New video footage appearing on social media appears to show a Ukrainian soldier fighting back after being shot in the head by a Russian soldier who then returned and killed him.
Russian soldier on the left, Ukrainian on the rightPhotography: Video Capture – Paul Javin
The video footage was shot from a drone during trench clearance operations by the 71st Mountain Hunter Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Soldiers of the 71st Jaeger Regiment attacked the Russian positions. A soldier named Petro and Kharkiv is wounded in the head but continues to fight, throwing grenades into a Russian trench and firing from an assault rifle. pic.twitter.com/0A3T87e77o
— Paul Jawin (@PaulJawin) March 17, 2023
Footage shows the soldier on the right being ambushed by the Russian soldier on the left of the frame, who steps out of cover and shoots the Ukrainian. However, the Ukrainian mountain hunter gets up and stumbles in the direction of his companions.
In fact, early in the recording, he can be seen calling out to the Russians just before he is shot.
A reversal of the situation can be seen in the second 00:23. The Russian soldier on the left appears wounded, while the Ukrainian soldier confidently marches towards his position, throwing a grenade before delivering the coup de grace at the end of the footage.
While it is not clear what happened between these two moments by those who edited the footage, a careful analysis of the footage confirms that this is indeed the same Ukrainian soldier from the first part of the recording. But this cannot be established 100%, taking into account that, unlike the Russians, the Ukrainian army has standard equipment for its soldiers.
Ukrainian “Rambo” comes from any unit
The 71st Mountain Hunter Brigade is one of the Ukrainian units formed last year after the Russian invasion began on February 24.
Interestingly, it belongs to the Airborne Forces of Ukraine, although its army is not trained as paratroopers or airborne assault troops. Instead, these mountain fighters are generally used in a support role for light air forces.
Forbes noted in December last year that the 71st Mountain Hunters Brigade is stationed on the frontline in Bahmut, so named after the city in the Donetsk region that Russia has been trying to capture since early August.
Ukraine’s 68th Mountain Hunter Brigade was formed after the start of the war, and was stationed in the Zaporozhye region in the south.
The war has virtually eliminated Ukrainian mountain hunters from the geographic areas where such units are trained, and they are now used in missions where their high mobility is an asset.
Another video, which surfaced on social media in late December last year, also captured another Hunters tasked with clearing enemy trenches, showing Russian soldiers surrendering without resistance after being taken by surprise.
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