[Scott] I'm Scott Bennett. [Scott] I'm a former United States Army psychological warfare officer
who served in the State Department counterterrorism office
under Ambassador Bill Daley.
[Scott] So I wanted to come here to Russia and the Donbass area
and gather the facts to take back to the American people.
[Man] Fire!
DONETSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION ZONE NOVEMBER 2023
[Man] The magazine
[Man] Go, go, friend!
[Man] Stop, stop!
[Man] Come to me, please!
[Man] Take the SVD
SVD - DRAGUNOV SNIPER RIFLE
[Man] Fire! Fire! Fire!
FRONTLINE DIARY OF AN AMERICAN OFFICER
MOSCOW - NOVEMBER 2023
[Scott] Well, Donbass is the frontlines.
[Scott] This is where the bombs and the bullets are raging.
[Scott] This is where people are dying.
[Scott] This is where the buildings are exploding.
[Scott] So, I wanted to see firsthand the scars of war,
the wounds in the street, the rubble of the buildings being collapsed.
[Scott] I wanted to see the soldiers that were fighting
and hear from them why they were fighting,
how this fighting started and their opinion.
[Scott] And ultimately where it was heading.
[Scott] I'm probably the first American Army officer
who's been here since Ed Snowden.
[Scott] So, I want to see with my own eyes
what American taxpayer dollars have done.
[Scott] I think this is a privilege and a duty to come.
[Scott] And the most important thing that we can do
is show that America has Americans that do not have conflict,
resentment, hostility, or prejudice towards Russia.
[Scott] So, it's sad that America's turned into war,
but I think that's why American military officers can come
and show that America is not about war.
[Scott] And this is an opportunity to see firsthand
what's happened and what the truth is.
DAY 1 THE ARMY
[Man] Stand up!
[Man] Pace!
DONETSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION ZONE - NOVEMBER 2023
[Man] Pace!
[Man] Contact, right!
[Man] Red!
[Man] Contact, left!
[Man] Contact behind!
[Man] Pace
[Scott] Russian special forces training. These guys are ready for action.
[Scott] Very, very impressive,
highly proficient in their weapons in their magazine changes.
[Scott] Of course, the Kalashnikov is the best rifle on the planet.
And that becomes very, very apparent
in the simplicity of their changes
and their maneuverability and their use of this weapon system.
[Scott] So, the Kalashnikov is not only the most rugged rifle,
but it is the most simple for high combat, high stress situations.
[Scott] What's impressive is the maneuverability of the soldiers.
[Scott] These guys are remarkably tight, remarkably professional.
[Man] Comfortable?
[Scott] Tell him it's been a long time since I had a Kalashnikov.
[Scott] Good. Good weapon.
[Man] Ready? [Scott] Best weapons.
[Man] Pace!
[Man] Contact, left
[Man] Contact, right
[Man] Red
[Man] Pace!
[Man] Contact, left
[Man] Contact, right
[Man] Pace!
[Man] Contact behind
[Man] Contact, behind
[Man] Pace!
[Man] Super!
[Scott] Well done, thank you. Well-trained.
[Scott] Well-trained men. Well-trained.
[Scott] Tell him he's a good trainer. His men will live.
[Scott Bennett, Former US Army Officer]
[Scott] Yeah, it takes me back to infantry training.
[Scott] Drill, drill, drill, drill, drill. These sort of operations are things… It's like ballet.
[Scott] It's like ballet. Hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of drilling.
[Scott] So, it becomes muscle memory, and it comes back to you pretty quick.
[Scott] You're holding the weapon in the proper posture… magazine flipping.
[Scott] It's a great weapon, though. The Kalashnikov is
without a doubt one of the most lethal weapon systems.
[Scott] Simplicity. The seven, six, two round.
[Scott] That's something that, you know, the M-4, the M-16, none of these weapon systems have ever…
[Scott] Good Russian weapons.
[Scott] Good field commanders, good strategy.
[Scott] With men like this, you will win. Russia will have victory.
[Scott] I enjoyed being with the tank crews and the Russian military officials
that were showing us the use of these vehicles.
[Scott] And it was nice to go out in the mud and get dirty and enjoy the rain.
[Vladko, Soldier, International 'Pyatnashka' Brigade]
[Vladko] I'm a Serb, I came as a Serbian volunteer
[Vladko] I came to fight for the truth in 2015
[Vladko] I'm proud to be here and for my homeland
[Vladko] My mum, dad, brother, and family
are proud that I'm here to defend Mother Russia
[Vladko] We Serbs say we have two mums and one Homeland
[Scott] The Serbian gentleman, I spoke with extensively in Spanish.
[Scott] We had that in common, so we had a conversation in Spanish.
[Scott] He had a patch, pro-Putin, on his shirt.
[Scott] He was very positive towards President Putin,
as all the soldiers were, but they were, again,
volunteers fighting for love of country, fighting against fascism.
[Vladko] Delicious traditional Russian borsch
[Scott] Yes, borsch [Vladko] Very tasty
[Scott] I love it! [Vladko] Very tasty!
[Vladko] Give me a plate [Girl] I'll stir
[Vladko] My sister helps
[Vladko] One of the traditions, borsch
[Scott] Thanks! [Vladko] You're welcome
[Man] More, more! [Vladko] It's delicious, my friend
[Vladko] Our girl...
[Vladko] She's Russian...
[Vladko] She's a great cook, it's delicious
[Scott] Thanks! [Vladko] Bon appétit!
[Man] So fast I don't understand [Scott] Me too
[Man] We had a kid,
well, a sniper, until 2014
[Man] He lived in Donbass [Vladko] It's traditional borsch
[Vladko] Real Russian food!
[Vladko] Go on, have more, it's OK - Great!
[Vladko] Finish it!
[Vladko] Open it
[Vladko] Open, brother! Open it
[Man] What? [Vladko] Open it, please, give us more to eat
[Vladko] Go on, brother. Give us more. A little, go on!
[Scott] Ок
[Vladko] You're welcome!
[Vladko] Enjoy!
[Scott] Thank you.
[Man] A little more [Vladko] Go on
[Scott] Thank you
[Vladko] Delicious!
[Scott] Very well constructed base camp
and had a massive pot of borsch soup that we shared.
[Scott] And I think that's extraordinarily important:
to keep the motivation of the troops high
is to maintain a connection
to civilized and fraternal living.
[Scott] And they were jocular, they were happy,
they were motivated.
[Scott] There was a joyful enthusiasm
in the hearts of the Russian soldiers,
where I think the Ukrainian soldiers are full of dread, fear,
and the eventuality of defeat, and perhaps absolute destruction.
[Vladko] Look here, friend [Scott] All right
[Vladko] Russian flag and Putin [Scott] Yes, Putin!
[Vladko] Where's your home? In Russia?
[Scott] Well, when we were out in the field,
I enjoyed meeting the young Japanese gentleman
who had joined the troops and was fighting on the front lines.
[Scott] He was fighting as an independent volunteer because he was an anti-globalist.
[Scott] He did not want to see the George Soros globalist tyranny spread,
and Russia was the only country that was fighting back against that.
[Fighter] I stay here about one month. [Scott] One month?
[Fighter] Yes. [Scott] From Japan?
[Fighter] Yes. [Scott] Okay.
[Scott] And have you seen any action?
[Scott] Have you been fighting the enemy?
[Fighter] No. No.
[Fighter] I'm just training...
and, yes, as we're walking here
[Fighter] I didn't go to fight yet
[Scott] Not yet. [Fighter] Yes.
[Scott] Not yet.
[Scott] But you want to?
[Fighter] Oh, yes!
[Scott] Yes. Okay.
[Scott] So are you officer or enlisted?
[Fighter] My last rank was Sergeant
[Scott] Sergeant? Okay. I was a lieutenant in the US Army.
Good.
[Scott] Yeah, it's good to see so many people
from around the world coming to fight for Russia.
[Fighter] Yeah.
[Scott] Against Nazis, against globalists,
against George Soros, and all of this wickedness.
[Fighter] Yes.
[Scott] And I think Russia will win very, very soon.
[Fighter] Yes. I believe...
[Fighter] Russia will...
win this war
[Scott] Yeah [Fighter] Yes.
DAY 2 DONETSK
[Scott] Here, we see…
And you can hear explosions in the background.
DONETSK - NOVEMBER 2023
[Scott] HIMARS or some Ukrainian US weapon that the Ukrainians have got.
RUSSIAN MILITIA BOULEVARD
[Scott] 155 artillery that the US loves to send.
[Scott] Look at all these bullet holes and shrapnel.
[Scott] Well, they've reinforced the building with sandbags,
which is to shield it from artillery rounds,
shrapnel, explosions, bullets, grenades.
[Scott] So, it is turned a civilian city
and a currency exchange into a warzone
where they are afraid of bombings and artillery rounds.
[Scott] And judging by last night's music in the sky,
it's still going on.
[Scott] So, it just occurred to me what Americans would do if their banks had sandbags surrounding them.
[Scott] What would Americans do if their children were afraid to walk to school,
lest a HIMAR missile fall in the middle of their playground and kill them?
[Scott] But what would Americans do if they had a similar situation going on
in Oklahoma that's happening in Donetsk?
[Scott] So, the target, the military target
that was so important for the Ukrainians to strike
was a city library,
a city library containing books, knowledge and wisdom.
[Scott] Of course, those are toxic to the Ukrainian Nazi thugs led by Zelensky.
[Olga] Good day [Scott] Good day
[Olga- Librarian] During shelling, the door was blocked,
we couldn't open it when shelling was on
[Olga] If it's about that
[Olga] This location is specifically civilian
[Olga] We come here to work
[Olga] I drive from home, and don't know if I'll get to work,
or whether I'll get back home, now
[Scott] Well, I am very sorry.
[Olga] All the best, have a good day [Scott] Good day, good health
[Jonathan Halpern, Australian Freelance Journalist]
[Jonathan] I don't really know how the people here have handled it for ten years.
[Scott] Ten years.
[Jonathan] And some people are telling me that
most of these 100 days haven't been so intense.
[Jonathan] You know, it's like, I don't really know
how they've handled it. You know.
[Jonathan] What I've seen here is almost sometimes beyond belief, you know.
[Scott] Yes.
[Jonathan] For me.
[Jonathan] And how the people are still functioning is also…
[Scott] You know what's beyond belief?
[Scott] Because we, in Australia and Canada and the United States,
have never experienced what they're experiencing here.
[Jonathan] Absolutely.
[Scott] Never before have we had this in the West.
[Scott] We've lived a life of luxury and fatness for 50 years.
[Jonathan] Yeah, yeah, exactly.
[Jonathan] Where we are sitting at this moment is the frontline.
[Jonathan] Yes. I mean, it's within artillery range.
[Scott] Yes.
[Jonathan] The whole of Donetsk is the frontline.
[Jonathan] Yes, yes.
[Jonathan] It's a frontline city.
[Scott] The saddest thing is that it is American weapons being used.
[Scott] That are causing
[Scott] Americans to have to wear body armor when they visit cities like Donetsk.
DONETSK, IGNATY, BRYANCHANINOV CHURCH - NOVEMBER 2023
[Father Aleksandr] Glory to you, our God, glory to you with holy sword
[Father Aleksandr, Rector, Ignaty Bryanchaninov Church]
[Father Aleksandr] If we don't trust in the Lord, don't pray,
then the war will never end
[Father Aleksandr] I always tell my parishioners that,
first of all, we must...
eradicate...
the war within us, in our souls
[Father Aleksandr] Once we correct ourselves, once we repent,
we learn to love, as love is a science
[Father Aleksandr] Yes, love is God, but to love is a science and hard
[Scott] So, we are in a time that could be the last days,
and we must be salt and light,
voices of love for people to see and find Christ.
[Scott] So, it's hard, but good spiritual men like you
provide the light for people to follow.
[Father Aleksandr] About relations between Russia and Ukraine...
[Father Aleksandr] These relations
they can't be seen so globally, as between nations
[Father Aleksandr] My father was Russian...
and my mother was Ukrainian
[Father Aleksandr] And for me…
[Father Aleksandr] I couldn't split them, it was the same to me: Ukraine and Russia were one
[Father Aleksandr] But, lately...
I can't hear the Ukrainian language, or speech
[Father Aleksandr] And that's a real tragedy for me. It's as if I was torn in half, split up
[Father Aleksandr] And for me, that's real pain
[Scott] And Americans love the Russians and the Ukrainians.
[Scott] We know evil has been done in the American name and we are praying against it.
[Scott] That's why I came.
[Scott] And many, many other Americans are defenders of Russia and Ukraine.
DONETSK HOSPITAL- NOVEMBER 2023
[Scott] Hello!
[Soldier] Hello [Scott] American
[Soldier] Russian [Scott] Russian
['Jester'] An American officer, they said
[Scott] I'm sorry for your wounds.
[Scott] I'm sorry that you're here.
[Scott] I've come to take the truth back to America and help end this war.
[Scott] I wanted to bring you some gifts.
[Scott] These are for you.
[Scott] No fat, healthy.
[Scott] May I ask how you were wounded?
['Marine'] A kamikaze drone
[Scott] Kamikaze drone..
[Callsign: 'Marine', Russian Soldier] Kamikaze, yes
['Marine'] I was walking alone, it struck just one person, and got me
[Callsign: 'Jester', Russian Soldier] What causes a lot of damage to our unit is...
['Jester'] Cluster munitions
['Jester'] They cripple badly, we suffer few losses, few die, but many are maimed
that's... good professional fighters, very experienced
who know how to fight
['Jester'] They just mutilate us godlessly on the frontline
['Jester'] It's American weapons
['Jester'] I know for sure it is
['Jester'] It's handy because it can be prepared to fire from a tank or mortar,
any other heavy artillery armament
['Jester'] For the Ukrainians, it's the only way not to face us
[Scott] I wanted to meet the wounded Russians soldiers
to look into their eyes and see
the patriotism and the heroism that they were embodied by.
[Scott] I wanted also to talk with them about how they were hurt,
what weapons had injured them.
[Scott] Were they mines? Were they missiles?
[Scott] Were they HIMARS? Were they cluster bombs?
[Scott] Did they come from the United States?
[Scott] Did they come from Britain?
[Scott] Did they come from Germany, France?
[Scott] How were they injured? In what conditions?
DONETSK WAR MUSEUM - NOVEMBER 2023
[Scott] Yeah. These are all being manufactured in the United States and sent to Ukraine.
[Sergey Pereverzev, Head, Operations Department]
[Sergey] Well, here's part of a rocket, also shot down by our air defence
[Scott] Yeah. Devastating.
[Scott] And then we have the drones.
[Sergey] Here, written on it is:
'Made in USA'
[Scott] Made in USA. Cardboard Uline. So, 'Uline.com'.
[Scott] Oh, it's even got a phone number. I should give them a call.
[Sergey] You can call!
[Scott] And tell them: Hey! I've got your property.
[Scott] It's a criminal enterprise because the politicians that
take taxpayer dollars to buy these weapons
are getting money in their own pockets from the defense contractor agencies.
[Scott] So, all the companies that make these weapon systems
give money to the American politicians
for passing financial packages.
[Scott] So, Lindsey Graham and all of these Republicans and Democrats
who vote to send weapons to Ukraine,
they're getting money off the top.
[Scott] They'll get $1,000,000 in a brown bag of cash.
DONETSK - NOVEMBER 2023
[Scott] So right behind me,
you have the building that was struck on November 6th
by HIMAR bombs,
HIMAR missiles fired by the Ukrainian military that killed civilians.
[Scott] So, we are going into the building
that has been shredded by HIMAR missile systems.
[Scott] So, you see the impact on the wall.
[Scott] It shredded and all the shrapnel went up.
MINES
[Scott] Oh, that say mines?
[Scott] Yeah. Says mines? Oh!
[Scott] So, that sign says 'mines', as if mines to blow us up,
SHELTER
so we'll be a little cautious.
[Scott] In many ways, I feel like
that classic scene from the World War Two tape
where the American army takes the German townsfolk
into the concentration camp to show them what the Nazis
were doing in their extermination camps.
[Scott] All of this propaganda that Russia invaded
with ambitions against Germany and the EU and the West…
so bullshit.
[Scott] Russia came in to defend the people of Donetsk
who were being genocided,
such as a woman, a young pretty woman who was captured,
raped, tortured, branded, her gut cut in a swastika shape.
DONETSK HERO CITY
[Scott] Well, interestingly enough that was one of the most valuable things
that I wanted to do:
was question shall we say these Ukrainian prisoners.
[Scott] Because I wanted to get inside their minds.
[Scott] I wanted to disentangle the strings
that tied them up in knots
that enabled and animated their actions.
[Scott] What was their decision-making processes? What were their biases, their prejudices?
[Scott] What was their psychological profile?
[Scott] I wanted to study them in very deep, detailed ways.
[Scott] I am an American.
[Gennady] I know, I see.
[Scott] Army officer.
[Scott] And I've come to Ukraine to try and understand
and take the understanding back to Americans
about what has been happening here.
[Scott] So, I'm very glad that you would sit down
and talk with me, and I'm very glad
that you speak English because my Russian isn't that good.
[Gennady] I'm a sergeant of Regiment Azov.
[Gennady] I am a commander of a crew,
of a mortar crew, of a mortar battery of Regiment Azov.
[Gennady] My name is Gennady, my surname is Kharchenko,
and my callsign was PERGE
[Scott] And what I found with the first prisoner,
he was a very bright historian,
economic-minded individual,
was essentially: no one in Ukraine really wanted to fight.
[Scott] They were pushed into it.
[Scott] They were grabbed off the street.
[Scott] They were captured by Zelensky.
[Scott] They were threatened and thet were...
[Scott] So, he didn't want to die, so he followed orders.
[Scott] But he'll have to pay the price
for crimes that may have been done in those orders.
[Scott] So, he was he was also a little naive
because he said he had been told that the Zelensky
government had said, you know,
"America supports us, America loves us, America…" And I told him,
"No, that's wrong."
[Scott] The people of the United States of America
have overthrown their Congress
and got rid of the Democrats
and the rhinos who were pushing for this war.
[Scott] The American people do not support Zelensky.
[Scott] The American people do not want to continue
financing or providing weapons to Ukraine.
[Prisoner] Tattoos...
by 'Azov', it's the battalion chevron
[Prisoner] A Viking, it means, 'I'm a warrior'
[Prisoner] A rune tattoo
[Prisoner] 'Death is certain'
[Prisoner] Swastika
[Scott] This is kept out of the Ukrainian mind,
so what we've seen is a pseudo pagan brainwashing
of the Ukrainians
that often is reinforced with tattoos of
Teutonic: Viking, swastika; Bandera hero ideologies.
[Scott] And then that is amplified by drug inducement.
DAY 3 TRAINING GROUND
DONETSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION ZONE - NOVEMBER 2023
[Soldier] Go on, go on, go on!
[Soldier] Magazine!
[Soldier] OK, drop it, drop it. Let's go!
[Soldier] Faster, faster, faster!
[Scott] Well, the Russian weapons, I think, are the best weapons on Earth.
[Scott] I think they're wonderful weapons.
[Scott] My father always described the AK 47
as the best rifle ever made.
[Scott] They preferred those in Vietnam.
[Scott] I'm partial to that, too.
[Scott] I've had an AK 47 personally,
and I think it's a wonderful weapon that endures everything,
very powerful and essentially, cannot be exhausted, cannot be broken.
[Soldier] Go, go, go, Scott!
[Soldier] Go, go!
[Soldier] Pull it again
[Soldier] Confirm
[Soldier] Finish
[Soldier] Well done! OK! [Scott] Thanks!
[Scott] I was a special operations soldier myself in the Army,
and I see in their eyes the same discipline,
professionalism, stoicism.
[Scott] And I think they're also loved by the people
in the civilian cities of Russia:
the mothers and fathers, the neighbors, the general family.
[Scott] The Russian people love their soldiers in uniform.
[Soldier] You broke the rifle
[Scott] Yes. It's not quite as good without that bullshit.
[Soldier] Three, four! 'Cascade'!
[Scott] Very good.
[Soldier 1] Let's get it repaired [Soldier 2] Can we take a photo?
[Woman] One with mine please
[Scott] Thanks
[Soldier 1] It fell, it fell... [Soldier 2] Calm down, keep still!
[Scott] Okay, I got you… Okay.
[Soldier] You fly! [Scott] Yeah, I'm flying!
[Scott] It's amazingly quiet. There's no sound whatsoever.
[Scott] It's just a wind's whisper.
[Scott] This tshshsh. You can't hear anything.
[Scott] And with an expert pilot, like these guys,
just being able to control it, it's amazing what they could do.
[Scott] And it's so small, it can't be shot out of the ground.
[Scott] No one… no one can shoot at it.
[Scott] So, I don't know any countermeasures other than
maybe EMP or electronic or something like that,
but it's a great technology. Well done.
[Denis Mavchenko, Expert, 'Russky Dom' Design Studio]
[Denis] This drone's Ukrainian-made, all the components are from China
[Denis] The only small problem we see so far is...
the com-system. Starlink. From your…
[Denis] Yes. From your countryman, Elon Musk
[Denis] He supplies them with these, so, what's the difficulty?
[Denis] They use it to fly
[Denis] It's hard to jam the Starlink signal, apart from that, the drone...
doesn't pose much danger
82-mm mortars
[Denis] Night vision camera
[Denis] It mostly flies at night, as it's noisy, here's the motor, listen to its sound
[Denis] Step back so you're not hit
[Denis] Hear that? When they're on… When all four are on,
it's very audible, visible by day, so it flies at night
[Scott] Is Elon Musk providing Starlink
for these drones to be used against you?
[Denis] Of course! Of course! [Scott] Yes?
[Denis] That's right. Yes, yes
[Scott] Jesus! So, Elon Musk is providing Starlink
- the technology to use these drones against Russian soldiers
and kill Russian soldiers.
[Scott] That's terrible!
[Denis] He's a bringer of...
death in the lands of Donbass
[Scott] And these drones are bombing also civilians, civilian targets, schools?
[Denis] Of course...
[Scott] Yeah, that's news to me
because Elon Musk has been telling everybody in America
he's not providing Starlink to the Ukrainian army.
[Scott] Elon Musk is providing Starlink capabilities to these drones.
[Scott] I'm thinking, "Well, he's told us in America,
'Oh, I'm not providing Starlink.'"
[Scott] That's a lie.
[Scott] I get animated and pissed off because
they're desecrating my name and my country's name.
[Scott] You're lying to the American people,
telling them Starlink is not being used to provide drones.
[Scott] These drones are killing people.
[Scott] And then I see the HIMARS hitting schools and kindergartens.
[Scott] And you're telling us,
"Oh, HIMARS are going to be used only for military targets."
[Scott] That's a lie.
RUSSIAN DONBASS DEFENDER
DONETSK INTERNATIONAL 'PYATNASHKA' BRIGADE - NOVEMBER 2023
[Scott] Where are you from and why did you come to Russia?
[Fighter] I'm from South Korea
[Scott] South Korea [Fighter] In Seoul
[Scott] In Seoul? [Fighter] Yes.
[Scott] Okay. How have your Russian patriots,
compatriots, all, you know, soldiers in arms…
[Scott] How have they treated you and trained you?
[Fighter] Actually, I guess the only problem is language
[Scott] Yes.
[Fighter] Good thing that now I'm under training for drone.
[Fighter] Our team speak English
because the curriculum and platforms is also in English.
[Scott] In English. Okay.
[Fighter] So, yes, no it no problem.
[Scott] Yeah. What other nationalities and people have you seen here?
[Fighter] There is another base… is from Germany.
[Scott] Germany? [Fighter] Yes.
[Fighter] Also Italian. [Scott] Italian.
[Fighter] Colombian. [Scott] Colombian.
[Fighter] Spanish. [Scott] Spanish.
[Fighter] And South Korean. [Scott] And South Korean.
[Fighter] Also Japanese. [Scott] Oh, Japanese, yes.
[Fighter] Yes. [Scott] No Scotsmen or Irishmen?
[Fighter] I never see.
[Scott] Oh, man, that's a shame!
[Scott] Well, that's good to see
so, there's a lot of different people that are coming to help Russia.
[Scott] And how long do you think
it's going to take before Russia completely defeats Ukraine?
[Fighter] I believe it will finish within the next year.
[Scott] All of these troops that I spent time with were
common in their volunteering,
and they're volunteering for the purposes of fighting fascism
because they'll realize this is an existential, spiritual war
between the side of light
and law and naturalness and God and the side of darkness,
demonism and every form of perversion and corruption.
[Scott] I think you'd see a lot of Americans
come to the side of Russia as well.
[Scott] And settling in for the night.
[Scott] Spartan, military…
[Scott] Reminds me of the old days in the American Army.
[Scott] All right!
[Scott] Blessed be the Lord my strength,
which teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight.
[Scott] I shall give their tongue and enemies cannot gainsay nor resist.
[Scott] The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want,
he leadeth me besides the still waters,
he sat at the table before me, in the presence of my enemies.
[Scott] My cup runneth over.
[Scott] Surely, goodness and mercy should follow me all the days of my life.
[Scott] And I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
[Scott] For Russia!
[Scott] For Donbass!
[Scott] For friendship between America and Russia!
[Scott] God bless the Russian people!
DONETSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC SOLEDAR- NOVEMBER 2023
[Callsign:'Gym Trainer', Soldier, "Aleksandr Nevsky' Battallion]
['Gym Trainer'] My callsign is 'Gym Trainer'. This training session is to practise assault action
['Gym Trainer'] I mean, I must always keep the rifle at the ready
and look through the sights
['Gym Trainer'] Through this exercise,
you develop the skill to navigate the space around you quickly
['Gym Trainer'] You also train your legs, biceps, and back, as well as your eyes
['Gym Trainer'] It's very useful, a few exercises at once, we can say 5-in-1
['Gym Trainer'] No shelling now but they'll restart soon, stairs are the safest place
['Gym Trainer'] Cluster shells...
['Gym Trainer'] Even if they fly, go like this and hide,
as soon as you hear the first sounds, I always do it
['Gym Trainer'] BOOM! And I hide!
['Gym Trainer'] Well clearly, we must be careful
[Soldier] One second
[Soldier] It's good you brought this, we won't ever go hungry
[Soldier] May we cut the salo?
[Soldier] Salo! Try the salo!
[Soldier 1] Since morning... [Soldier 2] Cut the salo
[Soldier] So the day's more fun
[Scott] Very good to have cats when you have mice.
[Soldier] So, this salo is so we have fun...
all day!
[Soldier] Go on, take the bread
[Scott] Very good pork fat.
[Callsign:'Bear', Soldier, "Aleksandr Nevsky' Battalion]
['Bear'] They mostly use cluster shells here, supplied by America and Europe
['Bear'] Well, they bomb us and drones drop stuff on us
['Bear'] We won't give up, we'll go on
NO MINES
[Soldier] Faster, faster, faster!
[Soldier] Faster, faster, get inside!
[Scott] That's always fun. Hiking in full battle gear.
[Lida] When will get rid of them?
[Lida] When will they go?
[Scott] Americans! [Lida] Scum!
[Lida] Don't understand?
[Lida] Do you speak English? Yes! Of course.
[Lida] Yes, I do! My name is Lida.
[Scott] Lida, very nice to meet you. I'm Scott.
[Scott] You're a brave woman! True Russian
[Soldier] Why are you here? [Lida] Why? I live here!
[Soldier] You live here? [Lida] Yes. I never left
[Scott] Well, Soledar was right on the frontlines.
[Scott] And you had mines going off that had been laid.
[Scott] You had constant barrages of artillery fire.
[Scott] You had the ruins of a town and burnt-out vehicles.
[Scott] We also found a lady that was living in Soledar.
[Scott] One of the last inhabitants who was refusing to leave her home.
[Scott] And the Ukrainians had, you know, tried to kill her and target her.
[Scott] But the Russians came to the rescue of Soledar, and she remained there.
[Scott] So, she was a very interesting person that we had a conversation with.
[Scott] And she was standing strong.
[Scott] And I think is emblematic of what all Russian women are.
[Scott] They are fearless, they are standing to preserve their home,
and they are not bowing to the fanaticism of fascists.
[Lida] Our parrots and fish froze last year, our hamsters too
[Lida] Oh, Arichka!
[Scott] Oh, what a beautiful kitty.
[Lida] Arichka is good
[Lida] He helps us with mice, but the mice still annoy us. Oh, I don't know
[Lida] You lie at night and the mice run over you
[Lida] So, pass it on to your Englishmen...
what we want is peace
[Lida] No need for all the weapons
[Lida] Let them stop this, let there be peace, only peace!
[Lida] We were friends, and we'll still be friends, why do this now?
[Scott] Well, I think the woman in Soledar
who lives alone with her cats and her dogs
and her memories and her home packed with cushions,
with little mice that come through the broken windows,
is both a story of sadness and a story of hope.
[Soldier 1] Someone's flying [Soldier 2] It's a drone
[Soldier 1] Outgoing, yeah? [Soldier 2] No
[Soldier 1] Arrival? [Soldier 2] Our artillery
[Soldier] Oh, it is outgoing [Soldier] Yes
[Radio] If you can, deal with it
[Radio] It's not our drone
[Radio] It's somewhere
[Scott] So, it's fun to be in full body armor gear, hustle and running.
[Scott] Takes me back to Fort Benning.
[Scott] Hooah.
[Scott] But the devastation is horrendous.
[Scott] Oh, yes. I haven't seen anything like this things.
[Scott] So, we've got Specnaz, special forces, covering our backs.
[Soldier] Move, move, move, move, move, move, move!
[Soldier] Come on!
[Soldier] Quick!
[Soldier] Faster, faster, faster!
[Woman] Hello
SOLEDAR MEDICAL UNIT - NOVEMBER 2023
[Nurse] The bandage is dirty [Soldier] It's OK
[Scott] Well, we are with the wonderful staff and nurses and doctors
of this medical facility,
taking care of the wounded soldiers.
[Scott] And as an American veteran,
I remember people in most loved the doctors
and nurses because they're so invaluable.
[Nurse] OK, OK, OK. Don't move
[Nurse] It's a non-piercing shrapnel wound, two entrances here
[Nurse] So we have two fragments inside
[Nurse] You were injured today? How?
[Callsign:'Shpak', Soldier, "Aleksandr Nevsky' Battalion] Yes, we went from one forest belt to another, in short dashes
['Shpak'] Two people went ahead
['Shpak'] We kept our distance
['Shpak'] The enemy spotted us
['Shpak'] It looked like an AGS fired at me. It's an automatic grenade launcher
['Shpak'] Three grenades went off, one was about 3m away, the other, 2m
['Shpak'] They fell one after the other, one exploded by my foot
['Shpak'] I got down, put on a tourniquet, patched myself up,
and crawled toward the trench
['Shpak'] Then a mortar shot at me, 2 more fell but I'd got to the trench
[Nurse] Well, we have two entries, one's here...
[Nurse] There's the splinter
[Nurse] Bend your leg a bit
like this, just a bit
[Nurse] That's it then. We'll go to the hospital this evening
[Scott] Americans are not giving any more money or weapons to Zelensky.
[Scott] Americans are against Ukraine. We are on the side of Russia.
[Scott] We are in our own revolution.
[Scott] But no more Zelensky, no more Ukraine.
[Scott] Glory to Russia!
[Scott] I can only apologize for the American weapon that wounded you.
[Scott] And sorry, but it's corrupt governments
and weapons makers that make money on war.
[Scott] That's what this has been.
[Scott] What country am I on? What's happened to Western society?
[Scott] We were supposed to be the liberators of the oppressed.
[Scott] We're supposed to be the Captain America.
[Scott] Right? Going around with a shield and helping people.
[Scott] And I discover when I come here, we are a Frankenstein monster.
[Scott] We've created a Frankenstein monster that is roaming the countryside,
destroying the lives of the Russian people in Donetsk.