From the personal war diary of “Nikas”, soldier of the fire support platoon of the 2nd Mechanized Battalion, 3rd Separate Assault Brigade. Fall 2024 – Winter 2025, Kharkiv region.
These young men and women could be chilling on a beach or sitting in a university classroom, but instead, they’re digging dugouts, dealing with constant artillery attacks, patching up wounded comrades, and pounding the invading enemy in return. And in the rare moments of quiet, they do what all soldiers do — shoot the proverbial shit, tell bad jokes, and look out for one another.
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Original source: The 2nd Mechanized Battalion, 3rd Separate Assault Brigade https://youtu.be/vNmCC-lp2ZA
Aired: February 12, 2025.
With a *human-made translation* and properly timed subtitles by the author of this channel.
All rights reserved.
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*Notes:*
The song that plays in the background as a leitmotif goes: “I’d rather wait out my youth here…” Hence the name of the film.
(1:01) FCO — a Fire Control Officer.
(5:02) a 60mm M2 family mortar. My guess, a Serbian M57 or a Canadian M19.
(5:55, 10:01) AGS — an AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher, a Soviet analog of the Mk 19. Fed via “snail drums”. Fires 30mm VOGs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGS-17
(6:47) VOG — a generic name for all types of fragmentation grenades for under-barrel and automatic grenade launchers.
(11:31) KAB — a guided aerial gliding bomb.
(15:31) — Notice that “Nikas” (radio call sign “Lada”) is lobbing 60mm mortar bombs without the increments (propellant bags), using only the ignition cartridge — meaning the enemy is very close. These guys are operating dangerously close to the frontline, where almost any weapon can reach them.
(The minimal range of an M2 family mortar, firing a stock HE bomb without increment charges, is around 180 meters at a 70-degree barrel elevation.
The maximum range, with four boosting charges, is 1,844 meters at a 45-degree elevation.)
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