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Support your local PBS station.

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♪

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♪

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♪

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REPORTER 1 [voice-over]: Both Ukraine and Russia

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Heavy fighting is reported on the front lines.

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REPORTER 2 [voice-over]: Ukrainian forces have

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Now they launched their much talked about counteroffensive.

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REPORTER 3 [voice-over]: The new counteroffensive,

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It is expected to be the largest military operation in Europe.

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since World War II.

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REPORTER 4 [voice-over]: Russian forces

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They are focused, they are deeply rooted.

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They have been building fortifications and defenses.

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With virtually no independent information from the front,

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It is impossible to evaluate

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The extent to which the Ukraine operation is underway

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or if you are succeeding.

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MSTYSLAV CHERNOV [voice-over]: I want to tell you a story.

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A history thousands of years old.

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A story of men fighting for their land.

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There is a forest in the east of Ukraine,

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a narrow strip of trees

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squeezed between two minefields.

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The only way to get to Andriivka,

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a village on the outskirts of Bakhmut.

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This is a story from this forest.

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and the people who will remain there forever.

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♪

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6:00 a.m.

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We are at the headquarters of the 3rd Assault Brigade.

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The Ukrainian counteroffensive is underway.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Here on the Eastern Front,

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The brigade's task had been to advance through

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2,000 meters, approximately one mile,

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of the heavily fortified forest

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and capture the strategic village of Andriivka.

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This would cut off the supply route to Russia.

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to the occupied city of Bakhmut.

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And we want to be there when that happens.

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But it is difficult for journalists to get to the battlefield.

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Our only chance is to meet Fedya,

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The officer on the ground.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: He's busy.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Duda, the coordinating officer,

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have an idea

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: We managed to convince them to accept us.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Duda tells us we're idiots.

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for wanting to go.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Doubt sends a flag

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and a note for Fedya.

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If Andriivka is released,

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Your task will be to raise the flag.

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[bullets rattling]

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Wearing the blue journalist's vest

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On the battlefield it is no longer an option.

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It makes us priority objectives.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: If we're lucky,

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Today we will arrive at Fedya and film him raising the flag.

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But we are all nervous.

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The forest that leads to the town.

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He has killed many men.

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[gear noise]

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[The door slams]

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Before leaving,

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I kept looking at the map.

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2,000 meters.

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Three months.

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It didn't make sense.

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Why did it take so long?

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Then they showed it to us.

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Videos from helmet cameras, drones.

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Records of all violent battles

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on the way to Andriivka.

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Each one an attempt to get closer.

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Each one takes its toll.

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♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Some of these battles gained ground.

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Some drove the brigade back.

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But they kept fighting.

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And now we follow in his footsteps.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: 8:30 am

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Our transport arrives at the forest.

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One of the soldiers tells me: "It's like landing on a planet."

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where everything is trying to kill you."

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But it's not another planet, I tell myself.

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It is in the center of Europe.

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Now we have to get to Fedya.

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But instead of him, we meet one of his soldiers.

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with the callsign "Freak".

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: He calls us "pencils."

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for the Russians to intercept radio conversations

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We don't know when we arrive.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: The battles advanced,

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closer to town,

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leaving behind the armored vehicles and destroyed bodies.

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The surrounding fields and roads were mined by the Russians.

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The forest is the only way.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: The town is 2,000 meters ahead.

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35 seconds for a mortar shell to fly.

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Two minutes by car.

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A ten minute run.

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But time doesn't matter here.

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Distance does.

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And it is measured by the pauses between explosions.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: I listen on the radio

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that Fedya is in the middle of the fight.

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The battle at Andriivka is in full swing.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: As we speak,

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I'm thinking about Andriivka,

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Focusing on the radio talk

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and lose the thread of the conversation.

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But the camera continues recording.

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Freak was 12 years old when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014.

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When the full-scale invasion began,

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He left university and returned to his hometown.

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and joined the territorial defense.

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From there he went to the 3rd Assault Brigade.

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At the time we speak, he is 22 years old.

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In five months he will be wounded in a battle.

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through another forest, his body was never found.

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♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Freak told us how the brigade

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They fought for this part of the forest,

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trying to drive the Russians out of their trenches.

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Halfway to Andriivka.

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Their helmet cameras captured every step of the battle.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: It's 10:00 a.m. m.

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We're still stuck in this damn trench,

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waiting to reach Fedya.

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-[drones whizzing] -[gunshots in the distance]

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: We finally started moving.

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Andriivka is now 1,000 meters ahead.

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Halfway.

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The smell of death, explosives,

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and freshly cut trees become stronger.

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I try to focus on what needs to be done.

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We have to be there when Fedya raises the flag.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: 11:00 a.m. m.

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Finally we arrived at Fedya.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Your first question for us:

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Where are your weapons?

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Fedya is 24 years old.

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Promoted to sergeant in battle.

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He has a scar on his lip from playing war in his childhood.

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and a job in a warehouse before the invasion.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Freak gives him the flag.

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and a note from headquarters,

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and sits in a dugout to read it.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: I knew what he meant when he said

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He never wanted to be a soldier.

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None of us did.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: When we were children,

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All school children received military lessons.

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We marched, assembled and disassembled Kalashnikovs.

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We shoot.

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Ten bullets for each young man.

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But few of us saw any sense in this.

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There was no one to fight with.

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We had no enemies.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Before every battle,

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Fedya trains his men.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: He shouts and curses loudly at them.

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He knows that some of them will die.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: When Russia invaded Ukraine,

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Each of us had to make a decision.

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I grabbed a camera and started filming.

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Fedya took a pistol.

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He was sure that Ukraine would win this war.

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♪ ♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Fedya told us,

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After the brigade liberated two-thirds of the forest,

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It was his battalion's turn to advance,

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The first assault operation for many of his men.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: At headquarters,

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Duda and other officers

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guided Fedya and his team across the battlefield.

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♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Another 300 meters were taken.

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But the further they went,

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The harder it was to keep pushing.

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The doctors could not believe so many casualties.

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They came from that small forest.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: If they continued to lose so many men,

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They couldn't finish the offensive.

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REPORTER 1 [voice-over]: US officials say

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Ukraine's long-awaited offensive

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It's moving forward slowly.

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REPORTER 2 [voice-over]: Progress is modest but constant,

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According to Ukrainian forces,

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while they recover villages and trenches

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excavated by Russian forces.

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Ukraine says it has liberated several villages

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of the Russians in recent days.

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REPORTER 3 [voice-over]: The villagers emerged from

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the basements, the bunkers they had been hiding in,

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and we were very happy to see Ukrainian troops there,

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to see the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine

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Flying over his town once again.

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There in the northeast,

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That cauldron of violence, Bakhmut,

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It has also been the scene of some Ukrainian advances.

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of a few kilometers in recent days.

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REPORTER 4 [voice-over]: Ukraine is also taking

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High number of casualties.

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REPORTER 5 [voice-over]: Ukraine is a relative David

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to the Goliath of Russia.

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They can't afford to lose

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Three times more soldiers than Russia,

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Therefore, you have to proceed with care.

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If that's not enough,

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and they actually end up in a stalemate,

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Western confidence is likely to decline.

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REPORTER 6 [voice-over]: If we're not getting results here,

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So maybe Ukraine wants to think of another plan,

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Even some land grants in exchange for peace.

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REPORTER 7 [voice-over]: If Ukraine falls,

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Then Russian forces will be at the gates of Europe.

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It becomes NATO's war.

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♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: 13:30

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We stop again to wait for the artillery duel to end.

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The day seems endless.

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After his injury, Fedya was sent to the hospital.

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He recovered quickly and returned to the forest.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Sheva is 46 years old.

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At the beginning of the counteroffensive,

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He left a comfortable position in the military police.

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to volunteer in the 3rd Assault Brigade.

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He will be wounded in a battle in five months.

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and will die in a hospital.

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♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: For the next battle,

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Fedia's friend and second-in-command, Gagarin,

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replaced him in the forest.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: I was 24 years old.

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Hometown: Polonne, Western Ukraine.

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He worked as a truck driver in Europe.

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When the full-scale invasion began,

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He came back and volunteered.

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He led the platoon into battle.

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They had to move another 300 meters.

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and reach the end of the forest.

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After that, it was Andriivka.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Your friend Kobzar

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He followed him on the battlefield.

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♪

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♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Gagarin was buried

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in his hometown, Polonne,

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972 kilometers from Andriivka.

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And the entire neighborhood came to his funeral.

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Being with his mother while she cried.

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They said it was the 56th funeral here.

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♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Kobzar, the soldier

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who held Gagarin's hand as he lay dying in the forest,

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He will be killed in five months

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by a drone attack in a battle for another village.

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♪

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♪

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REPORTER 1 [voice-over]: Western officials have

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expressed his disappointment at

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a much-vaunted counteroffensive,

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which started in June.

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Ukraine has only recovered

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An estimated 100 square miles of territory since then.

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REPORTER 2 [voice-over]: Well, American intelligence now says...

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that Ukraine will not be able to fulfill

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Your key counteroffensive objectives.

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REPORTER 3 [voice-over]: How sustainable is this level?

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Supportive when there really is no end to the war in sight?

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REPORTER 4 [voice-over]: Russia has millions more men

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Who to get from.

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There is no path to military victory here,

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Just more death.

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: The counteroffensive was failing.

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Few believed that Ukraine could advance further.

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But the brigade decided to make its last stand.

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When Gagarin was buried,

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The final battle for Andriivka began.

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♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: All battalions

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They gathered their forces.

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They first took positions at the edge of the forest.

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and in houses on the outskirts.

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Then, under the protection of smoke screen bombs,

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They moved there.

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♪

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♪ ♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: 14:00

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We are a hundred meters from Andriivka.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Fedya orders us to start moving.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: Finally we are in Andriivka.

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As the Russians retreated,

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Their artillery fired indiscriminately.

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They were erasing the town from the map.

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In the last 100 meters,

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There are bodies scattered everywhere.

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Mostly Russians.

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Some Ukrainians.

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As we walk in, Fedya receives a message.

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that one of the soldiers in his platoon has been injured.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: He is deeply shocked.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: We run towards the ruins of another house.

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This one at least has a basement.

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: We settled in the basement,

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and the artillery continues to hit us.

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Only now does understanding come to me.

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We are really in Andriivka.

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But the town no longer exists.

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Among the ruins,

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There is barely a place to raise the flag.

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The villagers are dead or gone.

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Everything is destroyed.

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People, animals, memories.

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And the only thing that remains of it is a name.

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♪ ♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: I don't argue,

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But I doubt that will happen.

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I know that Ukraine does not have enough resources.

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to continue the counteroffensive.

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I know the Russians will continue to shrink cities.

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to a state where not even bricks remain.

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And the longer all this lasts,

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The less the world cares.

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I am afraid that this land will remain frozen on the front line.

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for years.

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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♪

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CHERNOV [voice-over]: 8:00 p.m.

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When we were sitting in the basement,

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Fedya told me:

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In his dreams, he fights like a demon in this forest.

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He then wakes up and returns to battle.

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And I thought, this war is a nightmare.

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None of us can wake up from this.

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I envy Fedya because he believes we will do it.

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It has the names of his friends and the cities he has lost.

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and a gun and a flag to avenge them.

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♪ ♪

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♪

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♪ ♪

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♪

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♪

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♪

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♪ ♪