Ukrainian Troops Attack Russian Positions in Trench Warfare Drone Footage

Ukrainian soldiers have targeted Russian positions in a trench along the frigid front lines, dramatic combat footage appears to show, as Ukraine battles against creeping Russian encirclement of the devastated strategic town of Avdiivka.

In a brief clip shared by Ukraine's 108th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion, a number of Ukrainian fighters quickly bail out of an armored vehicle and reach the trench line.

Several quickly lie flat close to the vehicle, with others making their way forward towards what appear to be Russian positions. The fighters exchange fire with what look to be Russian soldiers making their way through the trenches toward the Ukrainian troops.

It is not clear which part of the front line that snakes through eastern and southern Ukraine is shown in the clip, which looks to have been captured by an airborne drone. Newsweek could not independently verify the video, nor when it was filmed, and the Ukrainian General Staff declined to comment on the footage.

Ukraine's military frequently shares snippets of battlefield footage captured by its forces. Russia's defense ministry also often publishes photographs or clips aimed to bolster support for its war effort.

The grueling war in Ukraine is racing towards the two-year mark, with few indications that the conflict could be coming to a conclusion. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that the war would only end "when we achieve our goals." Ukraine has vowed to fight Russia's invasion until Kyiv reclaims all of its Moscow-controlled territory.

Ukraine hoped to make sweeping gains in its summer counteroffensive, but despite reclaiming a smattering of frontline villages, progress in peeling back Russian control has been limited.

Deep in the freezing winter season, Ukraine is contending with Russian troops pressing along the front lines, not least in the embattled Donetsk town of Avdiivka.

Russia launched its offensive there on October 10, sparking some of the heaviest and bloodiest fighting of the war so far. Almost daily, Moscow inches further around the industrial settlement that was heralded as a heavily fortified Ukrainian stronghold, well-acquainted with life on the front lines.

Ukrainian forces "successfully repelled" 57 Russian attacks in the areas around the Avdiivka section of the front line in the past day, Ukraine's military said on Thursday.

But Russia is gaining territory. Moscow's troops advanced southeast of Stepove—a village just under two miles northwest of Avdiivka—on Wednesday, according to think tank the Institute for the Study of War.

"Our soldiers are steadfastly holding the defense, causing the occupiers significant losses," Kyiv's military said on Thursday.

The weeks between October 10 and late November had "likely seen some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far," the British Defense Ministry said last month.

Since Moscow embarked on its offensive to encircle Avdiivka, it has sustained more than 13,000 casualties around the town, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told CNN this week.

Update 12/14/2023 at 13:40 p.m. ET: This article was updated with a response from the Ukrainian military.

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