All language subtitles for TheOtherSide.2024.720p.x265

SEAN LANGAN: Two years after
Russia's invasion of Ukraine,

an estimated 500,000 soldiers
on both sides

have been killed or wounded.

The scale of human suffering
is staggering,

and many towns on the eastern front
now resemble a desolate moonscape.

I watched the invasion unfold
on my TV screen at home.

But we've only really seen
one side of this war.

I wanted to see the other side.

That's why I've travelled
to Russian-occupied Ukraine.

I'm now on the front lines.

The sounds here
are so much more terrifying

than the sounds I heard in Donetsk.

I was warned not to go in
with the Russians.

And some people asked

should we even be telling
their side of the story?

But when I found myself riding
into battle with the Russian army,

I began to think I may have gone
too far over to the other side.

But at that point,
it was too late to turn back.

IN RUSSIAN:

LAUGHTER

EXPLOSION

EXPLOSION

NEWSREADER 1: Vladimir Putin
has just ordered

a partial mobilisation
for the Russian military,

stepping up his campaign
against Ukraine.

NEWSREADER 2:
It follows a counterattack

in the northeast of the country

that led to significant setbacks
for his forces,

and he warned the West
not to come to Ukraine...

I arrived in Russia

a few weeks after Putin ordered
a mobilisation.

The war had been going badly
since the invasion,

and according to the headlines,

Ukraine seemed to be winning
and could even win this war.

I'd read all the reports
on war crimes.

But as I drove down from Moscow,
I didn't really know what to expect.

'My name is Sean Langan.

'As a young foreign correspondent,

'I'd covered the break-up
of the Soviet Union.

'That was more than 30 years ago,

'and this was my first time
back in Russia.

'I'd finally been granted
a press visa

'by the Foreign Affairs Ministry
in Moscow,

'and I'd hired a local fixer
from Donetsk

'in Russian-occupied Ukraine.

'Sasha was my translator,
and my eyes and ears.'

SPEAKS RUSSIAN

'The only problem was I didn't know
if Sasha was working for me

'or the Foreign Affairs Ministry
in Moscow.'

OK.

OK.

OK.

Sasha, can I use the word "war" now?
Or are we not allowed?

SASHA: War?
Am I allowed to use the word "war"?

OK.

MUSIC ON RADIO

We're at the border now,
so I have to stop filming?

I've noticed you've, er,
put the Z on the window.

Now, why's that?

These are the local...
Oh, my God, these are Chechnyans.

Do I have to be careful?

Er, no, they're friends of mine.
Really?

Dobry den.
Dobry den.

OK, you can film now.

DRIVER SIGHS

The closer we come to Donetsk,
the more this feels like a war zone.

On my first night in Donetsk,

the constant barrage of outgoing
artillery fire and rockets

sounded like rolling thunder
on the horizon.

That night, Russia unleashed
cruise missiles across Ukraine,

cutting off the power supply
to over 1.5 million people.

It was the beginning
of Putin's campaign

to rain down rockets on Kyiv
and other cities in Ukraine.

MAN SPEAKING RUSSIAN
ON TELEVISION

First day in Donetsk.

So, I've got all the home comforts -
TV, lights, heating...

er, can make my coffee...

but no, er, water.

No running water there.

I think the water comes on one day
and then is off for three days.

So I've got drinking bottled water
in the fridge,

and you have a shower,
flush the loo,

and then three days,
just, er... face wash.

But the good news is

the sound in the distance
of artillery fire, rocket fire,

that's fallen silent today.
And it was all outgoing,

but it begins to fray
on your nerves.

NEWSREADER
SPEAKING RUSSIAN

'I'd been told I wouldn't be allowed
to show the truth,

'and the barrage of propaganda
on Russian TV was a reminder

'of what I was up against.'

NEWSREADER
SPEAKING RUSSIAN:

'There'd been very few reports
from Donetsk since the war began...'

MAN ON LOUDSPEAKER:

WOMAN SPEAKING RUSSIAN
ON LOUDSPEAKER

'..and the locals feel their side
of the story has been ignored.'

Er, we decided to get off the bus.

Hello.
Hello.

SASHA:

SASHA: She said,
"Yeah, you should come before.

"We wait for you for a long time."

'As far as the locals
were concerned,

'Putin's invasion in 2022
was a continuation of the war

'that's been simmering here
in the Donbas since 2014.'

SEAN:

So, Donbas?
Da.

SASHA:

SASHA: The day after tomorrow.

So, like a two-days weekend.

SEAN: How was his weekend?

After a popular uprising in Kyiv

overthrew the pro-Moscow president
in 2014,

separatists here
in the Donbas region

launched an armed insurrection
with the support of Moscow.

More than 2 million Ukrainians
living in the east

voted with their feet
and headed west.

We can see "Russia",
and they put around,

er, good words like
"future", "life", "friendship",

"brotherhood", "kindness",
"protection".

After Putin's invasion,

the occupied parts
of Eastern Ukraine

were formally absorbed
into Mother Russia.

You can see the names
of Russian cities,

and they're now mixed with cities
of Donetsk People's Republic.

It's like they all equal.

You can see Mariupol there,
other cities from Donetsk Republic,

and also big and small cities
from Russia,

which are well known.
Right.

SASHA: Where are you from?

Ah! London.

London!

Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

My father's from...
Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

SASHA SPEAKS RUSSIAN,
EXPLOSION IN DISTANCE

MAN SPEAKS RUSSIAN
No, this is London.

Why is he reacting like that?
What, can you explain it to me?

How would he describe himself now?

Is he Russian? Ukrainian?

HE LAUGHS

So, now he suppose he came back
to the Soviet Union.

'Putin's promise to rebuild
the Russian empire

'after the break-up
of the Soviet Union

'resonated deeply with many people
both here and in Russia.

'The Great Patriotic War
has been used as a propaganda tool

'to justify the invasion.'

RUSSIAN NEWSREADER:

NEWSREADER
SPEAKING RUSSIAN

But this war was never
about fighting Nazis.

Putin was very clear
about his real intentions -

to prevent Ukraine
from joining the EU

and to stop the eastward expansion
of NATO.

'Sasha and I were still trying
to figure each other out.'

I like these Soviet-era elevators.

'He thought I might be working
for London,

'and I knew he was under pressure
from Moscow to keep an eye on me.

'But I was starting
to warm to Sasha.

'He genuinely loves his country.

'He was born in Donetsk,
and his auntie lives in Kyiv,

'but he's also loyal
to the Russian motherland.'

It's a nice place, Sasha.

'Life on the borderlands
here in Donbas

'was a lot more complicated
than I had imagined.'

Yeah, shark-infested waters.

LAUGHTER

PHONE RINGS

Hello.

Five minutes' drive
up the main boulevard,

we reached the Soviet-built suburbs
surrounding the city.

EXPLOSION IN DISTANCE

The people here
are living on the front lines.

EXPLOSION

Da.

SASHA SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN
That's an expl... Wow.

She didn't move.

SASHA: She's asking God for, er...

to be secure to throw out garbage,
when she go out.

Wow.

She's saying we should be careful?

She heard there was a whistle.

Artillery, I did not hear it.
Oh.

EXPLOSION

What's her name?

I'll make the tea.

Does she like her tea
with a bit of lemon in?

DOORBELL RINGS

Is that the doorbell?

'Yulia is Nina's granddaughter.'

'She popped over for tea
and wanted to meet me.

I am do journalist.

My first, er... specialist...
Yeah.

..it was television,
and I'm studying.

Oh.

I am your colleague.

Yes! Well, it's lovely to meet you.

You can speak in Russian,
if you want.

Do you now stay at home
more than you did before?

All time at home.
Ah.

I'm tiring.

So you'll spend all day
in your apartment

with your family, your mother?

Yes, er...

If I want to go downtown,

I can, er...

IN RUSSIAN:

She can die.
Yes.

But I'm just wondering
if you're scared to go into town,

but this feels more close.

What is your native land?

Er, Ukraine.

Ukraine.

Spasibo.
Spasibo vam. See you later.

The next day, I went to Moscow
to renew my visa.

But relations were now so bad
between the UK and Russia,

their Foreign Ministry insisted
I could only do it in London.

I wasn't sure
if they would let me back in.

I'm back now a few days.

Hadn't turned my camera on
till tonight.

And there seems to be
even more caution, more suspicion.

The Interior Ministry
now want to meet Sasha and me.

Now, that's...

They've drawn a long list now...
HE CHUCKLES

..so, there's
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

Ministry of Defence,
the Interior Ministry, the FSB.

EXPLOSION

PHONE RINGING

Hi, Sasha. Two rockets, I think,
quite big rockets.

EXPLOSION

DISTANT ALARM BLARES

Are those incoming?

'Yes, yes,
they are here in Donetsk.'

SEAN LAUGHS

You...
'Maybe I come up.'

Well, be careful
cos they're landing quite close.

DISTANT ALARM BLARES

I don't want to stand
by the window in my living room,

so I've come into the corridor.

HE EXHALES SHARPLY
It's... It's quite a shock.

And I feel embarrassed for those...

..on the other side

because I've been sitting here
listening to outgoing,

most of the time,
barrages that they launched...

..at targets in Ukraine
and knocking out the infrastructure.

And so large parts of Kyiv
and other cities in Ukraine...

EXPLOSION

..are without electricity or power.

EXPLOSION,
SEAN EXHALES SHARPLY

DOORBELL RINGS
Hang on, Sasha.

Hey.
Hello.

THEY LAUGH

Why...?
You heard the rocket on my phone.

There are rockets, yeah, yeah.

I heard it also from my window,
from my apartment.

So, why...

Surely, most normal people would
get in a car and drive away, not...

SASHA LAUGHS

Sasha had arranged an embed
with local forces.

Formerly part of the breakaway
Donetsk People's Republic,

they've been fighting since 2014,

but are now part
of the Russian army.

Thousands of soldiers have been
billeted in their little dachas

on the outskirts of Donetsk.

'As we arrived to the dacha,

'the men were getting ready
to go out on a mission.'

IN RUSSIAN:

Spasibo.

SASHA:

So, he was in
the independent Ukrainian Navy.

He's now fighting
what's called the Ukrainian army.

Can he help me understand that?

What does he hope?

Is he fighting now
to be independent,

or to be part of Russia, or...?

EXPLOSION

Can I ask, is he tired of this war?

IN RUSSIAN:

HE SIGHS

What's he fighting for?

DISTANT EXPLOSION

The local fighters
have been dismissed

as pro-Russian separatists
and collaborators.

But they would argue it was
the revolution in Kyiv in 2014

that overthrew
the elected president of the time,

who was pro-Moscow.

IN RUSSIAN:

Yeah, they're NATO.

'But there is a darker side to
the pro-Russian fighters in Ukraine.

'The Wagner Group
was originally set up

'to pursue Putin's proxy war

'in support of the separatists
in 2014.

'Some of these men
joined the Wagner Group

'and were still with them
at the time of the invasion.'

PHONE RINGING

Yeah, but what were they doing
in Kyiv? If they are...

I didn't know the DNR were there.

Ah.

OK, say it.

Well, so,
he was in Kyiv at the beginning?

And he was with, er...

not the Donetsk People's army,
with the Wagner Group?

We heard a lot about Bucha...
Yeah.

..that it was on the news
every day about how,

when the Russians left,

there were all these bodies,
and they were accused...

They were accused
of war crimes there.

IN RUSSIAN:

'The UN documented at least 73 cases
of unlawful killings

'and executions of civilians
in Bucha.

'But I realised it wasn't
the right time or a safe place

'to ask about war crimes.'

He was just telling me
he was in the Wagner Group,

that mercenary group
which is quite sinister.

They were fighting in Kyiv
and in Bucha...

..which we've heard a lot of.

'The men were now heading out
to the trenches,

'which were less than two kilometres
away, and they agreed to take me.

'Hundreds of thousands of soldiers

'have been slaughtered
in the trenches

'and in artillery duels
since the war began.

'And as we drove the short distance
to the front,

'I felt like I was travelling back
to 1917.'

IN RUSSIAN:

Throwing grenades, and then...
No! In this trench?

EXPLOSION

Russia? Outgoing?

Ah.

THEY LAUGH

Oh, fuck!

Oh, nice!
Ho-ho!

It's strange having
a cup of tea here.

I feel very cosy in here and safe,
but it's not safe, is it?

The attrition rate
on these front lines is...

..unbelievable.

It's something from wars
from the past, World War I and II.

This war's a year old,

but there's estimated 300,000 dead
and injured on both sides.

I mean, in fact, Bakhmut's
been described as a meat grinder.

The drone...
The drone's there, so be ready.

What's he heard, Sasha?

OK, so the drone
is over our heads now,

Ukrainian drone,
so they hiding you from big injury.

You saw it?
We saw.

Bloody hell.

Are those shells Russian shells?

EXPLOSION
It's all good there, is it?

Oh, look, there's a drone!
Small one, yeah.

Bloody hell.

Literally, there's just
little drones edged up

from the end of the trenches now
above our heads.

CAT MEOWS
Come here, pussycat.

Oh, my...
Hello, pussycat. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

The fatigue here is a different kind
of fatigue, isn't it?

Mm-hm.

EXPLOSION

EXPLOSION

EXPLOSION

SEAN LANGAN: I'd met
the local fighters in Donetsk,

but I now wanted to leave the city

and meet the Russian army
fighting on the Eastern front.

'Sasha knew a local commander

'who agreed to take us
to a garrison town in the north.'

IN RUSSIAN:

In the weeks before I arrived
in Donetsk,

the Ukrainian army had launched
a lightning counter offensive

in the east
and around the city of Kharkiv.

The Russian army had been routed
in Izyum and Lyman

and was apparently in disarray,

and they had fallen back
to the garrison town of Svatove.

NEWSREADER 1: Lyman's capture

is one of Russia's worst
military defeats

since the start of its invasion.

NEWSREADER 2: Military vehicles,

these are signs
that the Russians had to flee.

According to the headlines
back in the West,

Ukraine was winning
and could even win this war.

'The commander wanted to
introduce me

'to a tank commander he knew.'

IN RUSSIAN:

See the mines there?
Oh, yeah. Are those their mines?

These are the mines?

'This was my first encounter
with a Russian unit

'and my first encounter
with a Russian tank.'

'Neither seemed to be
in good working order,

'but they had been fighting
for six months

'and taken a battering
in their retreat from Izyum.

'And as they stood around
smoking cigarettes,

'the Ukrainians started shelling.'
EXPLOSIONS

We should run now. We should go
because they're aiming us, maybe.

'When we got to Svatove,

'it was full of cold
and exhausted-looking soldiers

'milling around in muddy streets

'strewn with broken-down vehicles.'

Can I ask you what is it like here?

I don't like be here
because, you know, it's...

..it is danger.
OK. Yeah, cos how old are you?

19.
Oh, you're my son's age.

What's your name?
Ilham.

Ilham? My name is Sean.
Nice.

Are you mobilised?

No, no, no. I am contract.
Contract.

I be in Balakliya and Izyum.

And I now be here in Svatove.
OK.

Can I ask what was it like
for you in Izyum

because it was tough fighting?

We lost so many good...

IN RUSSIAN:

Good men.
Yeah.

And...
IN RUSSIAN:

You lost friends?
Yeah.

'And in the centre of town,

'we met up with the tank commander
we'd seen up at the front line.'

Where's he been with this tank?

IN RUSSIAN:

What was it like in Izyum?

Cos I saw that on TV.
What was that like?

'I'd been warned that I would never
be allowed to show the truth

'if I went
to Russian-occupied Ukraine.

'Both Sasha and the commander
were trying to manage my visit,

'but the cracks
were beginning to show.'

IN RUSSIAN:

'The reporter from Russian TV
thanked him for sharing,

'but the soldier's
outspoken comments

'were later cut from her report.

'The commander said
it was time to leave.'

SONG IN RUSSIAN
ON RADIO:

'Afterwards, we stopped off
to pick up

'a couple of what they said
were NATO-made missiles.

'The driver was keen
to take us back to their place

'to show off their stock
of captured weapons.'

So, we're gonna go in.
First, we'll talk here.

I'll turn my camera off.

So these are all weapons,
NATO weapons,

that they took from the Ukrainians?

IN RUSSIAN:

And what's he gonna do with them?

Return...?

SOLDIER CHUCKLES

'As we were talking,
some men stormed in.

'They were Spetsnaz,
the Russian elite special forces.'

I can feel he's looking at me like,
"Who the... are you?"

THEY CHUCKLE
And he's right.

Never trust journalists,
but I want... I want...

THEY LAUGH

The Ukrainians are saying
they're winning,

and they took Izyum, Lyman.

The fighting, very close friends,
family almost,

Ukraine, Russians are
the same roots, the same history,

they're neighbours,
does that make it harder?

OK.

THEY LAUGH

Thank you very much.

Hurry up!

My trip to Svatove confirmed
the news reports at the time.

The Russian army was clearly
in disarray,

but the Russians
were also quietly digging in,

reinforcing their defensive lines.

As I left,
I saw the convoys coming in,

bringing with them
the concrete blast walls

and anti-tank barriers.

The so-called Surovikin Line,

a 1,000-kilometre-long
defensive wall and minefield,

that would prove so pivotal
in halting

Ukraine's counter offensive
in the months ahead.

On our way back to Donetsk,

we stopped off at a forward
operating base in Kreminna.

Sasha had arranged for us to meet
a unit of Russian soldiers

camped out in the woods.

Is the fighting here quite intense?

IN RUSSIAN:

Is there a little bit of hurt

that the West doesn't understand
their side?

So they're gonna be here
for Christmas?

IN RUSSIAN:

Oh, made in England?
Yeah.

IN RUSSIAN:

What's it like,

because Russia and Ukraine are so...

They're neighbours, they're family.
Its history.

Does that make it harder?

Does he have children?

'As the new recruits
were welcomed to the unit,

'I looked at the faces
of the young men I'd met.

'They hadn't been drafted.
These men were all volunteers

'from across Russia,
and the former Soviet republics.

'Their next deployment
would be south,

'to Avdiivka, on the eastern front,

'which has seen some of the highest
casualties of the war.'

When I got back to Donetsk,
I met up with Yulia

and we went for a walk
in the park.

Dancing, dancing.

What, you danced on that stage?

What, performing, or just party?

Performing was, kind of, like...

It was concert.

SHE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

Yeah, you can talk.

It was a concert?
In the summer, it was...

And I miss you.

Have you been to...?

'We drove Yulia back to her home
on the front line.'

Oh, wow.

I didn't realise how close you were.
This is the front line.

EXPLOSION

Was that incoming, Sasha?

MISSILE

EXPLOSION

Out come. Out come.

That's good.

SEAN LAUGHS NERVOUSLY

Never mind.

Do you jump when you're here?

THEY SPEAK RUSSIAN

Seldom. So seldom.

And when it's so close to me,

and, erm, the sound's so loud,

and the vibration,

and I can't stand normal.

Have you had a few times
when you thought you might die?

'When I first arrived in Donetsk,

'it felt like a city
on the front line.'

'Now it felt like a city
under siege.'

PHONE RINGS

His phone's ringing.
Someone's trying to call him.

Oof.

RINGING CONTINUES

EXPLOSIONS

MUSIC ON RADIO

'A well-known pro-Kremlin
Russian military blogger

'agreed to take us
to the very edge of the city

'so we could see
the Ukrainian front lines.'

MAN RESPONDS IN RUSSIAN,
SASHA TRANSLATES

IN RUSSIAN:

I don't like hanging around
that window.

DOGS BARK

EXPLOSION

EXPLOSIONS

Don't be afraid. It's ours.
Yeah.

What would you accept as compromise?

IN RUSSIAN:

You said something there
which I find a little disturbing.

If Kyiv is friendly to you,
then you will give them freedom.

I'm sorry, does that include Kyiv?

And when we kill the last Nazi...
Yeah.

The war will end.

It will be the end. OK.

'As I listen to the Russian
blogger's sermon on the stairwell,

'I found his views deeply disturbing
and extreme,

'but they echoed the words
of President Putin,

'who denied Ukraine's right to exist

'before he launched
the full-scale invasion.'

Oh, it's a plane?

OK.

So, it looks like a bomb.

'We were now walking along
the exposed side of the building.

'The Ukrainian positions
were less than two kilometres away,

'and I was worried about snipers.'

You could get... We could get shot
walking through there, Sasha.

HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

There is an airport you can see.

Where? Through there?

Ah, we're gonna get shot doing this.

I'll go in from that side.

EXPLOSION

Now, is that Russians
in that airport, or...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not...
So, no-one's gonna shoot me?

Behind the airport, their position.

'This is where the war escalated
in 2014 in Donetsk,

'when the separatists
seized the airport

'and the Ukrainian army
were sent in.

'Ten years later,
these front lines haven't changed.

'As the winter months dragged on,

'the fighting on the eastern front
ground to a stalemate.

'But Russia continued
to attack Kyiv,

'and other cities across Ukraine.'

SEAN LANGAN: I'd gone home
for Christmas,

and had to apply for a new visa.

After three months,

the Foreign Ministry
finally agreed to let me back in.

When we first came here last year,

there weren't these trenches
all around.

They're digging in, fortifying them.

More and more tanks,
armoured personnel vehicles.

Yeah.

EXPLOSION

We might have to call it a day.

Suddenly, there's all these
reports coming in

that there's been Ukrainian shelling
in a civilian area near the airport.

It's like a ghost town round here,
this bit.

This is a protected place.
OK.

But also, I've got a feeling we
should be wearing a flak jacket now.

Yep. Yeah, put it on.
Yeah.

As we're putting
our flak jackets on,

there's a woman across the road
walking her dog.

EXPLOSION

Is she OK walking her dog, Sasha?

SASHA SHOUTS OVER

WOMAN:

SASHA:

EXPLOSION

Look, look, it's rockets.
There's firing.

It's... It's... mortar.

I saw the flames.

EXPLOSIONS

Sasha...

I think we should come over.

I could see the flame coming,
from here.

OK.

SASHA SPEAKS RUSSIAN

Does she want to borrow our helmet?

SASHA SPEAKS RUSSIAN

I wasn't joking! Oh, my God.

What's your name? My name is Sean.

Does she feel safe here?

SASHA:

Bye-bye.

THEY EXCHANGE GOODBYES

Oof. Sasha.

That was close to having us here,
yeah?

Yeah.

EXPLOSION

It's too risky to go there.

If we now try to find the place
where they were shooting,

it will be,
possibly we will, like, be there

and find it much more crazy...

Yeah.
..crazy times will be had.

You know what,
I just wanna say this,

we don't need to go looking
for the fucking war.

Yeah, yeah,
I don't want to go there.

You agree with me, then?
Yeah.

EXPLOSION

I see the windows shaking
when it lands.

SASHA SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN

IN RUSSIAN:

Do you mind if I smoke?

Oh!

I'm English.

Where are you from?
Where are you from? London.

SASHA:

THEY CONTINUE TALKING

I thought... I thought this woman
was shell-shocked.

SHE TALKS RAPIDLY

HE EXHALES

How have they come out...

EXPLOSION

..when they're still under shelling?

She said, too much mines there,
it's now getting darker.

She can bring us to the front line,
she said.

SEAN LAUGHS

She knows everything here.
No, thanks.

No electricity now.

They destroyed the...

WOMAN TALKS

Oh, it's beautiful.

EXPLOSION

Whoa. It's quite close
to the window, that fire.

EXPLOSION

Your special...

For us.

PHONE RINGS

It's very Russian,
having all these...

Yeah, is it your grandchildren,
children up here?

But you know what, Sasha,

on the other side,
it was quite intense.

This side is safe.
Yeah.

So we can relax a little bit.

Oh, lovely.

Nice coffee.

EXPLOSION

RUMBLING

I think we need to go.

Sasha, there's...
There's shell fire.

EXPLOSION

We're a sitting target here.

Bye-bye.

Spasibo, spasibo.

I didn't like standing there,

that felt very open,
that little bit.

They're targetting Donetsk.

Yeah.

I'm gonna miss this place.

I know you'll come back.

There is no more interesting place
in the world.

I've got 12 days left,

and I'd rather not go
to the front lines,

but at the same time,
I feel I have to.

We spend a lot of time,

spend a lot of energy,

and we risked a lot to do this film,

so I want it to be better,

so more people can watch it.
OK.

That's why I want to risk more

and show you
some of the front line stuff.

It will be interesting.

Sasha had organised an embed

with combat medics
near the front line

to the north of Avdiivka.

We were now finally heading
to an area

that President Zelenskyy
had described as hell on Earth.

A fitting place
for my journey's end.

MUSIC ON RADIO

# I'm on the highway to hell... #

I like this song.

'The driver's choice
of AC/DC's Highway To Hell

'seemed pretty apt.'

We arrived in a front-line village,

just as casualties were coming in.

EXPLOSIONS

Are you the medic?

IN RUSSIAN:

This is where you live and work?

Yes.

This is your operating theatre,

and this is your kitchen?

This is now operation
of surrounding of Avdiivka.

So, the Russians have finally made
somewhat of an advance?

Yes, here they took Sherwood,
this famous position,

Ukrainians hold for a long time.
Called Sherwood forest.

Really?
Yeah, yeah.

It's for the joke, but
it's the real name of this position.

So they took it,
and they took the village after it.

What does the medic want to do?

So, he wants
to go to evacuation spot.

He wants to show us, yeah,

this is like the hard front line.
OK.

Battles are raging now,

and the best place to,

it's really possible to get,

is the evacuation spot
for the medics. Mm.

But he also
contact his commander now.

EXPLOSION

IN RUSSIAN:

You live here in this village?

You stay here all the time?
Da, da.

Sasha, I say, I don't know how
all these people live here.

It's so intense.

The devastation in this village...

EXPLOSION

Almost every house is...

DOG YAPS

..destroyed.

EXPLOSION

And there's something
really disturbing...

..seeing the destruction
of these shells,

and now this church.

It's Easter Sunday here tomorrow.

EXPLOSION

EXPLOSION

GUNFIRE

There's a drone overhead.

They're trying to shoot down
a drone.

GUNFIRE

I'm surprised this has taken...

I didn't think this would affect me
so much.

Well, I didn't know
I was gonna find a church

in the middle of this village.

So beautiful.

'I really liked the medic,

'but when he talked
about his Ukrainian brothers,

'he was repeating
a Russian propaganda line

'that Ukraine isn't a real country

'and Ukrainians
are just "little Russians".'

'I travelled
to Russian-occupied Ukraine

'to try and understand
the other side.

'But as I came
towards the end of my journey,

'I realised I'd reached that point
where I could no longer empathise.

'The medic may have believed

'he was in Ukraine
defending the Russian motherland,

'but I couldn't help feeling
the real reason Putin invaded

'was to stop Ukraine
from leaving Moscow's orbit.'

I mean, I just let you know
when we see in Europe

the way the Russian artillery -
which it always did in history -

but when Russian artillery
and rockets

bomb Bakhmut or Avdiivka,

it's quite a...

It's quite... It's quite brutal.

You know, when we were talking
to the soldiers,

they told me
they've been attacking those woods,

the same forest,
for the last six months.

I don't know how many men have been
wounded or killed for these...

Well, Bakhmut...

It's been like...
It looks like Stalingrad.

'The operation was timed
for 4:30 in the morning,

'and they were expecting
a lot of casualties.

'Later that night,
I watched the Russian drone footage

'of their previous assault
on Sherwood Forest.

'We were heading up
to the same location.'

'And as I watched
the armoured vehicles

'advance across the fields,

'I began to feel
a sense of looming dread.'

EXPLOSION

The sounds here
are so much more terrifying

than the sounds I heard...
EXPLOSION

..in Donetsk, which is only...

15 kilometres away.
I'm now right on the front lines.

RUMBLING

THEY SPEAK IN RUSSIAN

So, er, one of the teams going in
to change another which will go out.

So we're going in with this team.
Right.

Happy Easter, Sasha.

SOLDIER SHOUTS
IN RUSSIAN

'They told me it would be safe,

'but we hadn't even reached
Sherwood Forest...'

DISTANT EXPLOSION

'..and we immediately
came under attack.'

THEY SPEAK IN RUSSIAN

So, Sasha, what happened?

When we came,
a mortar shell started.

So we will wait here
and see the situation. OK.

We now in the trench

captured five days ago
from Ukrainian forces.

IN RUSSIAN:

RUMBLING

It's a tough territory,
at great cost and sacrifice,

just to get a few kilometres.

IN RUSSIAN:

EXPLOSION

THEY SPEAK IN RUSSIAN

RUMBLING

BIRDSONG

EXPLOSION

THEY SPEAK IN RUSSIAN

SASHA: Three by three.

BIRDSONG

Yeah.

There's mines
all over these forests.

IN ENGLISH:

DISTANT RUMBLING

IN ENGLISH:

OK.

There are mines in this field.

Yeah?

Mines in the next field.

DISTANT EXPLOSION

Yeah.

DISTANT EXPLOSION

SASHA, IN ENGLISH:

DISTANT EXPLOSION

Following in the wake of carnage.

All these burnt-out exploded APCs.

They were blown up by mines,

and then they had incoming RPGs.

So in these fields just here,
the last few days...

..it's been a lot of carnage
and death.

A lot of not-exploded shit here.
Be very careful.

IN ENGLISH:

DISTANT EXPLOSION

Nice forest.

SEAN EXHALES
Tree stumps.

'As I followed in the footsteps
of the soldiers,

'the sunlight flickering
through the tree stumps

'conjured up images from wars past.

'History was repeating itself,
both as tragedy and farce,

'in the same fields where
millions of soldiers had been killed

'in World War Two.

'Putin has cast this war as a re-run
of the Great Patriotic War,

'but now Russia is the aggressor...
and the invader.'

SASHA, IN ENGLISH:

Yeah, yeah.
No-one leaves their kit, do they?

What's he looking for?

It's a Ukrainian body.

They will check
if there are explosions.

There's a dead soldier there.
Ukrainian.

They're worried
he may have been booby trapped,

so they're going
to pull his body off to see,

using a rope.

DISTANT EXPLOSION

SASHA, IN ENGLISH:

Fucking hell.

DISTANT EXPLOSION

How close are we to the Ukrainians?

Around a kilometre.

'I thought I'd find some answers
in the forest...

'..but all I found was more death
and destruction.'

RUMBLING

SPEAKS RUSSIAN

Distance.
OK.

This is a new...
another new disturbing...

Here, for me,
walking through these woods...

..with these tree stumps.

Twisted wood, metal, dead bodies.

Oh, my God.

FAINTLY: It's like when Zelenskyy
said this is hell on Earth...

which is what
the Russian bombardment looks like

to the Ukrainians.

Lots of booby traps here, Sasha.
Mines, yeah.

DISTANT EXPLOSIONS

The ground is littered

with shells, spent shells,
unexploded...

EXPLOSION

EXPLOSION

'We'd reached the edge
of the forest.

'It had taken the Russians
six months

'and thousands of men
to get this far.'

THEY SPEAK IN RUSSIAN

'This log was
their most forward position

'and the end of my journey.'

THEY SPEAK RUSSIAN

'There was nothing more to see.

'Just more fields stretching out
across the vast plains of Ukraine.'

DISTANT EXPLOSIONS,
BIRDSONG

A lot of men have given their lives
to take these woods, haven't they?

DISTANT EXPLOSION

Do they feel the world doesn't...
or the West doesn't understand them?

Yeah?

DISTANT EXPLOSION

MULTIPLE EXPLOSIONS

EXPLOSION

They're supporting Ukraine.

But I didn't understand
until I came here.

People in Donbas saying,
"This is my country."

And the Ukrainians are saying...
SOLDIER SPEAKS RUSSIAN

NEARBY EXPLOSION

SEAN EXHALES

And we must go back...
Let's go back.

It's pretty intense forward.
Yeah, I can feel it...

They do not risk it.
Yeah, yeah.

RUMBLING

EXPLOSION

The fighting's
getting too intense...

..so we're withdrawing.

EXPLOSION

'Last year, the headlines
were all about Ukraine winning,

'and the West ramped up
its military support.

'Now they're about stalemate,

'and some in the West
are talking about cutting support.

'Russia may still feel it can win.

'But what would victory look like?

'The Eastern Front
has been reduced to rubble,

'and many towns
now resemble Stalingrad.

'Putin has failed
to bring Kyiv to heel,

'and the invasion
has only strengthened

'Ukraine's
sense of national identity.

'I met a lot of good men
on the front lines.

'But in years to come,
I couldn't help wondering

'how many would still believe
in the cause.'

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