Incredible Video Of Soldier In Ukrainian Trench Totally Unfazed By Withering Fire
A video shows an soldier with superhuman composure milling about in a trench unfazed by automatic cannon fire and explosions all around them.
The often repeated cliché about war being defined as long periods of boredom punctuated by brief moments of sheer terror most likely originated in the trenches on the Western Front during World War I. An incredible video from the trenches of the war in Ukraine shows one individual weathering a moment that looks particularly terrifying with a level of apparent composure that seems more suited to one of the boring stretches.
We are talking about an individual with nerves of absolute steel here.
The exact circumstances behind the clip, including exactly where and when it was shot, are not immediately clear. The footage, which by all indications is being filmed by a drone overhead, definitely does show a BTR-82A 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle in an open field engaging a dugout some distance away.
The BTR-82A is a post-Cold War Russian design, which indicates the defenders here are Ukrainian forces. However, it is important to note that Ukraine's armed forces have captured a number of these vehicles in the past year and have put some back into service against their former operators.
A variant of the Soviet-era BTR-80 armored personnel carrier, the most notable difference between the BTR-82A and its predecessor is the addition of a new turret on top. The turret is armed with a 30mm automatic cannon and a 7.62x54mm machine gun.
The video below shows another Russian BTR-82A in use during fierce fighting in the now-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol last year.
The BTR-82A is seen firing its 30mm cannon, but it's unclear if its crew is also employing the 7.62x54mm machine gun. In the course of the footage, there are at least three explosions around the dugout. However, it's not clear if these are from the 30mm cannon's high-explosive rounds or some other weapon, such as a shoulder-fired rocket launcher, being wielded by other forces nearby. At various points in the clip, an individual is seen on top of the BTR-82A behind the turret, but it's not clear if they are also firing on the defenders.
On the other side of the firefight, one of the defenders is seen throughout the footage moving in the dugout in a calm and deliberate manner, apparently unfazed by the withering barrage impacting all around him. They barely flinch, if they do at all, when the explosions rock the trench and seem to just ignore a glowing red tracer round ricocheting and falling behind them at one point. Other ricochets can be seen going almost right over their head prompting similar indifference.
It's not clear what they are doing out in the trench and it's not entirely clear if they attempt to return fire. The quality of the video is low, but they may be seen at points firing a grenade launcher of some kind indirectly at the attackers. What looks to be another individual gesturing to them from an adjacent alcove, which could be attached to a larger trench network, can also be seen briefly at one point in the clip.
We don't know what the outcome of this particular firefight was in the end or what happened to the defenders in the trench.
The footage does highlight just how much protection earthen fortifications, even ones that might outwardly look quite crude, provide against direct fire, including from larger caliber guns firing high-explosive shells. It also underscores regular reports about just how brutal and grueling the fighting in Ukraine has been in many places, especially in the eastern end of the country.
If nothing else, if terrifying moments are indeed sparse in war, the individual in the trench in this video seems to have been determined to not let this intense firefight rise above the daily grind.
Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com
