The footage appears to be from a helmet camera worn by a Ukrainian Foreign Legion soldier. Most of the squad appears to be equipped with western weapons – the camera operator carries an AR platform, and early in the video one of his squad-mates appears to carry a suppressed M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. A few carry AKs in addition to their ARs. Several of the squad members sound as though they are American or Canadian, although one speaker might be from the UK, and some Ukrainian can be heard towards the end of the video. The date and exact location are unknown, although the original post claims that the unit is fighting in Bakhmut. The condition of the streets and buildings certainly supports that assertion – the city is shattered, reminiscent of Fallujah or Stalingrad.

The squad begins moving through a building, and the camera operator fires, mentioning wanting to draw enemy fire. The chatter of rifle fire and explosions from mortars or artillery can be heard throughout the video. The squad moves out of the building and into streets littered with rubble, communicating effectively as they move from cover to cover, calling “last man” when the last member of the squad leaves or enters a structure. They rush from cover to cover, stumbling at times or falling prone in the rubble-strewn streets. At one point the squad crawls through a spider hole through a basement before returning to the streets. Towards the end of their movement through the streets, an artillery shell lands near the next house over and explodes with a flash. The squad concludes their journey in a multi-story concrete building, and the video ends with a soldier attempting to resuscitate a wounded comrade, performing chest compressions and applying an oxygen mask.

On a technical note, this video illustrates the degree to which prolonged artillery fire can reduce a city to rubble and actually create better cover for those fighting from building to building. In February 1944, some allied commanders criticized the decision to subject the abbey of Monte Casino to heavy ariel bombardment on the grounds that it would create better cover and make the German defenders more difficult to dislodge, which is exactly what happened. But on a human note, this video grittily portrays the human cost of urban combat. One can hear the stress in the squad members’ voices, imagine their fatigue as they stumble through rubble wearing body armor and kit and bearing backs, weapons and ammo, and almost feel the bricks and paving stones bite into their flesh through their uniforms as they throw themselves to the ground, seeking cover. The last building seems to have been used as an elementary school or a daycare, a grim reminder that this shattered moonscape was once a city, that these buildings were once homes and businesses, and that the people who lived there are forever altered by the loss, if indeed they are still alive. And the final scene is the most poignant of all, a reminder that the struggle and pain can end with a bang and a whimper as a friend, or even a stranger, straddles your chest, pumping your heart and squeezing air back into your lungs.

About the Author

Cam

Cam served as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps, deploying to the Horn of Africa and participating in combat operations in Iraq. He currently works in the maritime industry and in the defense sector as an instructor of combined arms planning and operations. An avid sailor, Cam founded and directs a nonprofit that supports veterans and first responders through sailing.