The moment a lone Ukrainian soldier bravely fought six Russians in a bitter close-range firefight has become the latest evidence of the savage trench warfare sweeping Eastern Europe.
Breathless drone footage showed the single Ukrainian, dressed in combat pants and nothing but an olive green T-shirt, walking along a ridge next to a network of trenches in anticipation of a possible Russian assault.
Suddenly, two Russian soldiers who were taking shelter in the trench appeared and fired a volley at him from just a few meters away.
Four more Russian soldiers were seen backing up their comrades, and the group of six unleashed a torrent of lead towards the heavily outgunned Ukrainian defender.
But he refused to back down and continued firing until an artillery shell pierced the air and hit near the Russian position.
Finally, with the artillery arriving and the intrepid Ukrainian continuing to return fire, the Russians turned and fled, retreating through the network of trenches.
Later in the video, a Russian who appeared to have been abandoned by his unit stumbled through the trees before being hit by an explosive charge.
The moment a lone Ukrainian soldier bravely fought six Russians in a bitter close-range gunfight has emerged in the latest evidence of savage trench warfare.
The Ukrainian, a member of the ‘K-2 Battalion’ of the Ukrainian 54th Mechanized Brigade, dove for cover and miraculously evaded the oncoming bullets before immediately launching his own volley.
The Ukrainian refused to back down and continued firing until an artillery shell pierced the air and hit near the Russian position.
Ukrainian doctors from the ULF medical group treat Ukrainian soldiers wounded in combat in the direction of Pokrovsk
A view of the destruction after Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Kyivskyi district of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on November 25, 2024.
The K-2 Battalion did not reveal exactly where the impressive battle was captured, but the unit was formed in the besieged city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region and has participated in several of the area’s most intense conflicts.
Meanwhile, both countries continue to exchange harsh airstrikes.
Russia said this morning that its air defenses had shot down eight ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine amid rising tensions over kyiv’s use of Western-supplied long-range weapons against Russia.
Ukraine also attacked a Russian fuel depot, while Russian airstrikes injured more than 30 people in Odessa and Kharkiv, the latest wave of attacks.
The nearly three-year war has escalated dramatically over the past week, with both sides deploying new weapons as they try to secure a battlefield advantage before Donald Trump takes the White House in January.
The Republican has promised to secure a peace deal, although he has not said how, and criticizes American aid to kyiv.
Ukraine fired US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles at Russia for the first time last week after receiving approval from Washington, prompting a furious reaction from Moscow.
“Air defense forces shot down eight ballistic missiles,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily briefing on Monday, without saying what type of missiles were used or where they were shot down.
Moscow and kyiv have stepped up their use of long-range missiles after the United States gave Ukraine approval, long sought by kyiv, to use the weapons against Russia.
Moscow fired an experimental hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last Thursday, and President Vladimir Putin warned that the weapon, which he called Oreshnik, could be used in combat again.
Adding to tensions, a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian border town of Shebekino on Monday killed one civilian, according to local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
The attack wounded another man, he said, while other Ukrainian bombings damaged several apartments.
In this photo taken from a video published by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense on Monday, November 25, 2024, a Russian military officer launches an FPV drone towards a Ukrainian position.
Explosions are seen in the sky above the city during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 25, 2024.
A view of the destruction after Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Kyivskyi district of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on November 25, 2024.
A rescuer walks in front of a building hit by a Russian missile attack, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odessa, Ukraine, on November 25, 2024.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones attacked a fuel facility in Russia’s Kaluga region, a Ukrainian military intelligence source said, in kyiv’s latest attack on Moscow energy sites.
That claim came as Ukrainian authorities said a Russian missile attack had injured nearly two dozen people in the eastern city of Kharkiv.
“As a result of an operation by Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, a fuel and power facility in Russia’s Kaluga region was attacked overnight,” the source said.
The Russian governor of Kaluga, which is just south of the capital Moscow, said the region’s air defense systems had shot down eight drones and confirmed that an “industrial enterprise” had caught fire.
Unverified images on social media of the alleged attack showed tracer munitions cutting through the night sky and a large fire next to two industrial chimneys.
“The target of the attack was an oil depot of Kaluganefteprodukt JSC, which supports Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine,” the source said.
A view of the destruction after Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Kyivskyi district of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on November 25, 2024.
A car lies smashed under the rubble of a building destroyed by a Russian missile attack in the Kyivskyi district on November 25, 2024.
Kharkiv residents and rescue workers were seen assessing damage and clearing debris after the latest Russian attack on the city that has come under repeated bombing since the Kremlin launched its invasion in early 2022.
Mayor Igor Terekhov said 23 people were injured and about 40 buildings were damaged, including official or administrative offices.
The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 71 drones, including the Iranian-designed Shahed, launched by Russian forces, while another 71 were “presumably” shot down using defensive electronic jamming systems.
‘Previously, Shahed attacks were carried out only at night. “Now the enemy uses attack unmanned aerial vehicles also during the day,” the air force said in its statement.
Meanwhile, in the southern port city of Odessa, authorities said a Russian attack damaged infrastructure facilities and injured 11 people.
“These Russian attacks on Ukrainian life can be stopped through pressure, sanctions, blocking the occupiers’ access to the components they use to create the tools of this terrorism, military aid packages for Ukraine and a determination that must be unwavering,” he said. the president. said Volodymyr Zelensky.