On the day that Ukraine's President
Zalinski led celebrations to mark the
country's independence from the Soviet
Union in 1991, we start the program with
a special report from the front line on
what Ukrainians, both fighters and
civilians, are having to endure.
Thousands of people gathered to hear
President Zalinsk's defiance speech,
saying they were not victims, but
fighters, and that peace was getting
closer. He and his wife laid flowers in
tribute to those who lost their lives in
the war. The area here in red shows how
much territory Russia now has control
of. But Moscow wants the whole of the
Donbass region which is rich in
resources. Tens of thousands of soldiers
have died on both sides for the smallest
gains in territory here. Russia now
controls most of it and the fighting
there is more ferocious than ever. Our
international correspondent Quaintin
Somerville and camera journalist Darren
Conway have spent the past week in the
frontline town of Doorrabilia and a
warning that their report contains
detail of injured soldiers which some
viewers may find distressing.
The threat comes from the skies and
Ukraine's miles of anti- drone netting
only offers some protection.
We're following a team of rescue
volunteers to the front.
>> There's an FPV drone, a Russian drone uh
overhead. So, we're moving as quickly as
we can to get out of here because Russia
has been targeting the evacuation
convoys as well. They've come to
evacuate people from the frontline town
of Doilia,
but the Russian drone is still overhead.
We're told to take cover.
>> Stay on the tree. Stay on the tree. The
detector not only identifies drones, it
sees the Russian operator's live TV
signal.
>> Get out of the cars. Out of the cars.
>> And it's getting closer.
>> Out of the cars. Out of the cars. Out of
the cars.
>> We head for better cover. The drone is
on the hunt. But Lars and Varia have
done this run dozens of times. So they
watch and wait.
They can see the drone's explosive
charge.
>> It's an RPG warhead.
>> Drone jamming equipment is turned on,
but it doesn't combat all threats.
>> It's coming down this road.
>> Mhm.
>> As he looks for visual confirmation.
Lars calls in the sighting to other
rescue teams.
>> The FPV is in Maladus and we're
currently hiding in the building waiting
it out. If anyone else has a mild evac,
do not go there. was clearly visible and
it was from 3.3 GHz. They were hunting
down here and there was a RPG warhead
underneath.
>> But still there are people to be
evacuated from here
>> even as the bombs start falling.
>> 246 and something else like
>> eventually they find Tatiana and her son
Anton.
What's the most dangerous part of this
job?
>> Actually drones because drones are for
us. They are flying all over us in the
sky. It's FPV. It's ammonia etc. And
they aiming exactly the volunteer
vehicles.
>> Most of the population has left Doilia.
The shelling is constant and they
haven't had water here for a week.
This parting will be especially painful.
Look in war. Towns are lost and won and
lost again and people are evacuated from
their homes time after time. Donbass is
now firmly on the negotiating table. And
so for the people here, people who've
lived here for generations, these may be
permanent goodbyes. Let's go.
But still, Tatiana isn't ready to
abandon her home.
Go out of doubleilia as soon as we can,
as fast as we can.
>> The young one behind me, how old is he?
>> Yep. 15.
>> 16.
>> 15.
>> All right. The young dude is uh
underage, so we go out maximum speed.
Good luck.
>> Their car is full of evacuees, so Anton
rides with us.
>> Do you think Ukraine should give up
Donbass for peace?
I think we need to sit at the
negotiating table and resolve this
conflict in a peaceful way without
blood, without victims
because war is very scary and it's very
painful. It's just horrible.
>> Russia is creeping forward here and we
move forward too. Near Doilia, small
groups of its troops broke through
Ukrainian lines. Ukraine says they've
been pushed back, but as we saw for
ourselves, it came at great cost.
We head to a field hospital not far from
the fiercest combat.
Here we have to kill the lights.
Everything is a target.
>> It's the medic's busiest time. The
injured can only be collected under the
cover of darkness.
So, it's all hands on duty tonight.
>> Senior left tenant Dimma is one of the
surgeons.
>> The soldier on the gurnie has lost most
of his right leg in a drone attack.
[Music]
>> It took days to recover some of these
men from the battlefield.
>> Tens of thousands of Ukrainian men have
died for Donbas. Yes.
>> Is it worth it?
>> It's a different It's a complicated
question. Yes, I think it is because
it's our country. It's our
land and it's
our freedom.
>> Our freedom from from Russian.
I think it is. So they're holding on
here with all their might.
>> Too busy fighting and suffering to pay
much attention to faroff peace talks.
>> This man has a bullet wound to the
chest. Much of the combat here has been
at close range.
About a quarter of the injuries they get
here are gunshot wounds. Most come from
drones. This medical stabilization point
you see. You've never seen so many heavy
injuries.
And this is why Russia doesn't want a
ceasefire. Ukrainian casualties are
mounting. And here in the Donbas,
they're on the back foot. Russian
casualties
are higher,
but it can sustain them. So for Moscow,
it's a ruthless calculation.
Keep fighting on the battlefield and
make bigger gains at the negotiating
table.
>> We have to stop it. But we don't want to
stop it like this. We want back our
territory, our people,
and we have to punish Russia for what
they did.
>> Do you miss civilian life? Do you miss
peace?
>> Of course. Of course I miss it.
And everybody misses.
We want we just want to go home to live
in peace without this nightmare,
this blood, death
and all this.
>> And every day brings a fresh nightmare.
Russia bombed 72-year-old Ivan's
hospital. Now he's searching for his
wife.
If you bring my wife to me, it would be
a great gift
>> for him. There will be no peace until he
finds her.
Much more than just land will be lost
here if Dombas is surrendered.
Quentyn Somerville, BBC News, Doilia.