"Everything is dead": the villages Ukraine took back in Dnipropetrovsk
Maryan Kushnir's short front-line report finds 26 reclaimed settlements in ruins, and soldiers who must race along the roads to stay ahead of drones.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 87,192 views a day, 38 times a normal first day on this channel (2,299).
Ukraine Retakes 26 Settlements. This Is What’s Left
Posted less than a day ago, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's new Short carries a hard piece of arithmetic from eastern Ukraine. The narrator gives the gain first: Ukrainian forces have liberated 26 settlements in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Then comes the cost. "The villages are destroyed."
The soldiers in it say the same thing in their own words. Oleksandr Shpak, speaking indoors, explains why he keeps going: "I want to stop the enemy from advancing further and destroying other places. But what we're taking back is ruined." Over aerial footage of bombed-out buildings, he sums it up in three words: "Everything is dead."
A drone operator who goes by "Italiyets" describes the work that made the advance possible, flying strikes around the clock to support the infantry. Captions place some of the footage with Ukraine's 425th Assault Regiment. The report adds that an informal buffer zone has formed in the area, slowing Russian troops from pushing deeper into Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhya, and that the operation to reclaim the ground began in January 2026.
The last scene belongs to Kushnir himself, in military gear, explaining why nobody lingers on these rural roads: they travel by quad bike and vehicle, as fast as possible, because there may be drones overhead.
About 79,000 people watched within 19 hours, many times the channel's usual start for a Short, and the comment section filled far faster than usual, with many viewers thanking Kushnir and telling him to stay safe.
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- Subscribers
- 877,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 656,012
- Channel views, pace per day
- 251,533 (on a normal day: 218,836)
- Video published
- October 21, 2026
- Video views so far
- 79,416 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 87,192
The numbers
A front-line Short that drew a far larger first-day audience than this channel's Shorts usually do.
💡 Test your knowledge
How does Maryan Kushnir say the team gets around near the front in this report?
Kushnir says they move by quad bike and vehicle, as fast as possible, because drones may be overhead.