainian soldier being handed ammunition magazines before the sound of gunfire can be heard in the distance.
The incredible raw footage was obtained on Monday from the K2 battle group of the 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The battalion shared the video saying, “A regular six and a half minute regular fighters from the regular mechanized battalion K2 Combat Group of the 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade.
“No editing, no filters, no embellishments. With blood, sweat and smoke. This is how we bring victory closer.’
They also said the footage was filmed in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
It comes as President Volodymyr Zelensky and his top military command today agreed to continue defending Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
After a meeting involving the president, top officials and military commanders, Zelensky’s office said in a statement: “Having considered the defensive operation towards Bakhmut, all members… Bakhmut to continue to hold and defend. .’
Earlier, Ukrainian soldiers said Russian troops continue to come in waves along the frontline in eastern Ukraine – a sign that Russia’s winter offensive is not over, despite Moscow’s lack of major victories so far.
In the video, Ukrainian soldiers fire their automatic weapons at Russian soldiers from their positions, while a tank supports the troops
Ukrainian soldiers fire an M119 howitzer at a frontline near the town of Bakhmut, Ukraine on March 10
Russia and Ukraine are locked in the bloodiest infantry battle in Europe since World War II after Moscow launched a winter offensive with hundreds of thousands of newly drafted reservists and mercenaries. Despite massive casualties on both sides, the front lines have barely moved in more than four months.
With attacks elsewhere on the front having failed, Russia seems determined to secure the ruins of the small town of Bakhmut in what would be its first victory since mid-2022.
In an overnight video address, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s “future is being decided” in battles in the east, including Bakhmut, where Ukrainian commanders say they are killing enough Russian attackers to stay and fight for a devastated city that is nearly surrounded . .
“It’s very tough in the east — very painful,” Zelenskiy said. “We must destroy the enemy’s military power. And we will destroy it.’
Further north, on the frontline near Kreminna, 50-year-old Oleksandr, commander of a unit in Ukraine’s 110th battalion, said Russian attacks were still relentless despite claiming little ground there. The Russians are trying to push back to Lyman, a major transit hub that Ukraine recaptured last year.
“They are pushing hard. They are throwing mortar bombs at us,” Oleksandr told Reuters, describing Russian units advancing in three-man fire teams, with another wave sent behind to replace them when they are killed.
At night they always attack on foot and we sit, look through our thermal goggles and shoot at them.’
For its part, the Kremlin said it was determined to use force to achieve its war goals, and Kiev must accept “new realities” — shorthand for Russia’s claim to have annexed nearly a fifth of Ukraine, which it invaded a year ago .
“We have to achieve our goals. At the moment this is only possible through military means due to the current position of the regime in Kiev,” Russian state news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia’s very existence is at stake in Ukraine.
After retaking parts of the territory in the second half of 2022, Kiev has been mostly on the defensive for the past four months, while Moscow has launched its major winter offensive using its newly mobilized reservists and convicts released from prison as mercenaries. have been recruited.
Ukrainian officials say they are preparing their own counter-offensive for later this year, once the muddy ground dries up and hundreds of Western tanks and armored vehicles arrive.
Soldiers of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army hold their positions on the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on March 11
A Ukrainian Volunteer Army soldier prepares ammunition to fire on Russian frontline positions near Bakhmut on March 11
But the outcome of those campaigns could depend on which side emerges stronger after Russia’s winter onslaught, with both sides taking huge losses in battles they describe as a meat grinder.
Britain’s defense ministry said on Tuesday Moscow was running low on ammunition, “to the extent that extremely punitive shell rationing is in effect on many parts of the front.”
“This has almost certainly been a major reason why no Russian formation has been able to carry out operationally significant offensive actions in recent times,” it said in a daily intelligence update.
But Ukraine also suffers from a shortage of grenades and ultimately has a smaller population that has to commit to a war of attrition. Some military experts say Bakhmut is unfavorable ground for Kiev to fight on, against Russian forces that have advanced far enough around the city to hit Ukrainian supply lines in the rear.
“We could lose here everything we wanted to use for those counter-offensives,” Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said of the battle for Bakhmut.