Our men surrendered to the Russians who made them kneel in the dirt… then shot them – I saw it all on the live feed

WHEN a squad of Russian soldiers forced their ­prisoners to kneel successful the dirt, each Yulia Mykytenko could bash was watch.

As the trailblazing pistillate commandant of a Ukrainian drone platoon, Yulia was successful the horrific presumption of witnessing warfare crimes unfold successful existent clip via a unrecorded provender connected an iPad.

Her squad had spotted the Russian paratroopers successful the last stages of an battle connected a frontline Ukrainian ­outpost successful the Donbas region.

She watched arsenic the Russian troops blasted teardrop state into the bunker, forcing its 5 Ukrainian defenders to travel spluttering into the open.

Yulia, 29, tells The Sun: “We saw it each connected the unrecorded feed.

“Our guys didn’t person clip to react.

“They had to travel extracurricular to breathe.

“When they came out, they ­surrendered.

“The Russians made them kneel.

“Then they changeable them.

“And the Russians took implicit the position.”

Such atrocities are not unusual.

Ukraine says it has recorded much than 90 cases of prisoners of warfare being captured and executed by ­Russian invaders.

All but a fistful happened this year, and Yulia suspects it is simply a caller policy.

She says: “The Russians are not taking prisoners now.

“They are shooting them successful beforehand of our drones.”

Witnessing war’s horrors has go a gruesome portion of her job.

Sometimes she has to usage her drones to find dormant oregon wounded comrades.

Once it took her fractional a time to find what was near of her much-loved commander, Captain Dmytro, who was blown to bits by a nonstop deed from a Russian artillery shell.

Those are her darkest days — erstwhile comrades are killed oregon maimed and she cannot bash thing to help.

Yulia is nary alien to loss.

Her worker hubby Illia Serbin was killed by Russian shelling successful 2018.

Her begetter Mykola, a sergeant, acceptable himself connected occurrence successful 2020 to protestation against what helium saw arsenic President Zelensky’s nonaccomplishment to basal up to Russia’s aggression successful the run-up to Putin’s full-scale invasion.

And, possibly inevitably, she has mislaid 1 of her ain soldiers connected a ngo that she gave him.

When I inquire her however she copes, she says: “I don’t cognize however to answer.”

‘I despise men who don’t support their family’

Then she adds with quiescent steel: “The 1 happening I tin bash is not fto each those feelings overwhelm me.

“I see that portion of my job.”

How is morale successful the service much broadly?

“I consciousness highly tired,” she says.

And with that tiredness comes vexation that not everyone is pulling their weight.

Yulia, who speaks fluent English and dreams of being a nonrecreational translator, says: “Sometimes it annoys maine that radical backmost location inactive person mean lives, going to restaurants and shops and the cinema.

“Especially erstwhile I spot men unneurotic with their girlfriends and children and they cognize that my soldiers don’t person those opportunities.”

Squaddies similar her get conscionable 15 days’ permission a twelvemonth arsenic the conflict rages.

She adds: “I deliberation each grown antheral and pistillate who is capable to clasp a firearm indispensable service and support themselves.

“It is not the state you are protecting, it is yourself and your family.

“If you can’t support yourself and your family, past you person nary close to unrecorded successful your country.”

As she talks, her fury grows: “I despise specified men who don’t instrumentality a firearm and support their family.

“And I despise the women who chose specified men and who fell them.

“I would beryllium precise funny to spot what these men volition bash erstwhile the Russians travel to their houses and commencement to rape their wives.”

Then she checks herself.

She says: “On the different hand, I consciousness bully erstwhile I instrumentality to Kyiv for 15 days and tin person my mean beingness successful cafes and theatres.”

When Putin unleashed his full-scale penetration successful February 2022, Ukraine’s equipped forces were swamped with enthusiastic volunteers determined to support their country.

Yulia was 1 of them.

She rejoined the 54th Mechanised Brigade wherever she had served successful the Donbas with her precocious hubby Illia betwixt 2016 and 2018.

But arsenic the warfare has dragged on, that excavation of volunteers has dwindled.

War has dragged on

Countless thousands person been killed oregon injured, and Kyiv has had to draught men by unit to regenerate them.

Shocking footage has shown men of warring property being dragged kicking and screaming from bars and clubs into waiting constabulary vans.

Like galore of her comrades, Yulia has mixed feelings astir Ukraine’s exigency draft.

She says: “A twelvemonth agone I didn’t enactment forced mobilisation.

“Soldiers who travel to america that mode are not precise bully soldiers.

“It’s rather hard to transportation them to beryllium warriors.”

Now, much than 1,000 days into the bloodbath, it feels similar it mightiness beryllium Ukraine’s lone option.

Yulia says: “It is not a bully idea, but it is the lone mode to capable the service with radical due to the fact that we person a close to person a rest.”

The 25 soldiers successful Yulia’s platoon are each volunteers.

One is simply a erstwhile YouTuber, determination is simply a sailor from the merchant navy and a machine engineer.

Some are ­former battle troops who person travel to her portion shell-shocked oregon scarred from their clip successful the infantry.

For those who are physically unscathed, the grinding warfare takes its toll successful different ways.

‘If West is not decisive determination won’t beryllium peace’

Recently, 1 of her soldiers asked her if helium could spell connected permission due to the fact that his young lad was forgetting who his begetter was.

Yulia says: “My comrade came to maine and asked for a vacation.

“He said, ‘Can I spell connected permission due to the fact that my lad started to telephone maine uncle’.”

Luckily, Yulia agreed. “I told him, ‘Of course, wherefore didn’t you travel to maine earlier?’ ”

When Yulia visited London earlier this twelvemonth to beforehand her ­critically acclaimed biography, How Good It Is I Have No Fear Of Dying, it was her archetypal interruption from ­hostilities successful astir a year.

It came arsenic President Zelensky was touring Western capitals promoting his “victory plan” to extremity the war, which hinges connected joining Nato to deter a aboriginal Russian invasion.

Yulia is convinced that bid talks are coming and the warfare whitethorn yet beryllium implicit adjacent year.

She says: “I americium definite that we volition negotiate.

“We are exhausted.

“Russia is exhausted.

“Both sides are exhausted.”

The contented is whether that bid volition endure.

She says: “If the West has capable condemnation to support the ­pressure connected ­Russia, if it lets Ukraine into Nato, past determination is simply a accidental to debar the adjacent question of aggression.

“But if the West is not decisive, determination won’t beryllium peace.

“There volition beryllium a abbreviated intermission to hole for the adjacent question of war.

“And unfortunately, Russia volition beryllium acceptable for it overmuch sooner than Ukraine.”

• How Good It Is I Have No Fear Of Dying: Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko’s Fight For Ukraine, by Lara Marlowe, is published by the Head of Zeus imprint of Bloomsbury, £20.