00:00 These Ukrainian recruits are learning as fast as they can.
00:07 They've had less than two months of basic training.
00:10 Now they're using all the time they have to learn how to storm enemy trenches.
00:16 Soon they're likely to be doing it for real, even though many have only been in the army
00:20 for a few weeks.
00:23 Not long ago, Nightingale, that's his call sign, was living in his village.
00:30 Of course, I don't think we're well trained.
00:37 There's a reason why soldiers in the army don't just serve two months.
00:41 Of course, we need more training.
00:45 But we're in a situation where a lot has broken down.
00:49 We need to be fast to replenish.
00:52 There's no time.
00:54 It's just go, go, go.
01:05 Storming and clearing the trenches is not only one of the most important operations,
01:09 it is also one of the most dangerous.
01:15 The word among the soldiers is that the biggest challenge is to survive the first time, and
01:20 that barely anybody survives more than three unharmed.
01:31 I was at the front already.
01:34 We cleared the enemy's trenches in a small grove.
01:39 It's terrifying.
01:41 You try to hide among the trees while you're just being shelled constantly from mortars.
01:48 There is no official figure, but you can tell casualties are high by the demand for new
01:56 soldiers.
01:58 The unit these men will join is fighting just over 20 kilometers away near Bakhmut.
02:04 Soldiers are constantly rotating in and out of their positions there.
02:08 Some of these instructors are pulled from the front line to work here for a while, others
02:13 train full time after being injured.
02:19 Of course there are differences between mobilized recruits and soldiers who serve five, six
02:24 or even only three years.
02:26 It was easier with them, we did not have to spend so much time on the basics.
02:30 But I still don't think the level of preparedness has dropped.
02:33 We have more experienced commanders now who can prepare the recruits.
02:41 Even when they stop running, the tension remains.
02:44 They all know the call to the front can come any time.
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