On the frontline with a Ukrainian artillery unit as it targets Russian forces | ITV News

Video Statistics and Information

Video
Captions Word Cloud
Reddit Comments
Captions
after a long risky journey we finally reached a tree line being used for cover by ukrainian territorials how are you the officer in charge he's handling what's called fire control he told me he had the target coordinates and was just waiting for the order here in eastern ukraine spring is in the air and so is heavy artillery they are firing 152 millimeter howitzers they're the biggest guns in the ukrainian arsenal until western supplied one five fives join the battle [Music] that shell weighs 53 kilos just shy of eight and a half stone and this gun can propel it over ten miles incredibly back at headquarters they watch live pictures of the target area a ukrainian drone supplies real-time images of the shells finding their mark and if they're slightly off target the necessary adjustments can be passed on to the gun crews and they ordered us to hurry into a bunker so they've rushed all of us into one of the dog outs here because of the danger of incoming russian artillery outgoing fire attracts incoming while russian artillery did not reply we knew russian warplanes were about this is an air strike and this is a ukrainian anti-aircraft missile on the hump eventually we saw a jet putting out flares and flying low in the hope that ukrainian missiles would not lock on we spent two days with the territorials they might not be [ __ ] and span enough for red square but these volunteers are holding their own against to moscow's finest all the ukrainian troops on this crucial front citizen soldiers and career professionals like these have managed to stall the russians and deny them forward momentum however since their focus turned to the east the russians have done considerable damage here think that not long ago the kremlin thought it could win over the people who call this home surely the history books will record this as an absurd war a putin ego trip posing as an invasion our host throughout was the unit commander nicknamed the joker he showed us this crater the result of an air strike and this large russian missile shot down by the ukrainians everywhere we went with him his soldiers gave him the warmest of welcomes since the war began he's turned a group of civilians into an effective fighting force they're already saying he's a legend oleg is it true that you are a legend you know we're on board a ukrainian armored personnel carrier it began the war as a russian one but hit a landmine it's among the ubiquitous fleet of russian tracked vehicles towed off the battlefield by farmers and repaired by ukrainian army mechanics they were taking it to a firing ground to make sure it's ready to resume its war the ukrainians need more of everything including lorries bigger guns and drones in the meantime they make do and mend in maintenance yards like this gleam the 152 howitzers need a lot of attention not least because the youngest of them is almost 50 years old these artillery pieces are soviet era and one of the problems the ukrainians are facing is they're running out of ammunition for them they've already used up the country stockpiles more shells are coming in from other eastern european nations but those supplies will run out as well that's why the ukrainian army desperately wants western guns and western ammo the maintenance depot is overseen by an officer who before the war ran a small business making neck pillows he says his men are outnumbered and outgunned by an enemy that's making mistakes with great butchers bakers and candlestick makers they may have been but they're now soldiers with a message for the russians this is our land and we'll die defending john irvine itv news eastern ukraine
Info
Channel: ITV News
Views: 7,834,402
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: #UKRAINE, #WARINEUROPE
Id: 2v1vrxbk9EE
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 6min 44sec (404 seconds)
Published: Mon May 09 2022
Related Videos
Note
Please note that this website is currently a work in progress! Lots of interesting data and statistics to come.