Horror update on Aussie fighting in Russia

An Aussie fighting alongside Ukrainians inside Russia has been lifting the lid on the reality of the war. Now, there’s a devastating update.

WARNING: Distressing

An Australian fighting alongside the Ukrainians inside Russia as part of an elite group of soldiers has been lifting the lid on the horrific reality of the war. Now he has provided a devastating personal update.

The Queenslander who has requested to keep his identity under wraps had previously told news.com.au about major advances made by Russia in November and described disturbing drone attacks on civilians in Ukraine before they were widely reported on by global media.

Last week, he even shared eerie footage he found on a phone left by a Russian killed by his division in a forest, and claimed to have killed scores of North Koreans fighting within the Russian border.

On Wednesday morning, Australian time, he provided a concerning update on the war and his condition.

On Tuesday, he had been fighting inside the Kursk Oblast, Russia — a region in the nation’s west that Ukraine launched an incursion into in August — in a division tasked with reconnaissance and intelligence.

He claims to have been fighting a North Korean division in the region when he stepped on a landmine.

The Australian said his said he stood on a mine while fighting North Koreans in Russia.

He has vowed to keep fighting if he can walk again.

The mine exploded and tore off large chunks of flesh from his left foot and hand. He shared horrific pictures of the injuries — that are too graphic to publish — and an image of the type of mine he stood on.

‘We are going to lose’

In frantic communications with news.com.au as he was being treated for his injuries on a hospital bed, he said the situation in Ukraine had deteriorated massively in recent days.

He said it was clear from his perspective that Ukraine was going to lose the war, and soon, unless urgent military assistance was provided by its allies.

“We need artillery, we can’t hold them off without it,” he said. “We are going to lose. I am begging our allies to please send as much artillery as possible. Boots on the ground cannot win this. We need artillery and air defence.”

The Aussie’s fight is far from finished. Despite the horrific nature of his injuries, he vowed: “As soon as I can walk I’m going back”.

The Aussie shared pictures, most of which were too graphic to publish, of his injuries.

Shortly before he was taken out by a mine, he shared chilling footage he found on a dead Russian’s phone.

He was fighting in a forest in Kursk Oblast when one of his division heard a rustling sound in the leaves and opened fire.

In the aftermath of the skirmish, one of the Aussie’s peers found the body of a Russian soldier and the camera on his phone was still rolling.

The footage, which has now been shared with news.com.au, is filmed from the perspective of the Russian soldier who is camped silently among the foliage.

You can see that he is armed with a rifle but, bizarrely, he instead opts to open his phone and film an armed Ukrainian fighter who is slowly walking through the woods.

The Ukrainian can then be seen crouching down. He pivots quickly and starts firing shots as yelling can be heard. The Russian presumably ducks for cover as the phone is dropped into the leaves.

Refusing to share too many details on the incident for the security of his division, the Queenslander told news.com.au that the incident took place at the end of November.

“I won’t give location, but the cameraman wasn’t our guy,” he said. “He was an enemy that didn’t get away.”

The Russian was filming a Ukrainian soldier.

The Ukrainian then opened fire.

He also shared never-seen-before footage of his division detonating a mine inside a trench in Kursk last week.

He said it shows his brigade exploding a TM-62 mine at the trench entrance before he and his peers move in and open fire on Russians camped out there.

The mine exploding at a trench in Kursk.

‘We have killed North Koreans’

The Aussie also claims his brigade has killed North Koreans and even shared pictures of bodies with news.com.au that are too graphic to publish. Russia disputes that those killed in Kursk were North Korean — saying Russia has 9.5 million ethnic Asian inhabitants and many of them are fighting for its cause.

“What I can confirm is my brigade has killed North Koreans,” the Aussie fighter said. “We shared this picture (of a body) saying he was North Korean. But the enemy has refuted this. “My opinion is, yes of course he is North Korean. Look at his battle fatigues. This is a logical conclusion.”

Aussie’s chilling warning

The Aussie had also previously told news.com.au about his fears for Ukraine in the coming months.

Incoming US president Donald Trump has vowed to end the war swiftly, which many — including the fighters in Kusk — believe means giving away swathes of Ukrainian regions to Vladimir Putin.

The Aussie said any decision to withhold or drastically reduce aid from Ukraine could be catastrophic.

“If Trump makes an irrational decision to abandon Ukraine — this would get rid of the only safety net Ukraine has,” he said.

“If Trump decides to stop aid, congress agrees with it, and aid halts, Ukraine has to change its tactics. It is possible to hold the Russian advance from advancing with minimal resources, (Ukraine) just have to be smarter.

Ukrainian troops have suffered heavy losses. Picture: Nikoletta Stoyanova/Getty Images

“However, adapting to such a scenario would take time, time Ukraine wouldn’t have. Russia most likely will make it to Kyiv within a year, give or take.

“I assume that if this occurs, there will be more of a spotlight on this war, and other countries may step up to the task of giving Ukraine the resources it needs.”

The Queenslander said Russia had made swift and concerning gains in Ukraine throughout November.

The situation on the ground is dire, he warned, with international troops being killed and maimed every day.

“One of my friends, an American, went on his first mission with a newly formed 2nd battalion with the legion,” he said.

“He was shot immediately and is in hospital. Two friends from the national guard were also casualties with one dying from his injuries.”

He said things were “about to get really bad” as Russians wiped out entire battalions of the international legion he was fighting alongside and made major gains.

He said Russians had steamrolled a staggering 50km of territory late last month and showed no signs of slowing down.

“Russians have recently broken through Ukrainian lines in Donetsk,” he said. “I believe that Russia will make further advancements fast.”

The situation on the ground is dire, he warned, with international troops being killed and maimed every day.

Ruins of the town of Orikhiv, near the front line through the window of a military car on December 2, 2024 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Picture: Nikoletta Stoyanova/Getty Images)

“One of my friends, an American, went on his first mission with a newly formed 2nd battalion with the legion,” he said.

“He was shot immediately and is in hospital. Two friends from the national guard were also casualties with one dying from his injuries.”

Her mum can be heard telling staff not to intervene.

The Queenslander now serves directly in Ukraine’s Armed Forces as part of an elite unit in Kursk.

“We go behind enemy lines and test their fighting ability and weaknesses,” he said. “We gather intel and info on where the best places to send battalion units.

“We are the first ones to push the frontline further, but not in a noisy way. Very quiet. It is dangerous because we head out in no more than an eight-man team.”

The situation for civilians in Ukraine meanwhile is harrowing.

The Australian fighter said Russian drone attacks on civilians, widely reported on last month by global media, were “common knowledge” for fighters in the region who were desperately trying to shoot them out of the sky.

“You couldn’t imagine things here. The enemy is ruthless and their soldiers have done such bad things to the civilians,” he warned.

“If Ukraine doesn’t continue getting help from other countries, or it stops, Ukraine won’t exist … not as we know it.”

Russia steps up attacks

The Aussie’s warning is now eerily playing out in real time, as Russia steps up attacks in southern regions of Ukraine partially under its control.

Overnight, a missile strike killed two people and wounded more than a dozen in the city of Zaporizhzhia.

Mourners hold smoke flares next to the coffin of Pavlo Vedybida, callsign "Obolonchyk", a Ukrainian serviceman and ultras member of Football Club Obolon Kyiv, who was killed in the battle near the town of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region. Picture: Tetiana Dzhafarova / AFP

Southern Ukraine has seen intensified strikes in recent weeks, reinforcing fears of a new Russian offensive.

“A rescue operation is currently underway in Zaporizhzhia following a brutal Russian missile strike,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

He posted a video of rescuers carrying a corpse in a white body bag and searching through rubble after the attack, which destroyed a clinic and an office building in central Zaporizhzhia.

Regional governor Ivan Fedorov said that two people had been killed, lowering the toll from the three previously announced.

“So far, 16 people have been taken to hospital: nine women and seven men,” Mr Fedorov said. Two of the injured were medics and at least six people were trapped in the rubble, he added.

Nuclear agency car struck

Separately, the IAEA nuclear agency, which monitors the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — under the control of Russian troops — said one of their cars was damaged by a drone.

“A drone hit and severely damaged an official vehicle of the IAEA on the road to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant today,” the UN organisation said on X, posting an image of the armoured vehicle.

IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said no one was injured but condemned the attack.

Zaporizhzhia is one of four Ukrainian regions Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022, despite not fully controlling it.

In November, the Ukrainian army warned that Russia was building up infantry and armoured vehicles while stepping up aerial bombardments ahead of planned attacks along Ukraine’s southern front.

This photograph shows the graves of Ukrainian fallen soldiers at the Lychakiv cemetery on the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in Lviv on December 6. Picture: Yuriy Dyachyshyn / AFP

Escalated fighting in Zaporizhzhia would pose a significant threat to Ukrainian forces, which are losing ground in the eastern Donetsk region and in Russia’s border region of Kursk.

Moscow has made steady gains in recent months, including on Tuesday, when the Russian defence ministry said it had captured the village of Zhovte near the Kyiv-held supply hub of Pokrovsk.

Ukraine has been pleading with allies for more support to help it fend off Russian troops on the battlefield and daily aerial attacks.

President Zelensky reiterated that call after the Zaporizhzhia attack.

“Each of these strikes proves that we need to enhance our air defence capabilities,” he said.

“This matter depends entirely on political decisions: decisions by the US administration, European leaders and other partners around the world.”

Ukrainians ‘living in fear’

In the eastern Kharkiv region near the front line, a woman told AFP that she and her neighbours feared that no one would be left alive by the time the war ends.

In her village of Ridkodub, Lyudmyla Kovach said that drone and missile attacks that destroyed her neighbours’ homes and the remaining residents “live in fear”.

“We want it to end as soon as possible so that people can live in peace. Soldiers are being killed. So many people have died and it’s especially sad to see children being killed,” the 71-year-old said.

“Maybe they want to kill everyone so that there is no one left. I just don’t get it,” she added, an icy winter wind whipping up snow blanketing the ground.

Russia has stepped up its attacks in recent weeks. Picture: Ramil Sitdikov / POOL / AFP

Kovach added that she wanted negotiations to end the war but worried whether talks could be successful.

“By the time the talks are over, by the time everything is settled, there will be no one left,” she said, the sounds of explosions echoing in the distance.

Ukraine handed $20 billion loan

The United States announced overnight that it has disbursed a $20 billion loan for Ukraine backed by proceeds earned on frozen Russian assets, as part of a $50 billion G7 support package.

The money forms a significant chunk of the $50 billion in new loans finalised by Group of Seven advanced economies in October, aimed at helping Kyiv as it struggles to fight back against Moscow’s ongoing invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Picture: Sergei Supinsky / AFP

The funds come at a crucial juncture for Kyiv as questions swirl over the future of its US backing once President Joe Biden hands over power to Mr Trump in January.

The incoming president has questioned the level of financial support given to Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 invasion, saying over the weekend he will “probably” reduce aid to Kyiv.

“These funds — paid for by the windfall proceeds earned from Russia’s own immobilised assets — will provide Ukraine a critical infusion of support as it defends its country against an unprovoked war of aggression,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

The G7’s loans “will help ensure Ukraine has the resources it needs to sustain emergency services, hospitals and other foundations of its brave resistance,” Ms Yellen added.

President Zelensky said on Tuesday he was “deeply grateful” for the disbursement, calling it “a powerful act of justice.”

The support “will strengthen Ukraine’s defence and help protect our sovereignty and people against unprovoked aggression,” he added in a separate statement.

— additional reporting by AFP