Gathered in a Ukrainian farmhouse, soldiers checked their kits: rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, spare batteries for radios, red and white flashlights, all that would be needed for a stealthy and daring night assault across the border into Russia.
The soldiers are Russians who have turned against the government of their country’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, and are now fighting for the Ukrainian side by making incursions back into Russia.
Their goal has been to break through a first line of Russian defenses, hoping to open a path for another unit to drive deeper into Russia with tanks and armored personnel carriers.
“We will jump in their trench and hold it,” one of the soldiers, who declined to be identified for security reasons, explained.
“Either we take them out, or they take us out.”
Persons:
Vladimir V, Putin, ”
Locations:
Russia