Inside A Ukrainian Brigade's Battle 'Through Hell' Near Bakhmut

A member of Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade fires a machine gun toward Russian positions near Andriyivka on August 27 in this image captured from a video. The Associated Press had an intimate glimpse into the Ukrainian counteroffensive with the use of helmet cameras and drone video.

The 3rd Assault Brigade (pictured near Andriyivka on September 16) is composed entirely of volunteers and is considered one of Ukraine’s best and most experienced corps. It has been fighting almost nonstop in the east since January, while less-experienced units received new training and modern weapons to fight in the south.

A Ukrainian soldier walks past the lifeless bodies of his comrades. 

This stretch of dead forest -- a couple dozen trees wide and 2 kilometers long -- toward the equally dead village of Andriyivka is one of countless like it on the road to Russian-controlled Bakhmut. The eastern city, located in the Donetsk region, has taken on huge symbolic significance in the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

A Ukrainian flag and a rifle in a bunker near Andriyivka.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is making his country's case to Washington and to the world this week for more money and more weapons and must persuade his audience that the counteroffensive is working. The U.S. Congress is currently weighing President Joe Biden’s request to provide as much as $24 billion more in military and humanitarian aid.

Ukrainian paramedics carry a wounded comrade injured during fighting near Andriyivka.

The brigade's two-month battle to fight its way through a charred forest and entrenched enemy positions shows the challenges of Kyiv's counteroffensive in the east and south. 

A Ukrainian soldier receives treatment at a field hospital near Bakhmut on September 10. 

Bakhmut fell to Russia in May, largely due to waves of attacks from mercenary Wagner fighters, including prison conscripts, thought to have died by the hundreds. Ukraine has been trying to reclaim it ever since, hoping to inflict a major psychological blow to Russia.

An injured soldier lies on a bed at a field hospital on September 12.

The soldiers sent to carry out the task are relying on largely Soviet-era armored vehicles and older weapons. In the past month, the brigade had only been able to move 2 kilometers, crossing mines and booby-trapped trenches and dodging artillery, drone-launched grenades, and Russian forces within shouting distance.

A Ukrainian soldier takes cover in a bunker at the front line in Andriyivka on September 16.

The goal of the brigade has been the capture of Andriyivka. After more than three months of battle, they finally broke through the shelling and the drone-launched grenades, firing at the Russian forces who fled in front of them.

To capture the tiny village, the Ukrainians pummeled it with artillery and then created a smokescreen. Russian artillery hit retreating and surrendering Russian soldiers, whose bodies still lay face down.

A Ukrainian soldier takes cover.

The brigade went house to house, taking Russian prisoners and killing those who fought back. Even after the last of the Russian forces were expelled, Andriyivka came under constant shelling, with buzzing drones on both sides.

A Ukrainian soldier walks through the charred forest at the front line a few kilometers from Andriyivka.

Ukrainian officials said this month’s battle’s for the road to Bakhmut may have taken as many as three Russian brigades out of combat. Neither side has released casualty figures.