Reporting From Ukraine:https://www.youtube.com/@RFU/videosExcerpts from the video transcript:
Ukrainian POWs Survive a Toxic Gas Ambush, Break Free, and Kill All Russian Captors!
Today [ May 12, 8 pm ], there is interesting news from the Zaporizhia direction. Here, a Ukrainian clearing operation almost turned into a disaster, when Russian paratroopers committed yet another war crime. What followed was a dramatic and daring rescue mission that showcased the coordination and resilience of Ukraine’s special forces. The Ukrainian operation began as a standard preventive and sabotage raid, aimed at preempting Russian attempts to establish forward positions and conduct close-range reconnaissance on Ukrainian defenses ... This mission focused on a suspected Russian observation point near the village of Stepove, where Ukrainian drone surveillance has detected enemy movement. Drone operators identified 3 Russian paratroopers from the 247th Air Assault Regiment taking cover in the ruins of an old structure ... As the enemy regrouped, 3 Artan special purpose unit operatives, with callsigns Ketsa, Anubis, and Klyuchyk, moved in to finish the job and secure prisoners ... the situation took an unexpected turn. During close combat, the Russian paratroopers deployed an unknown chemical agent, incapacitating all 3 Ukrainian soldiers and taking them as prisoners of war ... turned the mission into crisis mode ... the Russians began retreating across open terrain, hauling them toward a settlement under Russian control ...
... the Ukrainian drone operators were still observing. The open terrain gave them a clear line of sight, and the withdrawal path became a kill zone. As the Russian group reached their 1st point of cover, Ukrainian FPV drones struck with precision ... One Russian paratrooper was neutralized instantly. Amid the chaos, Ukrainian soldier Ketsa managed to break free and crawl to a nearby destroyed building, hiding while still suffering from chemical burns ... he ... waited for the right moment, before slipping away to find and wait for what would happen ... his chest was burning from the Russian ga ... Ukrainian FPV drones arrived, signaling that they had not been left behind ... and a 2nd Russian was eliminated shortly afterward. The 3rd attempted to take cover under an abandoned truck, but was hunted down and killed by a final precise FPV drone strike ... a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone approached the 2 remaining Ukrainians ... Anubis and Klyuchyk, delivering instructions from their unit commander. Under guidance from the drone team, the 2 soldiers navigated back through hostile territory, evading detection. Ketsa, who had gone hiding alone, waited until after nightfall to make his way back, finally reaching Ukrainian lines hours later.
The returning fighters didn’t come back empty-handed. Along with enemy weapons taken as trophies, they brought back critical intelligence collected during the mission. All 3 are now undergoing treatment for chemical burns, but are in stable condition. The unit commander underlined the importance of this event for the fighting spirit of his unit, and praised the work of his soldiers. Overall, this event is a vivid example of how dynamic frontline operations can rapidly shift. Even a well-planned raid can turn dangerous, especially when the enemies use banned methods like chemical weapons. Yet Ukraine’s ability to rapidly adapt, coordinate across units, and act decisively prevented a potential disaster. What could have become a tragic loss, instead turned into a remarkable success - a battlefield rescue executed in real time, under fire, with precision and grit.
