Under fire: Dramatic video shows Australians at war in Ukraine

Dramatic footage has emerged of Australians fighting in Ukraine showing the chaos and horror on the frontline as their unit is targeted by drones and enemy gunfire | WATCH

Footage released online of an Australian soldier fighting in Ukraine, shot in October, as Ukrainian troops tried to repel Russia's 336th Marines in Zaporizhzhia.

Dramatic footage has emerged of Australians fighting Russian forces in Ukraine showing the chaos and horror on the frontline as their unit is targeted by drones and enemy gunfire.

It is believed to have been shot by Geelong man Noah Tassalini, 19, who is serving with Ukraine’s 16th Battalion.

The GoPro footage, posted online, shows his unit taking heavy fire as it shoots at unseen Russian soldiers and drones flying overhead.

Several Australian voices can be heard, with one yelling “I’m going to skin you!” across enemy lines.

The video was shot in October as the Australians joined Ukrainian troops trying to repel Russia’s 336th Marines in Eastern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.

There is swearing as the Australians fire unsuccessfully at a drone, and laughter as they take cover in the trenches after surviving a burst of enemy fire.

“Missed us!” one of the Australians yells, as another tells him to “relax”.

There is also a taste of Aussie humour, with one of the Australians branding his mate an “inconsiderate bastard” after what appears to have been a brief misunderstanding.

“They’re close, they’re close,” one says, amid heavy weapon fire. “Head down, head down.”

At one point, the soldiers scatter as a drone approaches. At another, the soldier capturing the footage says he is almost out of ammunition.

The Australian was unable to contact Mr Tassalini, but in recent posts on Reddit he said he was recovering from “some pretty sever (sic) contusions and other bits and bobs”.

In earlier comments to Seven News, he said he joined Ukraine’s foreign legion in February.

“I didn’t want to sit around in Australia and watch it all happen. I just wanted to come here and actually do something,” Mr Tassalini said.

He said he and an unnamed Australian friend had grown up quickly on the battlefield.

“When you’re that close … you (sic) got to take a second to think and pray you don’t get hit, but then you’re back up,” he said. “Because the moment you stop is the moment you die.”

Geelong man Noah Tassalini has travelled from Australia to join Ukraine’s foreign legion in February. Picture: Seven News

The Australian fighters could one day be replaced by blue-helmeted Australian Defence Force personnel, after Defence Minister Richard Marles left the door open to the possibility of the ADF playing a future peacekeeping role in the country.

After a meeting with British counterparts in London on Tuesday AEDT, Mr Marles said the ADF would extend its training of Ukrainian troops in the UK through next year under Operation Interflex.

He said Australia’s immediate focus was “on supporting Ukraine now, such that it can resolve this conflict on its terms”.

But he declined to rule out a future peacekeeping role for Australian troops when asked directly about the prospect.

Tassalini is fighting with Ukraine’s 16th Battalion.

A number of Australians have been killed fighting in Ukraine, including Victorian man Joel Benjamin Stremski and Queenslander Matthew Jepson, who died while holding off Russian troops in the country’s east in October.

Retired major general Mick Ryan, who has tracked the war closely, said there were “quite a few Australians” supporting Ukraine’s war effort, including in combat roles.

“They’ve shown a level of commitment that very few other people in our society these days are willing to show,” he told The Australian.

“It’s something that I think is very admirable. It’s something they should be respected for and, at some point, hopefully, recognised for, whether it’s in Ukraine or here.”

US president-elect Donald Trump said this week he was determined to end the “carnage” in Ukraine, hinting his administration could force Kyiv to cede its lost territory in a ceasefire deal with Russia.

“We’re trying to get the war stopped. That horrible, horrible war that is going on in Ukraine with Russia. We’ve got a little progress. It is a tough one, it is a nasty one,” Mr Trump said in his first press conference since winning the US election in November.

He said the number of people being killed in the war was “astronomical”, and suggested Ukraine would have to accept a compromise.

“You know, it’s nice to say they want their land back, but the cities are largely destroyed,” Mr Trump said.