A Ukrainian frontline battalion has filmed its drone-led rescue of an injured Russian soldier.
The K-2 Battalion, which is part of the Ukrainian Army’s 54th Brigade, posted the video across several different social media platforms this week.
Set to eerie music, the video runs longest on Telegram at more than 18 minutes. It picks out the strained facial expressions of the injured Russian soldier, damage to his wrist watch and the streak of dried blood running down the side of his face.
In the video, the drone operator decides not to kill the injured Russian soldier and instead drops water and a note before leading him across No Man’s Land to a Ukrainian trench.
It is unclear where or when the video was shot, although it appears to be set in late summer on a battlefield in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Throughout the war, the 54th Brigade has been positioned on the frontline in the Donbas region.
The video appears to be part of a sophisticated recruitment for the K-2 Battalion which, like the rest of the Ukrainian army, is under pressure to sign up more soldiers.
The released video starts as a Ukrainian drone scans a Russian trench after an attack, searching for survivors. It spots the injured Russian soldier lying on top of at least two bodies under an earth arch.
The Ukrainian drone drops a grenade near the injured man but fails to kill him.
Later, the drone returns to the trench to discover that the injured soldier has crawled away from the earth arch and is now lying on his back, begging to be spared.
The Ukrainian drone operator takes pity on the injured Russian soldier. The drone dumps its grenades onto the battlefield, flies back to base and then returns with a bottle of water and a note with instructions on how the injured Russian soldier can reach Ukrainian lines and safety.
The Russian soldier crosses himself and waves “thank you” to the Ukrainian drone operator before he gulps down the water.
The Russian soldier then takes out a syringe from his pocket and injects a painkiller into his left arm. He lies back exhausted before gathering his strength and staggering out of the trench into a sun-drenched No Man’s Land.
He has a leg injury and immediately falls to the floor before gingerly picking himself up and slowly walking forward, threading his way between the artillery craters.
The Ukrainian drone leads the injured Russian soldier through the battlefield. Puffs of smoke show that fighting is continuing.
At one point, the Russian soldier lies in a crater and signals to the drone that he wants to smoke a cigarette before moving on.
He takes out a new packet of cigarettes from a pocket, unwraps the packet, takes one and lights up.
The drone pans out for a wider view of the heavily scarred battlefield.
The sun is setting, bathing the battlefield in a soft orange light. Occasionally, an artillery shell lands near the injured Russian soldier who picks his way between debris and craters. The video’s accompanying subtitle claims that he is being shot at by his own forces.
The injured Russian soldier, with the Ukrainian drone as his guide, eventually makes it to the Ukrainian trench system where he collapses onto the dirt floor, exhausted.
Two Ukrainian infantrymen walk through the trench system towards the injured Russian soldier.
They walk with purpose, striding over rubbish and rubble with their rifles at their shoulders.
The Russian soldier surrenders. One of the Ukrainians then grabs him, roughly, and half-pulls, half-marches him to the trench command post.
