YOU ARE THE GREATEST FIGHTER IN THE WORLD

INTERLUDE 03

Here be dragons was a phrase written onto maps in the old times, back before satellites and streamers had stared into every abyss the world has to offer. It served as a warning: unknown danger lurks in this area. This part of the globe was a mystery. In our world—one plugged-in and switched on 24/7—there are few dragons left. Zeroes and ones turn myth and legend into live action. Everything is uploaded and shared. Liked and remixed. There is no privacy. There is no wonder. Whether you’re getting stabbed in the street or railed by strangers, it’s getting broadcast somewhere.

This has never been so true as it is at war. The proliferation of trench warfare footage set to a high speed phonk soundtrack has hit an all-time high. Desk-based war understanders use it simply as a means of fanfare. They pick a side and edit accordingly, as if conflict is a football match. As a journalist who’s been on the frontlines for the past 11 years, from Syria to Ukraine, I find it all a bit crass. I’ve never once shied away from the harsh realities of life in my work, but removing all context from the hell of war as a means to score points online doesn’t sit right with me.

That said, frontline footage without context doesn’t interest me so much. Usually, I don’t watch it unless it’s relevant to my work. Recently though, I felt to press play on a video that would prove to be somehow apocalyptic in its content. I was speechless when it ended.

In early January 2025, the hellish video in question surfaced on social media. It depicts footage shot on a frontline helmet cam. POV style. Call of Duty, but it’s real. The full version, 15 minutes long, shows a Ukrainian soldier and a Russian soldier engaged in extreme close-quarters combat. It’s not particularly gory, but it is brutal beyond words.

The fight begins at a distance. The two men are shooting back and forth at each other in a mangled landscape of war. What was once an area for homes and agriculture is now a scorched nightmare of shrapnel and cordite in East Ukraine. They’re at the very front of the frontline. Some call this the “zero line”. It’s arguably the scariest place to be in war. It’s definitely the most dangerous. I’ve been to more than a few, and nearly got hit in the process.

The helmet cam belongs to the Ukrainian. After the distanced firefight, we see him moving through the wrecked remains of some brick buildings.

“I’m going in for the clean-up,” he calls into his radio, back to base. “He’s in the other house.”

The Ukrainian is hunting down a Russian soldier who’s survived the back and forth. As he approaches, gunfire rings out at close distance from behind a remaining wall. The Ukrainian is caught off guard and hits the dirt. He returns fire. At some point he loses his gun in the rubble. It’s unnerving even to watch.

“Fucking hell!” shouts the Ukrainian, as he reaches for a grenade and throws it into the Russian’s cover.

A dull thud can be heard as it explodes. The Ukrainian runs back round the corner, expecting to finish off whatever remains of the Russian. Instead, though, the two run head on into each other. The Russian has his rifle drawn. Barrel forward. He escaped the grenade in time and ran out to fight his attacker. He fires twice. Somehow he misses and the Ukrainian literally reaches out to grab the rifle and the scruff of the Russian. It is unbelievable.

“Fuck! Fuck!” he roars as he fights for his life with his bare hands.

Growls and muffled struggles of the two men can be heard as the camera shakes in chaos. Then the sky comes into shot. The two soldiers are now on the ground. They continue fighting. The Ukrainian manages to pull his combat knife free and begins stabbing the struggling Russian soldier. The two lock hands, each trying to stop the other. It’s a fight to escape certain death. The stakes are as high as they get.

The Russian rolls over and manages to mount the Ukrainian. He grabs the knife by its blade. The Ukrainian knocks off his helmet. We see the Russian’s face for a moment as he lunges forward and bites the hand holding the knife. The Ukrainian claws at the Russian’s face trying to gouge out an eye. Teeth in flesh, fingers in an eye socket, the knife still locked in both their hands.

The Ukrainian shouts for backup. There’s no one to hear him. The head cam rolls around a bit. The next time we see the knife it’s firmly in the hand of the Russian. The stabbing is mostly out of shot, but you know it’s happening.

“Let me go,” says the Ukrainian. “That’s enough, please.”

Burned out metal rebar and smashed concrete populate the scene as the Ukrainian rolls onto his side. There’s fresh blood on the broken paving they’re fighting on. He continues calling for the base to help, his radio chirping as he does. No one answers.

“You fuckers! I hate you!” he shouts.

More struggling. They fight for the knife once more.

“Stop resisting and I’ll let you go,” says the Russian.

The two continue to writhe and claw at each other until the Russian breaks free with the weapon. His leg can be seen taught as he balances himself in a knelt position to stab the Ukrainian to death.

As the soldier lays dying, you can see him holding on to the Russian. He’s keeping him at arm’s length but also steadying himself as he prepares for the end. Both men are out of breath, bloodied and wounded. The Ukrainian mortally. At this point he stops calling for backup and realises there’s no more.

“That’s it mama,” he says. “Goodbye.”

The Russian is still stood over him. The Ukrainian asks him to leave him alone now.

“Please let me die in peace,” he says. “You’ve killed me already.”

The Russian’s face is washed in blood, and he’s clearly beat up, but he’s alive. He looks around. It’s a medieval scene set in the modern day. The battlefield is strewn with debris. Blood visible around the Russian’s neck. The knife is in shot, still firmly gripped in the Russian’s hand.

“Please let me die in peace,” the Ukrainian repeats.

The Russian silently agrees. He gets up and walks away. The Ukrainian says thank you, then calls after him.

“You are the greatest fighter in the world,” he says.

“Goodbye,” says the Russian.

“You were better than me,” calls the Ukrainian.

For the next five seconds or so, the destroyed landscape is still. The Ukrainian can be heard breathing heavily. Then again, in the distance now, the Russian calmly says goodbye. The Ukrainian says it back. Only now radio chatter can be heard. The POV changes as the soldier rolls onto his front to die. At the bottom of the screen, blood drips from his jacket as his last breaths blow white vapour. The video ends.

This rare skirmish is one of the single most profoundly human experiences ever captured in motion. Shakespeare couldn’t dream of this. The footage is a hellish renaissance painting in 1080p. It is a tragedy retweeted, liked, and memed. A modern apocalypse. Maybe I sound dramatic, but it is dramatic.

Amongst the viscousness of this fight, both men showed an unspoken and somehow tender acceptance of their situation. The Russian is generous in his final act. The Ukrainian is brave till the very end, and no doubt beyond. He lies there in the dirt of the land he fought for. A country invaded and destroyed on the orders of a Russian despot with Botox. What a cruel but apt villain for our modern world. As for the Ukrainian, he slowly bled to death. His last words were used to praise the man who killed him. No one can understand it but them.

2025