1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,240
This programme contains scenes
which some viewers may find upsetting

2
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX

3
00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:06,760
and very strong language

4
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

5
00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,520
Six miles from the front line
in southern Ukraine,

6
00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,160
I've been invited to watch
this artillery unit

7
00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:25,320
as they try and destroy
a Russian tank.

8
00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:36,680
Even closer to the front line,

9
00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,440
this drone operator's watching
from the air,

10
00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,840
helping the gunners
hit their target.

11
00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,280
When Russia first invaded Ukraine,
many - including the Russians -

12
00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,840
thought that this war
would be over in days.

13
00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:04,000
But we're now five months in,

14
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,880
and the Ukrainians
are still fighting back.

15
00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,040
Some say they're actually winning.

16
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:19,400
There's no doubt that
foreign weapons,

17
00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:21,240
like these American howitzers,

18
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:22,880
are making a big difference...

19
00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,840
..but they alone don't explain how
this young country is holding off

20
00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,320
one of the biggest armies
in the world.

21
00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,120
Some bastards are dead today.

22
00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:55,480
Mykolaiv sits right on the edge
of Ukraine's southern front.

23
00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,800
A few miles down this road
is the front line

24
00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,880
and a battle that could decide
the fate of the war.

25
00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,760
Russia's invasion reached
as far as Mykolaiv's

26
00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,240
neighbouring city, Kherson,

27
00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:18,720
but Mykolaiv stopped the advance.

28
00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:24,360
Now, every day,
Russian forces pound Mykolaiv

29
00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:26,400
with artillery and rocket fire...

30
00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,840
..hitting both military
and civilian targets...

31
00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,400
..and sowing fear in
the residents that remain.

32
00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,080
If Russian forces succeed in
capturing Mykolaiv,

33
00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,120
the fear is
they could then sweep west,

34
00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,320
cut Ukraine off from the sea

35
00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,240
and take control of the ports
that support the national economy.

36
00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,000
It'd be the beginning of the end
for Ukraine.

37
00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,080
But despite months of
this punishment,

38
00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,960
Mykolaiv - like the country -
is still fighting back.

39
00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:22,160
And the question remains,
how is this possible?

40
00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,160
I've been offered a trip
to the front line, to see for myself

41
00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,640
how the Ukrainians are holding off
this Russian advance.

42
00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,280
But before I leave, I meet
Mykolaiv's regional governor,

43
00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:39,200
Vitaliy Kim.

44
00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,960
He says there's something
I should see before I go.

45
00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,280
He told me to turn my phone off
so it couldn't be tracked

46
00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:49,680
and invited me to join him
on a trip across town.

47
00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:51,280
You can stop filming.

48
00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:01,800
Down an anonymous, unmarked street,

49
00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,920
Kim leads me into
an old derelict factory.

50
00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,480
Inside is an improvised war room,

51
00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,160
with about a dozen intelligence
officers watching the war play out

52
00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,760
on their screens in real time.

53
00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,680
Kim introduced me to
the centre's manager, Yaroslav.

54
00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,920
And there's more going on here
than just intelligence work.

55
00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:32,200
So, what is this thing?

56
00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:33,960
It's a strike drone...

57
00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,040
..which can...
which can burn things,

58
00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:40,400
which can kill things.

59
00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:42,600
We have three bombs.

60
00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,320
This drone is really loud
and really big,

61
00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,280
so we can work only in night.

62
00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:54,960
We are trying to use it
three or four times per week.

63
00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:56,920
Yeah.

64
00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,200
But you need to sleep,

65
00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,360
so it's comparison -

66
00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:03,560
to kill somebody
or to sleep a little.

67
00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:08,960
As well as working in intelligence,

68
00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,720
the people here are using
3D printers

69
00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,400
to make plastic noses and fins

70
00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,680
and fitting them to
old Soviet grenades and mortars.

71
00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,320
Then they adapt drones and use them
to drop these improvised bombs

72
00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:25,480
on Russian tanks and soldiers.

73
00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:32,520
But the most striking thing
about this place

74
00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,440
is not what these people are doing.

75
00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:36,760
It's who they are.

76
00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:40,160
Olexiy isn't a soldier.

77
00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,720
He's actually an architect
with his own business in Kyiv.

78
00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:50,440
And this whole centre is staffed and
run entirely by people like him -

79
00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,160
non-military volunteers
with little or no training.

80
00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,840
Russians started to kill my nation.

81
00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:04,720
I have a possibility
to protect them,

82
00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,560
and the only way to protect them
is to kill an enemy,

83
00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,200
is to kill Russian.

84
00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,200
That's why I'm doing this.

85
00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,960
I have good education,
some mechanics, cartography,

86
00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,080
computer technology,
and I'm a patriot.

87
00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:36,520
The interests of my country
and of my nation

88
00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:41,240
are higher than
my personal interests.

89
00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,200
That's why I'm not an architect now.

90
00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:49,000
I'm a soldier now.

91
00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,360
In conflicts I've covered
in the past,

92
00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,760
there's normally a clear distinction
between the civilian population

93
00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:00,200
and the armed forces.

94
00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,480
But here, the lines
are being blurred...

95
00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:08,200
..and not just in
this intelligence centre.

96
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,560
Roman Kostenko used to be
a commander

97
00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:22,640
in Ukraine's special forces.

98
00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:29,800
But in 2019, he was elected as an MP
in the Ukrainian parliament.

99
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,600
When Russia invaded
his home city of Kherson,

100
00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,720
he immediately hung up his suit
in Kyiv and set up this base

101
00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,480
to recruit volunteers
to go to the front line and fight.

102
00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:52,040
Russian soldiers are right now
occupying his family home,

103
00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:53,440
just 50 miles away.

104
00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:02,720
Is it where you keep cold drinks?

105
00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:03,760
Yes.

106
00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:14,520
Javelin.

107
00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,120
Roman's a bit of a celebrity
in Ukraine.

108
00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:25,560
He's won medals for bravery and
is often on TV speaking on behalf

109
00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:27,480
of the Ukrainian military.

110
00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:35,200
But in this war, his relationship
with the army is more complicated.

111
00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,560
He may be back working with
Ukraine's special forces,

112
00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:42,000
but he runs his own missions
with his own units...

113
00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,240
..and he's offered to sneak me past
the checkpoints

114
00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:52,720
to meet one of these groups
on the front line.

115
00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:48,880
Approaching the front line,

116
00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,640
the biggest threat now is
being spotted by Russian drones.

117
00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:02,000
Their Orlan drone is noisy, but it
can spend up to 16 hours in the air

118
00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:03,960
hunting for enemy targets.

119
00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,640
The drone pilot can then communicate
the target's location

120
00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:13,680
to nearby Russian artillery,
who are standing by to fire.

121
00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:27,760
We're now the only car on this road
and close to the front.

122
00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:29,640
We make an obvious target.

123
00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,600
Then we get a radio call
from up ahead,

124
00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:36,600
from the commander
we're going to meet.

125
00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,280
This drone, Orlan,
it was in the air.

126
00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:20,800
You can hear it immediately.

127
00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:23,640
We were moving and
the shelling was chasing us.

128
00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,560
Therefore, we decided to come here,
to meet you,

129
00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:29,120
to not endanger you
from the first minute.

130
00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:32,920
We will have 24 hours for that,
so you will get your portion.

131
00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:34,400
Don't worry.

132
00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,960
We spend about 20 minutes
in the village.

133
00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:45,200
The drone that was chasing Hummer is
almost certainly still in the air,

134
00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,040
but Roman decides to make a run
for the base.

135
00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:06,000
This group of seven men has been
living in this abandoned village

136
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,360
for six weeks...

137
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,600
..and Hummer is responsible
for their safety.

138
00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:17,680
He grew up in an army camp and
has 15 years' military experience.

139
00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:20,880
But most of the others are rookies

140
00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,240
who've never served
in the army before.

141
00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,240
One just quit his job
in advertising.

142
00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,840
Another sold rugs for luxury cars.

143
00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:32,280
Until a few months ago,

144
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,440
Lys was working as a sailor
on container ships

145
00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,040
before he fled his home city
of Kherson.

146
00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:48,040
I don't like all what's happened,

147
00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:53,360
and that is why I tell you
I hope we will finish this war soon

148
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:58,360
and the whole world will know
what is the real Russian...

149
00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,200
..what is the Russian Federation.
This is killers...

150
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:06,840
..and...motherfuckers.

151
00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,640
Excuse me.

152
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:17,920
This unit has been attacking Russian
soldiers using small mortars,

153
00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:22,800
but they've never had the firepower
to destroy their heavy weapons.

154
00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,360
Today's delivery could change that.

155
00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:29,760
These heavy shells
from the Czech Republic

156
00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:33,240
are three times more powerful,
enough to destroy a tank.

157
00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:38,920
The hunt is now on
for new, bigger targets.

158
00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:10,360
The next morning, two mortar teams
and Lys - the drone pilot -

159
00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:14,120
are heading to different locations
to launch a large joint attack

160
00:17:14,120 --> 00:17:16,800
on a nearby Russian position.

161
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:29,880
Let's go.

162
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:48,920
OK, guys, jump in.

163
00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:52,800
Huh?

164
00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:00,360
Now we are going to...

165
00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:05,600
..use our firing forces,
all our firing means,

166
00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:10,360
against the enemy's position -
to push them back as much as we can.

167
00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:45,040
The enemy has unlimited amount
of the ammunition,

168
00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:49,320
so they can afford to shoot
just randomly, everywhere,

169
00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:50,960
once in several minutes.

170
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:52,880
We cannot do that. We...

171
00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,480
Every round, every mortar
should go to the target.

172
00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:59,400
And in order to do that,
we need to have presence in the sky.

173
00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:04,640
This is a present for
our friends from England.

174
00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:12,160
We show them how we work
and how we protect our home.

175
00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,800
For the last few weeks,
Hummer's group has been attacking

176
00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:20,160
this position
just across the fields.

177
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,080
It's manned by
about 60 Russian paratroopers

178
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:27,160
who've dug themselves into
a network of trenches and foxholes.

179
00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,680
It's one of hundreds of outposts
that stretch for miles,

180
00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,400
forming Russia's first line
of defence.

181
00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:41,720
Before today, the group could only
target the soldiers.

182
00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,440
But now, armed with heavy mortars,
they're aiming to destroy

183
00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,640
the Russian weapon that
Hummer and the group fear most -

184
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,080
the tank that's hidden
in these trees.

185
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,040
From the moment the first shell
is fired, Hummer's got six minutes

186
00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,120
before the Russians can start
locating this position

187
00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,600
and fire back.

188
00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:25,160
The first shell lands
300 metres long,

189
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,160
and Lys radios in the coordinates

190
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,000
to try and get the next one
on target.

191
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:55,200
The second shell lands closer,
just 30 metres from the tank.

192
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,160
They've now used up
more than half their time.

193
00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,080
The third shell lands further away
and in the other direction.

194
00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,080
It looks like something's wrong
with the mortar tube itself...

195
00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:57,280
Let's go.

196
00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:00,480
..but six minutes is up
and Hummer's out of time.

197
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:06,160
Now, we're the target.

198
00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:14,400
The fear is that the Russians
can now pinpoint this position.

199
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,200
I don't like movement
during this time.

200
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,280
For Hummer, this return fire
from a tank is getting too close.

201
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:08,600
He decides we have to break cover

202
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,240
and get across the road
to a deeper ditch.

203
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:25,840
Guys, have a seat here.

204
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:34,480
As deep as poss-...

205
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:40,840
This is the most dangerous thing
in this war...

206
00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,000
..to cut your ass with the bushes!

207
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,320
Hummer's been fighting
for five months.

208
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:53,840
The day the war started,

209
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:57,760
he sent his wife and three
young children abroad for safety.

210
00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,760
He hasn't seen them since.

211
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:05,200
I'm fighting for my country,
for my family, for my identity.

212
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:11,360
I grew up in Soviet Union, and it
was like, kind of a shame in Ukraine

213
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:13,640
to be Ukrainian.

214
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,000
Ukrainian language, it wasn't
forbidden, you could speak,

215
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,680
but people will treat you
not equal person to the Russian

216
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,000
if you speak Ukrainian.

217
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,360
They were trying to convince us that
it was not such a nation, Ukraine,

218
00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:31,880
it was invented by the West
against Russia, blah, blah, blah.

219
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:33,560
It was all bullshit,

220
00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:39,200
that only Russia is the real...kind
of historical nation in this region,

221
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:43,960
blah, blah, blah. You know,
we are fake, all this bullshit.

222
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,120
And they are still trying to do it,
to continue.

223
00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:48,680
Nevertheless, we have like,
30 years of independence,

224
00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:53,240
we have still a lot of Russian
influence in Ukraine, you know?

225
00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:58,320
We will win this war, definitely,

226
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:02,160
but the problem is, how many lives
will it take more, this war,

227
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:04,040
to get, to reach our goal?

228
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:09,200
And everybody understands that
we will win, but nobody wants to be

229
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:11,800
this person who will not see
the victory, you know?

230
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,000
Even me.

231
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:26,320
Hummer's got enough shells for one
more attempt to destroy the tank.

232
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,440
The heavy mortar may have
missed the tank,

233
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:48,160
but the other unit - using
smaller shells - got a lot closer.

234
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:35,040
These smaller mortars could only
have disabled the tank.

235
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,640
If they want to destroy
these kind of big weapons,

236
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:39,760
they'll need the larger mortar.

237
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,920
And that's now broken.

238
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:46,840
As this is a volunteer unit,
no-one here knows how to fix it.

239
00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,480
I could feel Hummer's frustration.

240
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,640
In the regular army, he could have
just given this to engineers

241
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:33,760
and told them to fix it.

242
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,720
His new group of volunteers
might be committed,

243
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:38,840
but they're not used to
obeying orders.

244
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,880
The broken mortar may be holding
Hummer's team back,

245
00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,800
but in Mykolaiv, the war is tilting
in a new direction.

246
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:04,160
For the first time
since the invasion,

247
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:08,040
Ukraine is going on the offensive,
launching a counterattack

248
00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,640
to retake Mykolaiv's
neighbouring city, Kherson.

249
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:21,200
Kherson is the only regional capital
to be captured and held by Russia,

250
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,320
and retaking it could change
the course of the war.

251
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,720
This offensive is being
made possible by the arrival

252
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:58,040
of powerful new missiles
from America known as HIMARS.

253
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,520
These weapons are so accurate, they
can fire 200 pounds of explosives

254
00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:06,560
through a window 50 miles away...

255
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:09,960
..and Russia has nothing
to match it.

256
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:18,080
And they've already begun destroying
key bridges, supply routes

257
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,840
and ammunition stores
far behind Russian lines

258
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:25,880
to prepare the ground for
the Ukrainian attack on Kherson.

259
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,000
At Mykolaiv's intelligence HQ,

260
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,200
the hunt is now on
for fresh Russian targets.

261
00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:02,800
In the hunt for HIMARS targets, some
of the most valuable intelligence

262
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:05,720
doesn't come from drones
but from spies -

263
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,840
civilian informants
behind Russian lines

264
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:12,080
who secretly communicate
with people like Daryna.

265
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:18,760
Until a few months ago, she was a
secondary school teacher in Kherson.

266
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:18,960
News of the counteroffensive
has reached Hummer and his men.

267
00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:22,960
Their morale is high,
but the routine's the same.

268
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:25,360
Every day, they're out
in the fields,

269
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,400
attacking the Russian paratroopers.

270
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,560
But they're tired.
And it's starting to show.

271
00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:58,360
Lys's adjustments aren't helping.

272
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:01,120
Every round is landing further
from the target.

273
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:05,640
Every shell was off target
and no-one seems to know why.

274
00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:10,760
By the next morning, no-one's
thinking about the argument.

275
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,160
The unit has received new orders.

276
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:43,320
The whole group is being redeployed
to one of the main launching points

277
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:45,920
for the Ukrainian attack on Kherson.

278
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:55,640
It's like, no, we cannot imagine
south of Ukraine without Kherson.

279
00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:59,040
Kherson, for us, it's primary goal.

280
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:00,840
Strategically, it's very important.

281
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:03,320
And as soon as we get Kherson,

282
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:07,320
we understand that all
south of Ukraine is liberated.

283
00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:18,240
We're going to the place
where another team is operating.

284
00:41:18,240 --> 00:41:21,920
And guys are hearing that there is
some kind of advances ongoing there.

285
00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:25,160
Maybe we will be more useful there.

286
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:28,360
This is a kind of first step
to see the new area of operation,

287
00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:32,240
and maybe we will get more results
there and we will be more useful.

288
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:37,800
Do you feel you're in the right
place, doing the right thing?

289
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:40,520
I believe so, yes.
I really believe so.

290
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:43,600
I was 11 years, like, civilian.
It's still in my blood.

291
00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:45,680
It's still in my mind.

292
00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:49,440
I was quite good at it
back in the time,

293
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:50,840
and I know that...

294
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:57,560
..I can do it better than others.
And...

295
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,200
..me being here gives a chance
to the guy who doesn't know

296
00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:03,480
what he is doing.

297
00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,440
Hummer's unit has been tasked with
supporting another group

298
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:10,200
of inexperienced soldiers,

299
00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:14,320
one made up of volunteers
from the police force.

300
00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:18,960
Just weeks ago, they were giving out
speeding fines and parking tickets.

301
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:22,560
Now, they're heading to
the front line.

302
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:25,960
The police chief decided to create
among the police

303
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:27,880
some kind of battle unit, you know,

304
00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:32,400
who will take part in the advanced
and offensive operations.

305
00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:38,160
Few of these police volunteers
have served in the army before,

306
00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:42,080
and one of them is
Hummer's younger brother.

307
00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:43,760
My brother is part of this unit.

308
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:48,440
And yesterday, they started to move
from Odesa to this place.

309
00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:52,440
All of them police officers,
they are volunteers.

310
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:53,480
So...

311
00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:56,560
..one of the purposes is to check...

312
00:42:58,000 --> 00:42:59,560
..that they will be used...

313
00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:02,280
..in proper way.

314
00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:14,160
The small town of Bereznehuvate

315
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:18,080
sits on the edge of Mykolaiv's
border with Kherson Region.

316
00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:20,720
It's from here that much of
the counter-offensive

317
00:43:20,720 --> 00:43:22,040
is being launched.

318
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:39,400
Roman's in town
to help co-ordinate the operation.

319
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:43,600
His units will all be supporting
the police volunteers as they mount

320
00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:47,320
one of the first ground offensives
in the battle for Kherson.

321
00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:15,000
Some of the police units
have already begun an assault

322
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,080
on the Russian front line.

323
00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:21,080
Their first objective is to retake
the heavily defended village

324
00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:22,400
of Andriivka.

325
00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:53,200
This assault on Andriivka
has already left

326
00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:56,840
one police volunteer dead
and four others injured.

327
00:44:59,720 --> 00:45:05,720
They expect to start...offensive
operation in two days again...

328
00:45:05,720 --> 00:45:06,760
Da.

329
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:11,200
..with my brother,
to send my brother...

330
00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:16,040
..to storm this fort
and take over these villages,

331
00:45:16,040 --> 00:45:17,840
which is covered with, like...

332
00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:22,760
..I don't know,
hundreds of enemy troops.

333
00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:27,880
No.

334
00:45:35,960 --> 00:45:38,000
They all not experienced.

335
00:45:39,200 --> 00:45:41,320
They haven't been in combat yet.

336
00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:46,120
They've been trained
in some range back in Odesa,

337
00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:48,600
and now they're sent here
to assault.

338
00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:05,080
This unit's lack of basic weaponry
and training

339
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:08,040
is exactly what
Hummer didn't want to hear.

340
00:47:24,360 --> 00:47:28,040
We're going to the position
of a mortar, of patrol police.

341
00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:32,600
Hummer says he wants to show me

342
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:36,360
one of the police's front line
positions, but I'm pretty sure

343
00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:38,280
he just wants to see for himself

344
00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:41,080
what his brother was
letting himself in for.

345
00:47:45,920 --> 00:47:50,040
We drive way out of town, and so
we reach what I later realised

346
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:54,880
was the zero line - the furthest
point of any Ukrainian soldiers.

347
00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:00,000
This is the battle for Andriivka,

348
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,440
part of the first ground offensive
to retake Kherson.

349
00:48:38,080 --> 00:48:40,840
That was a tank
firing on this position.

350
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:45,720
As usual, they take two shots.

351
00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:48,960
We're waiting for a second shot.

352
00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:18,840
How many days have you been here?

353
00:49:18,840 --> 00:49:20,640
Mm-hm.

354
00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:25,840
About three weeks.

355
00:49:27,280 --> 00:49:28,680
Yeah.

356
00:49:28,680 --> 00:49:29,960
Sleeping here?

357
00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:31,960
Sleeping here, living here...

358
00:49:33,320 --> 00:49:34,520
..fighting here.

359
00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:49,120
And all these guys are police,
patrol police?

360
00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:51,480
Have they been trained?

361
00:49:51,480 --> 00:49:52,960
Er...

362
00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:57,240
Seven days.

363
00:49:57,240 --> 00:49:59,520
Seven days' training?
Seven days' training,

364
00:49:59,520 --> 00:50:04,720
and now we use mortar... Mortar.

365
00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:15,640
Is that you?

366
00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:20,080
It was pretty stunning to see -

367
00:51:20,080 --> 00:51:23,640
inexperienced soldiers,
fresh from civilian life,

368
00:51:23,640 --> 00:51:27,480
living for weeks in ditches
on the front line

369
00:51:27,480 --> 00:51:29,400
and clearly being highly effective.

370
00:51:40,880 --> 00:51:42,640
Only three seconds.

371
00:51:45,360 --> 00:51:47,280
It was a Russian tank.

372
00:51:47,280 --> 00:51:50,080
Five minutes ago.

373
00:51:51,480 --> 00:51:53,000
You were here.

374
00:51:55,560 --> 00:51:59,760
The tank tried to attack us
when we hided.

375
00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:01,920
It was this tank.

376
00:52:01,920 --> 00:52:03,480
And you just got it?

377
00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:09,480
So you're lucky guys.
Stay with us!

378
00:52:14,040 --> 00:52:16,760
I'd come to Ukraine
with a question -

379
00:52:16,760 --> 00:52:18,760
how was this nation standing firm

380
00:52:18,760 --> 00:52:21,560
against the might of
the Russian army?

381
00:52:21,560 --> 00:52:23,720
And perhaps one of
the most surprising answers

382
00:52:23,720 --> 00:52:26,600
had been right in front of me
from the start.

383
00:52:28,040 --> 00:52:30,800
As well as Ukraine's powerful
foreign weapons

384
00:52:30,800 --> 00:52:33,640
and a regular army
with smart tacticians,

385
00:52:33,640 --> 00:52:37,720
there was also this vast
shadow army of volunteers.

386
00:52:37,720 --> 00:52:42,000
They were drawn from all walks of
life but had one thing in common -

387
00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:47,160
they simply were not going to give
up until they could say they'd won.

388
00:52:47,160 --> 00:52:50,240
And I think Hummer
was realising that, too.

389
00:53:29,560 --> 00:53:33,760
Two days later, Hummer learns
that his brother has returned safely

390
00:53:33,760 --> 00:53:35,920
from his first combat mission.

391
00:53:37,440 --> 00:53:38,680
I'm proud of him.

392
00:53:40,200 --> 00:53:41,520
I'm really upset.

393
00:53:43,680 --> 00:53:46,560
I was, "What are you thinking?
Blah, blah, blah,"

394
00:53:46,560 --> 00:53:48,720
and I was thinking,
"OK, go there one time.

395
00:53:48,720 --> 00:53:51,520
"You will, you will...
You will have enough,

396
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:57,720
"and then you understand and go back
to sign the tickets...from parking."

397
00:53:57,720 --> 00:54:00,480
After the first time, he said,
"Yes, yes, it's all good.

398
00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:02,920
"I'm going a second time." I said...

399
00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:05,240
.."I cannot stop him."

400
00:54:05,240 --> 00:54:06,800
Cannot stop him.

401
00:54:06,800 --> 00:54:09,840
And really proud of him.
Angry, but proud of him.

402
00:54:14,720 --> 00:54:17,720
How many experienced people who
served in the army who were trained,

403
00:54:17,720 --> 00:54:19,480
how many we have? I don't know.

404
00:54:22,560 --> 00:54:24,280
Most of them are gone.

405
00:54:25,480 --> 00:54:28,800
Five months of war,
and we need more and more and more.

406
00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:31,840
And they are fresh and
unexperienced, untrained.

407
00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:36,840
What we can do? We just do
whatever we can do to support them,

408
00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:39,880
to use our, I don't know, skills.

409
00:54:39,880 --> 00:54:42,640
That's what I said.
I understand that my place is here.

410
00:54:42,640 --> 00:54:45,160
I can help those people
who doesn't have experience.

411
00:54:45,160 --> 00:54:49,720
But we need to do the job
as professional as other people

412
00:54:49,720 --> 00:54:52,880
who served years in such units.

413
00:54:56,120 --> 00:55:00,040
Hummer has decided to allow three
of the most inexperienced members

414
00:55:00,040 --> 00:55:03,160
of his group to conduct
a mortar mission on their own.

415
00:55:04,840 --> 00:55:08,000
They are fighting for their land,
for their independence,

416
00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:10,200
for their freedom.

417
00:55:10,200 --> 00:55:13,480
People are not thinking
and counting on our president.

418
00:55:13,480 --> 00:55:17,000
People are thinking and counting
on each other, on the nation.

419
00:55:17,000 --> 00:55:19,680
And they know the purpose,
they know the main goal,

420
00:55:19,680 --> 00:55:20,920
why they're here.

421
00:55:29,800 --> 00:55:32,160
I'll be back.

422
00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:37,760
If the president signed,
for example, peaceful agreement

423
00:55:37,760 --> 00:55:40,680
with the Russians,
it will never stop. We will fight.

424
00:55:43,280 --> 00:55:45,680
It's not about Zelensky and Putin,

425
00:55:45,680 --> 00:55:48,360
it's about our nation
and our future.

426
00:55:50,560 --> 00:55:54,160
And if our troops
will get to Kherson,

427
00:55:54,160 --> 00:55:57,880
I can say it's like
Russians are done here.

428
00:55:57,880 --> 00:55:59,600
Yeah.

429
00:56:01,920 --> 00:56:03,280
Are you worried about them?

430
00:56:05,160 --> 00:56:09,560
Yes, because it's the first time
they are going to shoot without me

431
00:56:09,560 --> 00:56:13,920
and attack Russians there.
Yeah, because we trained them,

432
00:56:13,920 --> 00:56:16,720
I believe we trained them very well.
But...

433
00:56:24,960 --> 00:56:26,000
Let's go.



