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Drones buzz overhead and enemy wi-fi everywhere: Ukrainian veterans describe how they survived in Russia’s ‘kill zone’ (Ukraine Battlefield update, Day 1,701)
- Soldiers told the New York Times how they survived six months in the kill zone.
- Basic rules for survival.
- Modern warfare: masses of equipment versus courageous individuals.
- Following peace talks, the humanist Putin sent ballistic missiles to Ukraine.
- Map of the day: the successful Operation Vivaldi.
- Videos of the day: the underground Operation Veles into the Russian rear and an aerial drone duel.
Soldiers speak about their six months in the kill zone. When the 128th Mechanised Brigade asked at a training ground last autumn who was willing to go into the ‘kill zone’, the term used for the most dangerous stretches of the 1,200-km front, two soldiers volunteered.
And the rest visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Hennadiy and Mykhailo, whose story was reported by the New York Times, spent a long six months “at zero” rather than one, and described in detail how they managed to survive on the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Their account shows how, despite drone warfare, the basic work — holding or capturing new positions — is still done by infantry, which remains indispensable even in this war, where a technological advantage can mean the difference between life and death.
Both set out by car from the village of Prymorske and, when they were about 1.5 km from their destination, began a slow and extremely dangerous journey.
It was most dangerous when they had to move.
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