(30 Aug 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Near Kyiv - 27 August 2022
1. Sniper rifle in foreground, soldier walks towards it
2. Box of bullets near rifle
3. Sniper rifle in foreground, soldier walks past it
4. Tight of soldier putting bullets into clip
5. Tight of soldier putting clip into rifle
6. Tight of ear protection of sniper as soldier takes a shot
7. Tight of trigger as soldier says, "shoot"
8. Tight of gun muzzle as soldier takes a shot UPSOUND gunshot
9. Tight of targets in distance as shot hits UPSOUND gunshot
10. Close up of face and rifle as soldier takes a shot UPSOUND gunshot
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Andriy (asked to only be identified by first name), sniper volunteer:
"I can't talk, I can't talk that I like this and I like to kill the people. But I need to do this. Something like this."
12. Tight of rifle as soldier takes a shot UPSOUND gunshot
13. Close up of sole of shoes UPSOUND gunshot
14. Wide of soldier lying on ground UPSOUND gunshot
15. Targets being hit UPSOUND gunshot
16. Close up of back of head of soldier UPSOUND gunshot
17. Close up of rifle - UPSOUND gunshot
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Andriy (asked to only be identified by first name), sniper volunteer:
"My ideal (situation) will be, will be to return to my to my home, to my family. And (not) one of us wanted to be a warrior, shooter, sniper, and it's just a necessity to be here now and to make what we do, what we do here."
19. Tight of bullet casings on ground
20. Tight of boot as soldier gets up
21. Soldier gets up off of ground
22. Soldier puts rifle into backpack
23. Target in foreground as soldier drives away in background
STORYLINE:
Six months ago, the gunshot noise might have startled Andriy, who had moved to Western Europe to pursue a career in engineering.
His experience resembles that of many Ukrainians who returned home to the war, abruptly pulled from civilian life to embrace fighting methods ‒ modern but also makeshift ‒ that have held back the far larger Russian military.
Andriy comes from Bucha, a district near Kyiv's airport that was hammered during the Russian advance.
Hundreds of civilian killings took place there, the bodies found in mass graves or left lying where they were shot in what the United Nations describes as potential war crimes.
Tall and with a good command of English, the sniper spoke to The Associated Press while practicing alone at an informal firing range near Kyiv, hoping to resolve some issues with his weapon through hours of trial and error before his next deployment.
He asked only to be identified by his first name and that some details of his civilian life remain private.
"I can't talk that I like this and I like to kill the people. But I need to do this. Something like this," he said.
Andriy scrambled home, taking a flight to Budapest and arranging an 1,200-kilometer (750-mile) overland route that included paying "a big amount of money" to a driver willing to take a risky journey eastward.
Within a few days he had joined the ferocious fight around Kyiv, adopting the war nickname "Samurai."
He bought his own gear and a U.S.-made sniper rifle, and began receiving training from a special forces instructor, connected through friends in the military.
While not allowed to discuss any specifics of his operational activity, Andriy describes Ukraine's military as a force that prides itself on flexibility, harnessing a wide range of skills from its personnel to become more versatile in combat.
Snipers, he said, are often used to spot Russian military positions for artillery targeting.
Video shot by Adam Pemble
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/cedac43ae16048b1958b258fcd562776
0 Comments