Harrowing new drone footage captures hand-to-hand knife combat to the loss of life on battlefield that resulted in Ukrainian and his Russian killer paying their respects to one another – as fallen soldier is called
Harrowing new drone footage has captured the hand-to-hand knife fight to the death that ended in a Ukrainian soldier and his Russian killer paying their respects to each other.
The soldiers were filmed from above during the bloody blade combat, with Vladimir Putin‘s soldier pulling his knife and viciously slashing his rival in the thigh.
The Ukrainian, who has now been identified as Dmytro Maslovsky, 30, fell to the ground and his Russian foe, named as Andrey Grigoriev, kneeled down next to him.
‘When we got into the hand-to-hand fight, we both understood, he understood, too, I guess….there’s only one man out of this situation,’ Grigoriev, call sign Tuta, said.
‘When we went into the hand-to-hand, we both knew that one of us had to die.’
Maslovsky, call sign Cobra, told the victor that he was the ‘best fighter in the world’ and Grigoriev also expressed respect for his opponent.
Bodycam footage filmed by Maslovsky showed the two soldiers opening fire at each other near the ruins of a building blitzed before.
The two fighters were heard hurling insults at each other, with the Ukrainian warrior angrily telling his enemy: ‘You came to [invade] my homeland’.
The soldiers were filmed from above during the bloody blade combat, with Vladimir Putin ‘s soldier pulling his knife and viciously slashing his rival in the thigh
The Ukrainian, who has now been identified as Dmytro Maslovsky (pictured), 30, fell to the ground and his Russian foe, named as Andrey Grigoriev, kneeled down next to him
The emotional moment of the dying soldier telling his opponent he was the ‘best fighter in the world’ occurred after a rare hand-to-hand combat fight that led to a knife battle between a Ukrainian soldier and a Russian soldier
The Ukrainian managed to reach his opponent, grabbing the Russian’s automatic rifle, leading to the hand-to-hand struggle.
Fatally wounded, Maslovsky, from Odesa, had pleaded in words recorded on his body armour video for the Russian to ‘let me die in peace’.
Grigoriev backed away and the Ukrainian, losing blood, said in a message he knew was recorded: ‘That’s it, Mum, goodbye.’
‘You cut my whole body open’, the Ukrainian fighter cried out as the Russian kneeled beside him.
Wounded, the Maslovsky plead for the Russian to let him die alone and saluted his foe, saying: ‘I want to die myself. Thank you. You were the best fighter in the world. Goodbye, you were better.’
Grigoriev – also wounded in the fight – backs off and tells him: ‘Goodbye.’ The Russian’s knife is clearly visible as he backs off, with blood seen on his face.
The defeated Ukrainian then pulled the pin on his grenade in an attempt to take his own life. Grigoriev said the grenade explosion left the Ukrainian even more wounded, with his hand blown off, but still alive.
He then told the Russian to ‘finish me off’, with Grigoriev then shooting his rival to ‘put him out of his misery’.
‘When we got into the hand-to-hand fight, we both understood, he understood, too, I guess….there’s only one man out of this situation,’ Grigoriev (pictured), call sign Tuta, said
Wounded, the Maslovsky plead for the Russian to let him die alone and saluted his foe, saying: ‘I want to die myself. Thank you. You were the best fighter in the world. Goodbye, you were better’
Grigoriev – also wounded in the fight – backs off and tells him: ‘Goodbye.’ The Russian’s knife is clearly visible as he backs off, with blood seen on his face
Fatally wounded, Maslovsky (pictured), from Odesa, had pleaded in words recorded on his body armour video for the Russian to ‘let me die in peace’
Grigoriev – from Russia’s coldest region Yakutia – said in a video interview that Maslovsky had wounded him before he was able to get them better of his foe.
‘I was bleeding from here, I was bleeding from here,’ he said on video.
He spoke of the remarkable show of mutual respect between the fighters despite the brutality of their fight.
‘He realised he couldn’t do anything. He asked me and said “let me say goodbye to the sky, let me say goodbye to my mum”,’ said the Russian.
‘You’ve already killed me’, he said. ‘He said: “You’re the best fighter in the world, thank you”. When I let him go, he says “thank you”.’
Grigoriev, who lost part of an ear in the knife fight, said: ‘I had a combat mission to plant a flag there. My comrade-in-arms and I were riding motorcycles together.
‘When we entered, we were supposed to plant the flag and stand to show that the Russians had entered. Yes, we were supposed to raise the flag, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
‘As we were riding, they attacked us with a drone, and our motorcycle exploded. We continued on foot, and they started attacking us again.
But as he lies wounded the Ukrainian pleads to let him die alone and salutes his Russian foe, saying: ‘I want to die myself. Thank you. You were the best fighter in the world’
The footage is reported to be from Trudove, in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, believed to have been filmed in autumn but only released now
Grigoriev – from Russia’s coldest region Yakutia – said in a video interview that Maslovsky had wounded him before he was able to get them better of his foe
‘My friend immediately fell there, unfortunately [killed]. I rolled back again, and there was a stone shed.
‘A [Ukrainian soldier, Maslovsky] ran up and started talking to me. At that moment, I already knew for sure that I wouldn’t surrender, because in our faith, it’s clear that it’s better not to surrender…
‘In such a situation, it would be better to take one or several Ukrainians with me. It turned out he was deliberately stalling for time so the drone could arrive. The drone explosion concussed me, and at the same time, he began attacking the door.
‘I saw him running towards me, and I met him with a shot. I thought, at such close range, I couldn’t miss. Then I followed him.’
The brutal knife fight then ensued resulting in Maskovsky’s death, he said.
The footage is reported to be from Trudove, in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, believed to have been filmed in autumn but only released now on Russian outlets.
There have been calls from Russian war channels for Grigoriev to be decorated for his bravery.
The sequence, which started with close range shooting and rapidly turned into a fierce knife fight, is a stark contrast from many scenes of a hi-tech war which has featured deadly hypersonic and precision missiles.
