Latest / Combat Veteran News / Ukrainian Recon Squad CLEARS Russian Position!

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Ukrainian Recon Squad CLEARS Russian Position! · Combat Veteran News

0:00
All right, you guys know that third
0:01
assault is one of Ukraine's absolutely
0:04
elite brigades. So we're going to be
0:06
taking a look at some more footage from
0:08
them. This is from about a year ago, a
0:11
reconnaissance unit eliminating Russians
0:14
in the Donbas. And I actually think one
0:17
of these guys might be a familiar face.
0:19
We might have seen him before.
0:21
We might have even interviewed him on
0:22
the channel. Let's go.
0:24
>> The third building.
0:27
>> Okay, I
0:28
under I love the dubbing
0:31
cuz they're like the third building,
0:32
especially cuz it's like kind of iffy AI
0:33
dubbing. It's third assault, third
0:35
brigade.
0:42
>> Get up, Donbas.
0:45
>> So again, Donbas is a call sign.
0:50
Now, there's a lot of I think Ukrainian
0:53
soldiers who are from the Donbas region
0:57
who end up, you know, who fled the
0:58
Donbas during the invasion
1:00
and are kind of forever known as Donbas.
1:03
So
1:05
um
1:06
I one of the guys that we interviewed
1:08
who was in a reconnaissance squad who
1:09
was also named Donbas. So if you look
1:12
into my I think the playlist is called
1:14
the Ukraine files,
1:15
you'll see the interviews with these
1:16
guys and they had some crazy interviews.
1:19
They had some crazy stories all of them.
1:20
I think the guy I'm thinking of named
1:22
Donbas, if I remember correctly, he was
1:24
a conscript in 2022 and he was like in a
1:27
basement in the Hostomel airport like
1:30
loading magazines to give to
1:32
other fighters to like repel the
1:34
Russians. He said it was crazy. He was
1:36
like I actually was captured at one
1:37
point by the Russians but because he's
1:39
like he's like I was an 18-year-old
1:41
terrified conscript who wasn't even
1:43
finished training, the Russians just let
1:44
me go cuz I look so pathetic. He's like
1:46
and now I've killed like 15 Russians.
1:50
>> Get up, my dear.
1:56
Get up, dawn base.
2:04
So trust, yes.
2:10
Where did you already vote audibly?
2:13
On 60 azimuth, what?
2:17
So one of the things these
2:18
reconnaissance guys do, they have a
2:20
couple of roles. One is clearing
2:21
positions where the Ukrainian military
2:24
maybe lost contact with a position or
2:26
lost guys in that position and the
2:28
Ukrainian military says, "Listen, we
2:29
don't know exactly if we still have
2:31
people there, maybe they just lost their
2:32
radios, maybe they are like KIA, maybe
2:37
Russians have moved in, maybe they were
2:38
just killed by a drone or artillery and
2:41
we can't reach them, but the position
2:42
can still be reoccupied." That's what
2:44
these reconnaissance units do. They
2:46
oftentimes bring guys into position and
2:49
more commonly will lead them sometimes
2:51
out if they need to exfil under fire or
2:53
while being encircled, like go in, get
2:55
them in, get them out. Um and again,
2:59
these are very these are highly trained
3:01
guys, but one of their defining traits,
3:04
in talking to them they said, is just
3:06
like motivation. Like they're like, "We
3:07
have a lot of people that apply to join
3:10
and then they realize how hard we train
3:12
and how hard we prepare for these
3:13
missions
3:14
and they a lot of them just leave to go
3:16
back to regular infantry.
3:20
X does your brother know? 100 m shorter
3:22
than us or you have to sit down now.
3:25
Wait to listen or they will start moving
3:27
in the dark and they're already if there
3:29
is no contact, there is no contact, we
3:31
move on.
3:40
And so it's funny, I know exactly the AI
3:42
translation they're trying to do here.
3:45
It's so bad. It's gotten so much better
3:47
with time. It's so hard to get done well
3:49
cuz I tried to do the same thing with my
3:50
interviews and the technology is just
3:53
like not primetime ready.
4:00
>> There, the sector is covered.
4:02
There is a sector of the Crimea.
4:05
Movement.
4:11
>> Okay, so one of the things that I find
4:12
really interesting, one, these guys are
4:14
just geared to the max, which I think is
4:16
pretty common for reconnaissance units.
4:18
You also notice that this is from about
4:20
a year ago, and you see a lot of guys
4:21
with the lap the Kevlar lap protectors.
4:24
You see much less of that now, and I'm
4:25
not exactly sure why.
4:39
So, the reason they try to blur horizons
4:40
is that long horizons can be really,
4:42
really effective for identification.
4:45
Um, and so
4:47
yeah, these guys are now obviously
4:49
blurring anything can really give away
4:50
locations. A bombed-out building, the
4:52
thing with the the nice thing about a
4:54
bombed-out building is that one bomb
4:56
later, it looks totally different.
5:03
>> PVC.
5:05
>> Okay, let's see. Let's see if we can
5:06
learn something about the gear here. So,
5:09
assault pack, uh, definitely have the
5:11
suppressors.
5:13
Uh,
5:14
I love the battle belt with mags, and
5:17
then more mags Molly clipped
5:20
to the magazines. That's that goes hard.
5:27
>> So, that nothing comes out.
5:31
>> So, he says, "So that nothing comes
5:33
out." I think they mean like
5:35
like, don't let anything through.
5:45
So, again, I could see them saying,
5:47
"Listen, we had a position here
5:49
and
5:51
we lost contact with the guys. We want
5:52
to know, can we reoccupy this? Is there
5:55
Are there Russians here?" That's
5:56
probably what their mission is.
5:59
Cuz you can see, it looks almost like
6:01
this was occupied.
6:10
Here they shoot
6:13
from
6:16
the basement.
6:19
So, what I think is really interesting
6:21
is that, you know, US military, one of
6:23
the things that's kind of annoying is
6:25
that they have this doctrine
6:28
of how to clear a building, clear an
6:30
area. And US military doctrine assumes
6:33
you have this like insane number of
6:35
people. Like, a platoon to clear a
6:37
single building. And like, yeah, that's
6:40
dope, but it never applies cuz you
6:43
almost never have like a company to
6:46
clear a city block. Like, you have a
6:48
squad. So,
6:50
figure it out. Figure out how to do it
6:52
in a reasonable way. And it's one of the
6:53
things that actually I really liked
6:55
about the military police corps is that
6:57
because we had both police training
6:59
and
7:01
combat training
7:02
that we were able to sort of
7:05
hybridize or draw on both. So, we would
7:07
sit there and go, "Yeah, obviously an
7:10
infantryman almost never is trained to
7:12
be like, 'Hey, clear this entire
7:13
structure with four dudes.'" They're
7:15
like, "That's just not doctrinally
7:17
possible." And
7:19
as an MP, we're like, "That's stupid. We
7:22
clear buildings anytime an alarm would
7:24
trip on any building."
7:27
Right? We'd have to have a two-man team
7:29
go in and sweep the building. And so,
7:31
that's exactly what they do, right? And
7:34
I think that um that skill
7:38
is something that is lost. The idea that
7:40
you're going to operate without
7:41
constraints. The idea of saying, "Hey,
7:43
listen. Yeah, everybody has the fantasy
7:45
that there's going to be fixed-wing
7:46
aircraft and ISR and drone support." And
7:48
there might not be any of those things.
7:51
>> To the very
7:55
left, they are trying to get out because
7:57
if they scatter around the house, it
7:59
will be well, there is no point. Then
8:02
they will just come in.
8:03
It won't even be CQB, but some
8:08
Come in, kill, everything will be taken
8:10
away.
8:12
>> See, it's interesting. The chapter name
8:13
is come in, [ __ ] everything, [ __ ] up,
8:16
take everything.
8:17
But it clearly got translated some kind
8:19
of goofy ass way.
8:20
>> I see. I see. I see.
8:23
Extreme button look in the heat sink.
8:25
The silhouette is clearly visible. Not
8:27
>> Okay, I love that. They clearly have
8:29
what looks like thermals, but this is a
8:30
reminder that like, yeah, you have
8:33
thermals, but
8:35
like it's daytime, but thermals will
8:37
still let you see through foliage in a
8:39
way
8:40
uh that you just can't with anything
8:42
else. Also, I want to point out that
8:44
these guys are pulling security here and
8:45
here. Why? Well, in in like one of the
8:50
fundamental ways that drone warfare
8:52
changes things. One,
8:54
even in standard infantry tactics, if
8:55
you've come through somewhere,
8:58
yeah, you they say you always do 360°
9:00
security. I got that. But you may not be
9:04
able to do that. So, you say, "Okay, if
9:06
I came from one direction and there's no
9:08
enemy, I can reasonably risk and focus
9:12
my my attention forward where the enemy
9:14
is more likely to be." And this is one
9:17
of those things that actually like even
9:18
within the military, I would get into
9:20
conflict a lot with people who had this
9:22
like "All risks must be treated as
9:25
equally likely." And I'm like,
9:27
you can't fight that way. You can't win
9:29
a war by assuming the the worst thing is
9:34
going to happen all of the time, every
9:36
time. Like, you have limited resources
9:38
and infinite infinite threats. So, you
9:41
have to choose how to deploy your
9:42
resources intelligently against those
9:44
threats based on severity and
9:46
likelihood.
9:48
And so, I remember I got in this debate
9:49
with this stupid engineer platoon
9:51
sergeant who was like, "What if they
9:52
throw What if they mortar this
9:54
location?" And I go, "Listen, I have 10
9:56
years of records about this province,
9:59
and
10:00
not once has the local insurgency
10:03
used mortars.
10:05
IEDs all day, sniper attacks all day,
10:08
but I've mitigated those.
10:10
And so, we are going to not mitigate.
10:12
We're going to assume risk
10:14
that they magically get a mortar that
10:16
they've never had, learn to fire it with
10:19
with laser precision
10:22
like abruptly.
10:24
So,
10:25
again, I think these guys are sitting
10:26
there saying, "Listen,
10:28
we had drones overhead,
10:30
we have sight of the enemy,
10:32
and so we're going to assume risk on
10:34
these two back sides, and we're going
10:36
to, again,
10:37
like watch our flanks." Cuz again, if
10:40
you know where the enemy is,
10:42
you should That That means
10:45
the risk of an enemy encounter with
10:46
those forward guys, high. The risk of an
10:49
enemy coming where you've already
10:50
cleared, much much much lower.
10:52
>> And the sun, stand here
10:54
in my place.
10:57
Right to the left.
10:59
Do you see? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
11:03
He is standing in the hall.
11:11
>> It's funny cuz Google's translate of
11:12
Ukrainian is way better.
11:15
>> Give.
11:23
>> Yeah, so they probably have a drone
11:25
watching, also. That's the thing, in the
11:26
era of the drone,
11:28
you don't need secure like, you don't
11:30
need You don't need security in the same
11:33
way. Like, if a drone is watching your
11:35
overhead, then you can just point your
11:38
attention your attention focuses
11:40
immediately on the threat, and you let
11:42
that drone communicate the threat. And
11:44
you say, "Listen, if I lose contact with
11:45
the drone, that's when I start to do 360
11:48
security." But again, even if you lose
11:50
contact with a drone, you've got
11:52
probably
11:54
20-30 minutes before there's even a
11:57
possibility that areas where the drone
11:59
didn't see enemy approaching where enemy
12:01
could infiltrate. Just just a difference
12:04
as in time.
12:22
A one.
12:23
More time.
12:25
Stop. Chase. Stop. Stop. Stop. Uh all
12:29
up.
12:31
Let me see.
12:46
Whoa, that was close.
12:55
What? Everything is fine. Are you ready
12:57
to shoot? Well, either they're filming
12:59
or they're already going to cast a
13:00
second thread because well, the guys are
13:02
still in the basement, but this is not
13:03
the case.
13:06
Well, he is alone.
13:10
Again, this is one of the things that I
13:11
find kind of interesting is that
13:13
um one, you know, these guys are recon
13:15
guys cuz they have a bunch of
13:16
battery-powered gizmos on their rifles
13:18
because they're going to be back
13:20
somewhere where they can get spare
13:21
batteries into their rifles. They're not
13:23
going to be spending 90-100 days in
13:24
position. Um but what I think is
13:27
interesting is that it seems like the
13:28
Russians just basically know they're
13:29
there
13:30
and are
13:31
a sort of
13:32
hiding or hunkered down, and they are
13:34
letting the drone crews the Russian
13:37
drone crews try to find these
13:40
reconnaissance troopers and hit them.
13:42
And you see that hitting that building,
13:45
which by the way I've heard is is
13:46
actually a pretty common tactic to just
13:47
try to hit the building and kind of like
13:50
the same way you might if you know enemy
13:52
is in a building, you would fire
13:53
artillery at the building over and over
13:54
again. No difference.
13:56
Um
13:58
maybe to get them to scatter out, maybe
13:59
to get visuals on them, maybe just to
14:01
kind of suppress them, and give that
14:03
that um that crew a chance to escape.
14:07
But,
14:08
you know this is probably 12 months old
14:10
because it feels like
14:12
the era of fiber optic drones has become
14:13
much more dominant, and you see a level
14:15
of precision from drones that you don't
14:17
see. Though, I'll say Russian drones in
14:20
all the combat footage we've watched has
14:22
generally been
14:24
inferior. And by the way, if if you want
14:26
to support the channel and get access to
14:28
some of that like
14:30
really really can't show it on YouTube
14:33
type of uh combat footage, that is for
14:36
members only at combatvetnews. You guys
14:38
should become members if you're not
14:39
already. Um it lets me do this every
14:41
single day.
14:43
I mean, I put out videos 7 days a week,
14:45
um and it's because you guys support me.
14:46
I have no corporate sponsors. Um
14:49
you know, I said some mean things about
14:51
our our greatest ally, and no
14:53
corporation
14:54
no private sponsor will touch me. Um
14:57
but, you guys have my back, and that's
14:59
what counts. So, go to
14:59
combatvetnews.com. I'll put the link in
15:01
the description.
15:03
Um and thanks to guys that do support me
15:05
over there.
15:08
But, if you want to see Russian drones
15:10
footage, you'll see what I mean. It just
15:12
the Russian drones are just a little
15:14
inferior. Like, they just don't have
15:16
they're not as maneuverable. They seem
15:18
to have a harder time maintaining
15:19
connection. Their strikes seem less
15:21
accurate.
15:23
I mean, it doesn't matter cuz there's
15:24
more of them, right?
15:28
>> For mob out.
15:29
Come on. Go. Go. Forward. Go ahead.
15:39
>> Okay, what I want to point out again,
15:41
when I was in Ukraine the first time,
15:42
they were like so confused that I held
15:45
my rifle under barrel. Like or like cuz
15:49
like we're trained, you know, when I was
15:51
15 years ago in the military, you would
15:53
get a uh a foregrip that you would use,
15:56
right? But now they train those guys to
15:57
just grab the whole barrel. Um
16:00
thumb right over it. And I get it for
16:03
controlling it in a tight environment
16:05
and for quick like quick sort of reflex
16:07
shooting, it's great. Um I was trained
16:09
totally different. I was trained
16:10
literally, if I don't have a foregrip,
16:12
to hold the magazine well and raise it
16:14
up and use the magazine well as a as a
16:17
as a uh
16:18
as a foregrip. It's inferior, but they
16:20
looked so confused at me because again,
16:23
to them, they're like, this is how we've
16:24
always shot. And I'm like, no, dude,
16:26
this is new in the last like 2 years.
16:29
>> Good oh, that's good.
16:32
PK already. Plus there is
16:35
the lighter.
16:38
They won't get out of there.
16:40
>> Well, look at that. A charge with two
16:42
anti-tank mines.
16:43
>> Then take a shot.
16:50
>> Well, I think it's interesting. I've
16:51
been kind of keeping an eye on their
16:52
patches. I have seen zero patches.
17:09
Yes, they're also trained when they're
17:11
don't want to flag their buddies, they
17:12
go barrel up. We were trained to go
17:14
barrel down. Just just a quirk.
17:17
Clean.
17:24
Movement movement movement.
17:48
Damn, they tossed a grenade. Wild.
18:04
The first minus. First minus. Minus.
18:06
Minus.
18:08
Pass through pass through minus.
18:12
Hey Russian, can you hear me?
18:15
If you come out well, I give you my word
18:17
of honor.
18:18
I will leave you alive. We will take you
18:20
out, then we will probably exchange you.
18:23
If you resist, you will die.
18:29
The Russians don't give up. Well, okay.
18:34
It's so wild to me that you can just
18:35
like this is a war where you can just
18:37
talk to the enemy. Like they speak your
18:39
language.
18:40
Like no problem. That to me is still
18:43
such a trip. To be like I can just
18:46
I can just be like
18:48
What up, dog?
18:49
Like you want to just give up, man? This
18:51
is kind of BS. We're going to kill you.
18:54
And he can go, "Nah, I'm all right."
18:56
Like it
18:58
Yeah, that that delta is crazy to me.
19:02
Like for that the average the the
19:04
average normie Ukrainian can do that,
19:06
right? We had to have a translator. It
19:08
was very hard, right? And and even the
19:10
translators, if they have to speak Urdu
19:12
or
19:14
um Pashtu or Tajik, like it was very
19:16
very
19:17
confusing.
19:20
It was very hard to get good
19:21
translators, too.
19:33
>> She alive.
19:41
>> Wait, I briefly saw a patch from
19:43
somebody. Let's see. On the back of a
19:45
helmet.
19:52
Let's see.
20:00
>> Hello.
20:02
What are you?
20:12
>> I just want to be like, I'm just in a
20:14
room
20:16
>> doing No, right? I'm going left plus
20:18
three.
20:24
We found
20:24
>> Interesting, there's a dead Russian but
20:26
then there to the other side is a bunch
20:28
of these water bottles. And here's all
20:29
their coats hung up.
20:30
>> scumbag you were talking about.
20:32
Yes, look, it's Niban.
20:37
>> Look, they have a tree like a Christmas
20:38
tree set up. That's kind of a trip.
20:39
>> here. There was a Leoska. Plus, there
20:42
was no way to go here. There was a
20:44
Leoska here, right?
20:51
>> Interesting, they're like, "Hey man, we
20:53
don't know if this thing was here." So,
20:54
they just shoot it. That's a That's
20:55
crazy.
20:56
>> Yes, on the way. There's an entrance to
20:58
the basement from the street. In short,
21:00
what's next according to the plan? Yes,
21:02
in short, we're going to the basement
21:04
now. The basement is fine. You're taking
21:06
the roundabout according to the plan.
21:09
>> Okay, there's an an
21:11
uh there's one more eye patch. Looks
21:13
like an ant.
21:15
Couldn't tell you anything.
21:16
>> Let's go. Let's go. Let's run. Yes,
21:19
carefully. Halfway in here.
21:22
>> Or a spider, maybe.
21:37
>> Come in.
21:38
There's a bed and all that.
21:41
I don't know if
21:42
>> Okay, they probably put the round in cuz
21:43
they
21:44
thought somebody was sleeping. Clearly
21:46
Okay, look at this. This is a trip,
21:47
dude. This is like somebody's house and
21:49
it looks like [ __ ]
21:51
But you can see he's got what looks like
21:52
fuel and
21:56
a bed and a dresser.
22:01
>> Clean.
22:03
Here.
22:05
They everything.
22:09
Up.
22:10
Plus, let's move quickly, quickly.
22:21
Here he is. Here he is.
22:23
Show me again.
22:26
Aditya.
22:27
I don't understand what he has here.
22:33
Oh, there's another rad icon. Maybe it
22:35
is.
22:37
I didn't see it.
22:39
>> [snorts]
22:40
>> So, taking the phones, checking uh I
22:42
remember as we've talked about um what
22:45
you want to do is once you've cleared
22:47
this is actually pretty standard.
22:48
Um it's actually not even that different
22:50
from what police are trained to do in um
22:54
uh active shooter situations, which is
22:56
hey, wounded, dead, doesn't matter. Your
22:59
job is to stop the threat. So, you sweep
23:01
through the area. If somebody is KIA, if
23:05
somebody is I mean, WIA unfortunately,
23:07
like
23:09
you're going to either restrain them
23:11
or in this case,
23:13
uh
23:14
there's not that many wounded. Um you're
23:17
going to clear first. That's your
23:18
priority. Clear the building. Then
23:21
you're going to secure it. You're going
23:22
to have some people like secure it if
23:23
you can. And then you're going to go
23:25
through and you're going to go body by
23:26
body, right? You're going to check each
23:28
body. You're going to get uh if they're
23:30
wounded, you can try to treat them and
23:31
and evac them. Um but if they're KIA,
23:34
you're going to take their documents.
23:35
You're going to take their identity
23:36
documents because intelligence One,
23:39
sometimes just identifying casualties,
23:42
right? You can That can be part of the
23:43
exchange to say, "Listen, we confirm
23:45
this person was KIA." Um you can also
23:48
learn something. For example, you might
23:49
look up their socials. And you might
23:51
realize, "Hey, they were mobilized 3
23:52
weeks ago from this location." Maybe
23:54
they post on Facebook, "Hey, I'm
23:56
assigned to the 461st Guards Brigade,
23:58
right?" Uh
24:00
that might be an example of a
24:03
intelligence you can garner, right? You
24:04
could also learn what unit they're from.
24:06
And cell phones. Cell phones because
24:08
they're going to have a bunch of text
24:09
messages from their commander, to and
24:10
from their peers. They might be texting
24:12
their girlfriend about plans or future
24:14
efforts or where they're stationed.
24:16
Again, you can learn a bunch of stuff,
24:17
right? That guy might have even taken
24:18
video or photographs, for example, of a
24:20
mobilization center, of a command post,
24:23
um
24:24
other positions that he might have he
24:26
might have stopped in. All of that stuff
24:28
could be really valuable.
24:35
>> This one is already a little smelly.
24:37
Yes.
24:41
>> So, it implies that some of these guys
24:42
were killed some time ago.
24:47
>> Behind the door. Behind the door. He
24:49
climbed up to the roof.
24:59
>> Damn, that sounds so close.
25:02
>> Behind the door.
25:05
>> Right, so the reason they're saying
25:06
behind the door is because every doorway
25:09
where you want to have you know, with
25:10
the drones, it takes nothing to set them
25:12
off and every doorway or entrance
25:14
between you and the drone makes you
25:16
safer.
25:17
Um again, when we had that drone
25:20
encounter
25:21
um
25:22
in Kostantynivka in 2024,
25:26
you know, we scattered, spread out, and
25:28
then we consolidated in a
25:30
in a bombed-out house like this one, but
25:32
we consolidated in the bathroom because
25:35
that was away from windows, so we would
25:36
have had we were protected by trees
25:38
overhead.
25:40
The house itself you would have the
25:42
drone would have had to have maintained
25:43
a signal while flying into the house,
25:45
weaving around the hallway and into a
25:47
bathroom to strike us. Uh
25:48
so,
25:50
>> Such an unpleasant thing is being made
25:52
fun of.
25:55
>> Such an unpleasant thing is being made
25:57
fun of.
25:58
>> It sucks being Getting dunked on sucks.
26:02
>> We'll have
26:09
to go and check. [music] Then there's
26:10
movement.
26:22
Beautiful.
26:31
Quiet.
26:38
>> Yeah. All right, guys. I hope you guys
26:40
got some value with that. Obviously, you
26:42
can always Google Third Assault Brigade.
26:44
They have a bunch of fundraising. Our
26:45
own fundraisers, of course, contribute
26:47
to Third Assault and other units. Um
26:49
but, you know, I hope you guys got some
26:51
value out of that. I certainly did. Uh
26:53
and they are an awesome, awesome unit.
26:55
Guys, be sure to hit subscribe if you
26:57
haven't and a huge thank you to our
26:58
colonel tier members, Mike, Alan,
26:59
William, Thomas, Debra, Jeff, Christine,
27:01
G-Mat, Dan, Al, Don, James, BC, Tree,
27:03
NC, as well as all of our lieutenant
27:05
tier folks. We couldn't do without you
27:06
guys. See you. Cheers.