Haunting footage of Ukrainian soldier stalking and killing Russians in snow-covered forest no-mans-land is revealed in new BBC documentary
Ghostly footage revealed in a new BBC documentary shows the moment a Ukrainian soldier chases and kills two Russians in a forest buried under snow.
Jamie Roberts’ extraordinary BBC Two documentary, ‘Ukraine, Enemy in the Woods’, paints a chilling picture of the real frontline with heartbreaking clips of fighting in the frozen vast forests of Kupyansk.
In a shocking bodycam image captured by a brave Ukrainian soldier, he and a group of fellow fighters can be seen ducking behind tree trunks as they roam the icy landscape.
‘Someone is shouting, but I can’t see anything. I keep watching. Do you copy?’ he says.
Viewers follow his gaze as he looks through the barren forest, before thrusting his rifle into the frame, seemingly in preparation for an attack.
Ghostly footage captured by a Ukrainian soldier shows the tense moment he shot a Russian lurking in a forest in Kupyansk, Ukraine
The soldier could be heard talking to his team as they searched the forest for enemy presence
The soldier starts shooting at a head that only appears for a split second before walking over to the body to confirm that the Russian has been killed.
Like a scene from a war video game, the soldier begins walking down a path, already littered with the footprints of other invisible soldiers.
Crouching behind a pile of snow-covered logs and branches, he seemingly tries to camouflage himself into his surroundings as he warns his teammates, “The enemy had infiltrated the area.”
Tensions rise as the soldiers continue their hunt for the enemy, with the soldier occasionally filming himself peering over the fallen branch to give viewers a glimpse of his view.
But with such thick layers of snow in the road, there is nothing to see.
The soldier bravely reaches for the tree trunk to brush away a thick blob of snow that was blocking his view – a move that could have been fatal if there had been Russian enemies nearby monitoring the area.
As he turns his head, you see the bodies of Russian soldiers bleeding out in the fresh white snow.
“We could see that there had been a huge firefight,” the soldier says.
‘Dead Russians were everywhere’.
As he and the group hide near a deep ditch, guns in hand, the soldier is heard shouting, “Who’s there?” in a heartbreaking moment.
As tense minutes pass, viewers are left on the edge of their seats waiting for an enemy to jump from behind a tree or from the deep snow.
Then the soldier suddenly gives an urgent warning.
‘Vovan. There is a ***** close to your position, 50 to 70 meters away.’
His camera focuses back on his gun, wrapped in green tape on a flashlight, as he prepares it for use.
The soldier retreated to take cover behind a tree after shooting the first Russian after warning it might explode.
“He just sits there and doesn’t do anything,” he says.
The footage shows a corpse lurking behind the soldier, giving a chilling indication of what is to come.
The soldier stands and slowly crawls forward through the snow, but there appears to be no enemy presence in sight.
Then, out of nowhere, the soldier raises his gun and starts shooting into the distance, where for a split second a head can be seen above a tree trunk.
After repeatedly firing into the area, the soldier comes to a stop and assesses the situation before firing again.
A Russian is seen struggling to get up from behind a fallen tree, shaking as he tries to grab the trunk and shoot back.
But he’s too slow.
The Ukrainian soldier is seen making his way to where the Russian was hiding, with the weapon still at the ready and ready to counter-attack.
He gets closer to the body as it comes into clear focus, and it could be lying in a pool of blood in the snow.
In an attempt to ensure the safety of himself and his team, the soldier fires a few more bullets into the body before shooting away, saying, “Be careful, it might explode.”
The Ukrainian soldier is warned that another Russian is coming after him, but he quickly takes him out as well before the footage goes black.
A chilling message appears on the screen.
“Guru, it is Vovan. I finished them. Do you copy?’
The 59-minute BBC documentary aired today and is available on BBC iPlayer.
It explores the real-time story of a single Ukrainian infantry company engaged in a life-and-death struggle to defend the Eastern Front against a wave of intense Russian attacks.
Filmed by Ukrainian soldiers, viewers gain insight into one of Ukraine’s most violent fronts as the soldiers carry out a mission to defend a railway line.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said about 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed during Russia’s large-scale invasion.
It comes next Russian forces suffered one of the most devastating blows of the war last month when a Ukrainian HIMARS missile attack wiped out 65 soldiers who had been ordered into formation by a blundering commander.