BLOODSHED IN BAKHMUT: Fearless Fighters in Ukraine’s Deadliest Meat Grinder | WELT Documentary

The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut was the scene of the largest and most costly battle of the war so far. For more than ten months, the city was under the bombardment of Russian troops, until it fell in May 2023 despite the fierce resistance of the Ukrainians. The documentary follows three young soldiers a few months before the fall of Bakhmut: Vadim Adamov, Mykhailo Alekseenko, and Yuriy Samanyuk. Only one of the three men will survive the second year of the Russian assault on Ukraine.

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Bahmut in eastern Ukraine the scene of the war’s bloodiest battle to date starting in May 2022 Russia attacked the city for 10 months resistance was fierce reporter Ibrahim naar tells the story of this battle through the fate of three Ukrainian soldiers V mov yoris Sanuk and Miko

Alexenko only one of them will survive the second year of the war Ibrahim NABA travels to the war zone several times he accompanies the soldiers to the front he meets their relatives their families their friends the ukrainians pay a high price in the fight for their land February

2023 most of baku’s 70,000 inhabitants have fled only a few thousand still live in and around the ruins of this bombed out City their weekly Market is under Fire all the stores here have closed nobody’s here anymore what is the situation here the situation absolute [ __ ] always

If you ask me like that you know what I mean I can’t put it any other way shelling bombings my two stars were burned down don’t you want to leave the city only when a Russian tank appears in front of me I stand on the side of

Ukraine as long as the Ukrainian Army is here I will be here too those still holding out in Bak seek shelter in basement from the Russian bombs and shells most people at home no longer have access to electricity and water for weeks normal life in the town has

Ended hello I a journalist from Germany what is your name how old are you 72 what is the situation what is life like here now what can I say look it was quiet at first then suddenly something hit me again parts of a bomb only hit my li I was

Lucky why don’t you leave well I don’t want to leave my son mmmut is the war’s main front at the beginning of 2023 for weeks the ukrainians defend their City against assaults Russian troops captured the first districts on the outskirts of the city the Ukrainian Army still holds the center under its

Control that was part of the Russian winter off offensive they attempted to take slans and katos directly from the east in BM itself in the village as many units of the Vagner mercenary troops as possible were deployed most of them were prisoners in the view of the Russian

Army they were worth nothing and could be used up bmud became a symbol of this war through International media coverage bmud was on everyone’s lips and became synonymous with this trench warfare and the enormous number of casualties horn Opa the battle for the city is of great political importance to

Ukrainian president zinski at the end of 2022 he takes a trip to the US where he campaigns for further Military Support Ukraine didn’t fall Ukraine is Alive and Kicking FL he brought a flag with the signatures of soldiers deployed to bahm zinski had also visited bmud shortly beforehand the

Media coverage had been enormous so the flag was a powerful political symbol come reporter Ibrahim naber is in the war zone soldiers from the Ukrainian 93rd Brigade are with him they responsible for ground and aerial reconnaissance in bakut drone pilot V madof is 18 years

Old uh okay so our our plan today is first of all not to die uh it would be great but uh the second fall is we are going into the BM and then we are uh parking our cars in a place we know where we can put them because you know

The car is a great disadvantage when you’re looking for a position when everyone is seeing you Etc it’s not not not not a good thing you know to yeah Bim operates small reconnaissance drones his task is to detect Russian positions it’s up to him whether he accompanies the team to the front he

Decides to go but he does so at his own risk how uh close will this be to Russians like approximately we are going to be approximately approximately 1 and a half kilm one and a half km okay that’s inside bahm right we can go closer if you [Laughter]

Want Ibrahim naber captures the mission on his phone he’s the only one allowed to accompany the soldiers the group must remain a small and unrewarding target for the Russian attackers adim and Alexander are tasked with finding two new reconnaissance positions things you should look for is shelter

Some kind of you know whatever is here some kind of trange some kind of shelter whatever it is whatever you can find anything is better than being on the level of the ground if only we could get there I don’t understand why there’s no ladder leading down to the basement would be cool

This basement is not suitable the soldiers decide to continue their search outside then the impacts in the vicinity increase Bim turns back around into the basement come on let’s wait for the explosions to end it wasn’t far but it wasn’t even close consider considering that we are still

Alive I suggest we stay here for a moment and listen to how the shelling develops honestly [ __ ] we’re a highly visible Target right now okay here we go we you wait for him to go a little bit forward so we don’t go and crowd like at 10 m behind you right here is

Very longer distance maintaining a distance from each other the spotters Advance deeper into the city almost every building shows signs of of Destruction the neighborhood looks deserted the soldiers inspect a school and its gymnasium letroy school right yeah that’s a long time ago there was like kids playing and stuff is this out

Going badim does not answer before the Russian invasion bahmut was full of life known for its good wine and the nearby salt mines but now the town has been under constant fire for months for the soldiers every Mission here carries a high risk a deadly risk it’s a

Hell of devastated City you know and it’s really scary to think that uh the same thing could could have happened to KF you know where where I’m from when I spent all my life when all of my friends family live where my first school is when you know all of the memories from

From childhood Vadim and Alexander stop at a friendly unit the basement of an abandoned house serves as a shelter these rooms are sleeping quarters in the middle of hell it is uncertain how long bmo’s Defenders will be here they know that the enemy is pushing forward by any means necessary bahmut is threatened

With encirclement the commander of the small Ukrainian force is yri Sanuk but everyone calls him Yura I’m 1 on the radio here I’m 13 uhhuh okay it’s a 11 11 11 get it and um what is your job are you like uh drone operator of the m battery oh okay grenade

Launchers are they pushing really hard here yeah every every night and every day soldier in the bed yeah it’s very hard it’s my best friend yeah you know each other for a long time yeah yeah it’s my like a brother we from one village where do you come from from I’m

From FR region I’m born but I live in near years from my Village and I I put him here in 93 the soldiers have settled in to their temporary accommodation it’s our Loft style uh basement two star yeah maybe three we have Internet we have uh electricity and then we have

Food that that’s all we need militarily they need far more as the conversation shows the situation in the middle of bakut is tense the attackers are advancing meter by meter bloody battle by Bloody battle what is your age I didn’t ask this 36 366 yeah family yeah

Two kids now live in Slovakia oh very good yeah yeah with the wife yeah yeah with my ex-wife now I have a a second wife second marriage in this War I I married the second time yoris sanuk’s new wife is halina the bride wears white the groom is in camouflage it is a

Wartime wedding is she Soldier too no no no but she have uh two kids too then I have four kids now yeah what uh what are you fighting for it’s a big question but I don’t want that uh that they come to my home I need to stop it

Here but my Village was uh under the occupation near cave too my Village is a little bit broken uses a break to call his mother she has fled to Germany helloo the soldiers have access to the internet thanks to Portable starlink receivers even on the front line they communicate via encrypted

Services Mom how are you everything good with you Zan Zan aha a village near Zan it’s time to leave Bim and Alexander set off again they’re in search of a safe position for the reconnaissance drone flights we’re moving now to a new position all you can hear the whole time are noise and

Explosions why is it getting so huh it’s getting a little intense now right that’s a vasilo mottar isn’t it no vasilo fires four shots at the same time it sounds like the soldiers discover a house from the outside it looks perfect for their purposes they want to take a closer look

A locked gate does not present an obstacle Welcome the house is abandoned and badly damaged the residents seem to have fled a long time ago their belongings are scattered all around they must have escaped esed in a great hurry number over there would be perfect from where oh yeah from the apartment there while Alexander inspects the

Basement Vadim takes in the almost surreal situation in the living room it’s always weird you know to to be in a places like this because it feels like there was some kind of life you know like this guy he was really into wrestling he was really into physics

Whatever he was like fit in his fishes Etc and then everything in this house just Stopped I don’t want you know my 7-year-old sister to grow up and you know go to war so we should we we just have to end it up now whatever time it take you know it feels personally when you are 18 and you in a war it feels

Like it will last for eternity because I got out of school I spent year working like uh shooting stuff instead working as director and then a war badim sets up his surveillance drone which he carries in his backpack the device can be bought almost anywhere it is his weapon on the front

Line some are equipped with infrared cameras they all have zoom lenses badim drone takes off on a test flight over the Russian occupied territories and immediately detects suspicious movements first people yep it’s RS the enemy soldiers have no idea how close they are to death it’s a test flight and we don’t

Have a connection with an artillery we can’t show them right now but you know I’m shooting on a video their position and then I will bring the material St commens in point and then we’ll be able to analyze it the experiment convinces Vadim and Alexander to use the house as their observation

Post they continue their mission in Mo to find yet another position despite the shelling there still seemed to be civilians nearby it’s unbelievable how people can still live here I’ve just seen a house with a sign in the gate Judi it translates as people still live here so [ __ ] charet of this

Walking it’s incredible when I hear this noises I got really scared but you like you both are so so used to it right uh yeah when you were hearing them over and over again you’re starting to uh you know to get the sound of every everyone and you’re hearing is this

Shooting your direction is this shooting another Direction the gunfire and impacts nearby don’t seem to impress the soldiers this house is also deserted instument there’s no sign of the inhabitants nevertheless Vadim and Alexander move on can’t get EX we go can’t exas this position the shelling intensifies the impacts are

Closer the soldiers seek cover in the basement of another unit they’re working with here War reporter Ibrahim NAA meets 28-year-old Soldier Mio AK a AKA M see uh my nickname is MC at the moment we are currently in bakut in the donet region the Russian troops are about 1

Kilometer away from us one more or less one kilometer and uh and I am working here with the other guys on a Mor Mio volunteered to join the Army after Russia’s Invasion after just a few months he was transferred to the front according to him 85% of his comrades

Have already been killed or injured in Bakut 15 16 there are only 15 or 16 of our guys who are still here are from the others can no longer fight don’t uh from 100 right was it yeah yeah hard one thing is clear at this stage of the battle the Russian attackers have the upper hand both in terms of

Personnel and material they have the Russians have fighter planes in action here helicopters lots of mortars lots of artillery lots of ammunition and mines and we simply don’t have enough people people and that is why we have to be smarter than them the young Soldier grew up in

Eastern Ukraine for him Russia’s attack on his country is incomprehensible my comrade here he is from donet and I am from Sloans we uh speak we have spoken All our lives we spoke it before the war and we still speak it today we it’s everyone’s free decision here to speak what you want we now we don’t want to let the weapons speak but the fact is we have to because if we don’t do it

Now if we don’t fight we will all die uh uh speak uh weon language we all died we don’t we don’t want to negotiate with Russia Russian we don’t want to accept accept their um their rules you know we just want every of every single of our territories back because it’s it’s

Ours the will and morale of the Defenders seem unbroken but everyone is reporting heavy losses they they have too few Fighters too few weapons too little ammunition when the soldiers stop by Yuri’s basement again on the way back The Young Commander talks openly about another problem Russia is advancing

Through the city block by block actually it’s there is like a street fight going on right yeah it’s it’s Street F real street fights on the outskirts yes yes and uh it’s very hard and is it and the Russians also have like snipers here too right uh yes and uh they Works uh

Mostly uh at the night they have termal visual Scopes and it’s very big problem second problem of artillary we have many losses from snipers snipers at nightfall the team leaves the embattled town Yuri M stay in their physicians in bakut fim wants to return turned to the combat zone the next

Morning for reporter naber The Journey continues through the night on board the ofria a former School Bus converted into a mobile Military Hospital Ukrainian soldiers from the Frontline region near bakut are treated here on their way to the next Hospital a young team of doctors looks after the wounded many have been

Seriously injured in the fighting we have now on board uh 12 soldiers and for the regular uh R rile it will be one or two person maximum current situation on the front line is turbulent so um in some uh regions in some areas it is very aggressive very severe um um losses of

Our soldiers we understand that these guys they all all our heroes who who came to war to defend us all and me including me so first of all my job is to show them respect to give them that help that they need to get them alive to

Hospital we had one guy um he was really you know deated starved um uh he didn’t eat for 5 days and um he he cried when we fed him really uh he said uh something like oh my God uh it’s it’s unbelievable uh I I really dreamed of

For some breakers and some juice or even water after almost 4 hours the bus reaches the hospital everyone has survived that night the young doctors head straight back to the front where many more wounded are waiting spring 2023 the fierce battle for bahmut continues Ukrainian troops are desperately fighting against the Russian

Encirclement by mid April 2023 more than half of the city is already in Russian hands Ukrainian president linski still refuses to withdraw his troops the dispute within the Ukrainian leadership was whether to hold on to the city or to give it up for political reasons zalinski and

His advisor yamak decided to hold on to the city even in the late stages of the battle from a military point of view there are few reasons for Ukraine to sacrifice so many soldiers in bakut according to military analysts the Strategic importance of the city is

Low bahmut was a meat grinder for both sides during the entire battle for the Russians and during the final battle for the ukrainians as they tried to defend bahmut badim and Yuri continued to fight directly in bakut in the spring meanwhile Miko’s unit is being moved to

Sloans about 40 km from bakut MiO captures this footage on his phone on March 27th 2023 he and his comrades go to the front near Luman and come under Fire in a message he writes very cold but alive on April 1st Russian troops discover the position of Miko’s unit the enemy immediately opens Fire they hit our Hideout all the men have Concussions April 6th there is further shelling mikar writes we’re suffering great losses I don’t even want to write about the terrible things that are happening here and in akut in mid April the young Soldier is deployed to the front near the small town of crinia mialo continues to

Document his life in the trenches again his position is shelled he films the soldiers sharing a tin of peaches it is to be his last recording less than an hour later shortly after half 5: in the evening a shell hits his position Mio dies it is April 15th

2023 davitz in the west of Ukraine Mio’s parents live here now they had to leave their Eastern Ukrainian hometown of slaviansk in the early months of the war father o works as a teacher mother Nelly is a social worker they talk about the moment they learned of their only son’s

Death it was Sunday April the 16th Easter yes exactly Easter in the morning everything was fine the Sun was shining then I received a call at around 300 p.m. it was the paramedic of his Brigade she told us your son misho has died it that’s not

True and the paramedic said he died a hero let’s decide where to bury him in Le because he was part of a brigade from Leif they took him to Sloans first the parents tell us that war is part of their family’s history it has been for Generations when he was a child we didn’t buy him any toy weapons because we were teachers and my father always said that the war would end with his generation my father was sent to the front when he was 16 my grandfather also went to war their son always had many

Friends Miko graduated from school with a gold medal for outstanding performance he went on to study political science during the summer vacations he volunteered at a foundation for the Reconstruction of Ukraine according to Nelly and O alexenko Miko enlisted in the military shortly after the Russian attack in 2022 one day he presented us with decision he had already made mom I’ve been called up I’m getting ready for the front now in June 2022 he told us his unit was leaving at the time he wasn’t allowed to tell us where they were going we later found out that they were

In the region we had an agreement if possible he would write to us every day the most important words he wrote to us were all good or all okay he often sent pictures of their food I sent photos of mushroom sou fruit watermelon these pictures were important to

Him because I was always very worried about him otherwise he sent us almost nothing when did you see M the last time on February 24th 2022 he was already stuck in the barracks when we came here to Western Ukraine he told us I can’t come to you

Nobody will let me out of here so you are the one who saw him for the last time not us when he was buried he was in the coffin I never saw my son again Ibrahim NAA shows Milo’s parents the footage he took of their son in bahmut they’re seeing these videos for

The first time is it true Miko never told you that he was in Bak no he didn’t he never told us exactly where their positions were yeah after their son’s death the Ukrainian Army sent his cell phone to his parents mother Nelly found a video on it she shows it to Us M and his comrades sing I am father’s only son let me go out and celebrate what did he die for for what as na says his goodbyes Nelly and Oleg tell us they were looking forward to having grandchildren the war took their son and this wish away from them

Okay the fate of Miko Alex enko’s parents is shared by thousands of Ukrainian families the country is losing its generation in the trenches and ruins of cities ravaged by Putin’s war of aggression reporter Ibrahim NAA returns to easn Ukraine it is a journey of over 1300 kilm plenty of time to

Think he arrives in Sloans mialo aeno grew up here on this afternoon the city exudes something like Joy a friend of the soldier is waiting in the center of town Mike maros met mikalo years ago at a summer camp the trained software engineer is also a soldier fighting for his country is it

The for you the the first time you were here now or have you been here yeah first time I never never had a chance to visit his grave like everything else in the country Ukrainian cemeteries have changed they’ve grown fast everywhere there are pictures of people in uniform and

Flags it’s something so common it’s like just part of your day like you know that friend of your friend died or something so I think it will be later very I I really had the feeling that he trusted you like you had a connection like he shared with you his thoughts his

His fears but everything it was he was something was funny I remember when you when you sent me the pictures of him eating and he said like this is what makes him happy so I I think you especially this last last few months so we keep in touch I try to help in

Some way Putin’s invasion of Ukraine leaves cities destroyed and souls wounded do you sometimes like think about is this like the price we have to pay is it worth is it is there any answer to that like we have to pay we have no choice if we want to survive and

If we want to have some future but we are really like dependent on and it’s our fault we are totally dependent on Supply from other countries so we don’t have enough anything and uh armor vehicle drones Fighters which we don’t have we compensate with people do you fear to

Die do you think about this of course I think everyone fears and uh but uh I’m doing my best like not to do it for and uh also I think uh my my family cares more my daughter told to my wife few weeks ago that uh she don’t want to be an

Orphan Mike malush is also part of a drone team he was deployed to the front line a few months after Miko he felt how much his friend had changed during his deployment in Bahmut I think after he came to the bahmut so it was really bad there he told he he don’t want to tell me about these horrible things happening there and horrible things is not just about Russians yeah it’s also about uh uh yeah about our army about our

Commanders uh which just waste some someone lives in May 2023 the Ukrainian resistance in bakut is broken Russian troops conquer the city pictures of the then triumphant now dead leader of the vagna mercenary group yevi progan go around the world at the end of May Ukrainian president volodimir zalinski

Conceived needs the loss of bakut the city has become a symbol above all for the slaughter of thousands of people on both sides the estimated loss on the Russian side is between 50,000 to 60,000 men only in bakut in BM alone the loss for the ukrainians was probably also very

High but the figures vary widely the main problem for the ukrainians was that many experence officers and commanders fell in B these people would have been needed later in the counter offensive the second problem with BM was that most of these losses occurred in a late phase it gave the Ukrainian population

And parts of the army the impression that soldiers were just being used as Cannon FES for a long time bakut stood for the strength of the Ukrainian resistance now it also stands for a Mist retreat in hindsight Ukraine should have left bahmut at the end of February this

Is from a purely military point of view not a political one fadima dof and Yuri Sanuk survive bakut they leave the city a few weeks before its fall at the end of May yui writes in a message that he is now at a training ground in Central

Ukraine Vadim is stationed in nepro to the south in June the two meet again on the front in the Southeast the long awaited Ukrainian summer offensive is about to start one of the objectives the Breakthrough to the Sea of azof modern weapons are supposed to bring about the victory expectations are

High around the world they’re too high after only a few k om the counter offensive gets stuck in Russian Mine Fields on the evening of June 25th Vadim sends a message from this front region in the Southeast months later War reporter Ibrahim NABA accompanies Ukrainian soldiers to the Frontline area near robotina a few kilometers from the spot where Yuri was killed traces of fierce fighting are still visible there is equipment left behind by Russian soldiers weapons body parts conversations on the ground give the impression that the Ukrainian

Soldiers never stood a chance not with the weapons available to them not amid these minefields late summer 2023 in ke life in the capital is different everything is far away from the front lines cafes and Cinemas are open the streets are full but Billboards commemorate the dead

Of the war yurisa mano’s wife halina wears the number 13 on her t-shirt 13 was her husband’s military nickname by The ceremony for Yuri took place here on the maidan people came to say goodbye to him all those who couldn’t come to V the city where Yuri was born y helina brings along footage of the ceremony in Ukraine it is customary to pay respects to the Fallen Soldiers this

Way before the the official Funeral there were lots of little things in our relationship that connected us we listen to the same music we like the smell of incense sticks we love meditation and dancing we got to know each other through dancing was he a good dancer yes she and Yuri were together for almost 3

Years after his deployment in bakut they met one last time then he had to leave for the summer offensive the news of his death came by Phone at some point I received a call from an unknown number I picked up the phone and my heart was it immediately went cold I heard the strange voice on the phone saying halina is it you that’s how I found out about his death Kalina it’s like a new completely

New situation for you and for many other like um wives uh who lost their their husband how do you manage to get back to life it’s really very difficult I only got through the first few days thanks to my and Yuri’s friends they didn’t leave me alone for a

Moment they even spent the night with me some came some went but they didn’t leave me alone my youngest son took me by the hand he’s 11 years old and he said to me Mom don’t blame yourself for anything don’t blame yourself for anything and I

Beg you please you have to work through everything please go to therapist after our talk on the maidan helina invites us into her home she lives in a small village outside [Applause] Kei Alina wants to show us the parcel she received from the Ukrainian Army a box containing her dead husband’s belongings This is a certificate from the commander-in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces and this is our wedding photo his hair we different yes yes yes yesina do you know exactly what happened when they got attacked was it a kamikat Dr it was artillery fire and trap a piece of SHP now got

Him when I received his protective vest I saw that it had been damaged here on the side I asked his maids in the military what had happened and they said that Yuri had been hit on the side and Neck Vadim mov survives he survives both the battle for bahmut and the Ukrainian summer offensive badim is now 19 years old after months at the front the young Soldier for the first time has a few days off he’s consumed by the loss of his two comrades he shared a special

Friendship with Yuri in particular Yuri was one of the brightest persons I ever met not only on warfare you know not only bmus but I think in my whole life and he had his platoon really disciplined but at the same time he was like a mentor for all of this guys for

All of his members you know he was uh he was really open hard heart person and this is the thing that was amazing about him losses are they motivation for you to fight on or is it like a weird perspective to see it like this every death of your friend of your fellow

Soldier uh it leaves a little scar in your soul I guess and um first think about this cars that you feel this pain and it’s get you more motivated to do your job to cover Infantry to do your job to do to do my job as a like um air reconnaissance fire

Team uh to prevent another death it’s not yet clear what traces the months in bahmut have left behind badim looks back on the time with mixed feelings bmud was my place when I met war first time like real war like real real participate in it and the small

Ukrainian City that no one really heard before the war learned me how to be a soldier taught me how how to be a soldier even though there was a lot of hard moments also there was a lot of heartful moments you know the moments that I do remember and the moments that

Um that changed every one of us who have been working there how did you learn to deal with with losses of friends of people you really know like or like it is there any way to to deal with that yes there is a way to deal with a lot of

You know your friends dying like in war movies when when someone dies they sit and they smoke like oh it’s so hard no from my experience everyone is making jokes about it and it is some kind of compensatory mechanism of it and works this is my way I mean just joke about

Everything and you won’t have problems about dealing with it psychologically at least for now maybe after War but you know you need to survive this period and then we will see badima dof is now back on the front line just like tens of thousands of other men and

Women Russia’s Army continues to attack towns and Villages every day on each of these days Ukraine fights for its freedom and for its Survival