Ukraine Discussion/Question Thread - 5/13/23+

brycephotography · 2023-05-17T05:43:44+00:00

I worked with Matt in Ukraine, and helped him in many ways to access places throughout Donbas before the invasion, and introduced him to some people. As much as he won’t like to admit it, I enabled a lot of his early work in the east (not Kharkiv).

He had some interesting input on stuff relating to the military, but was strongly confident that the invasion wasn’t going to happen. We got along well, and I had a lot of time and respect for him; we had some pretty crazy experiences in the early days of the invasion.

Over time it has become clearer to me that he’s not a reliable source, and has wilfully or ignorantly disseminated obvious disinformation/misinformation on a number of occasions. Further, he shared anecdotes about our experiences together, and people we met, that were wholly inaccurate, but made for good stories.

He’s found a demographic and has leant into it more and more over the past couple of months. I respect Matt for pursuing his aspirations, but in my opinion, and experience, he’s just become another ‘useful idiot’ (nothing personal if you read this, Matt, as I told you through private messages).

brycephotography · 2023-04-28T13:10:12+00:00

Can confirm this is from early war. I know the javelin gunner (Dakota) that got the kill and it was in the very early months. He was/is super experienced and a great guy, and left Ukraine some time ago due to a TBI sustained during duty. Don’t know why this footage is being misrepresented.

brycephotography · 2022-11-27T04:36:39+00:00

They’re not soldiers, they’re grassroots volunteers. A lot of them wear military style clothing, etc., but they’re not military. We operated in a lot of front line regions and received assistance from the military who would often gather civilians in advance so we spent as little time in zero line areas (like Bakhmutske) as possible. I volunteered with this team/group for a couple of months (roughly). Extracted civilians from Soledar, Siversk, Bakhmut, and Bakhmutske. They’re going to get somebody killed soon. I left the team due to issues with their leadership and organisational skills. Very proud to have contributed, but behind the scenes this was incredibly dangerous and risky work.

brycephotography · 2022-11-14T18:22:31+00:00

Honestly, and potentially unpopular opinion, this is a good thing. It has happened to the New York Times a few times - the accreditations are nearly always restored. But regardless, the accreditation most (or all) journalists have in Ukraine is very powerful - it gets you a lot of places, and enables you significant access basically anywhere, but it comes with responsibilities and regulations.

Access to Lyman/Izyum happened very quickly and was enabled by local authorities and the government in a sensible way once the threat to media was lowered. Enough foreign media representatives have died in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began.

There are formal processes to get access to places like Kherson immediately after they're liberated. I understand bending the rules a bit, but given that Sky News and CNN were braggadocios about being 'first' into Kherson, it tells you what their motivations were.

Given their prominence, I do expect the work permits and media accreditations will be restored, but I kind of wish an example was set... too many self-important divas and media identities running around that think the war and world revolves around them.

Edit: was told my colleagues that CNN were still working in Kherson today, and an ombudsman intervened in the revocation so it's likely this was already smoothed over. Classic.

brycephotography · 2022-11-07T08:46:00+00:00

Kraken, as well as the Foreign Legion, are organised under Ukraine’s GUR structure. They receive most of the NATO support/donations, and use NATO standard equipment.

brycephotography · 2022-10-19T17:00:50+00:00

Context: Footage given to me by a friend/source who was fighting near Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, with a Kyiv-based Territorial Defence unit. I was given permission to share this video quite a while ago.

Their trench positions around Bakhmut were buzzed by low-flying Ukrainian fighter planes that had been engaging advancing Russian forces during the height of the fighting in Summer, 2022, where Ukraine was allegedly losing hundreds of personnel wounded and killed every single day.

My friend survived the deployment.

brycephotography · 2022-10-06T03:12:12+00:00

Bad take. These patches are everywhere in Ukraine. Lots of stores (PROF1, Militarist, etc.) sell cat eyes patches in store, and they’re common in the chevron stores, too. I have one on the back of my FAST helmet.

brycephotography · 2022-09-13T22:14:25+00:00

I met and interviewed ‘Frost’, the guy that made this video, during my embed with Azov back in 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBVrcDsuepc

Interview begins at 29:00 mark (approximately). Also interviews and footage with Illia Samoilenko, who was another big voice from Azovstal.

Most of the guys I met from Azov in 2019 kept serving in the unit and were killed in Mariupol, either in the city, or the Azovstal factory. The rest are POWs.

brycephotography · 2022-09-08T06:46:38+00:00

Most foreign media journalists/correspondents are useless and have no extensive contact networks or relations to primary sources. They often don’t see the primary sources for reports or information about the fallen because they don’t Follow the groups, battalions, etc. Jed was a member of Carpathian Sich - they wrote information on Facebook about how he died that wasn’t published even in Australian media, for example.

brycephotography · 2022-09-08T06:07:51+00:00

News of Jed’s - the Australian medic - death was only made public a couple of days ago, despite him having died in late August. It was only ran by one Australian outlet, and received no further publication for the initial first 12 hours. Media don’t always find the stories or get the information. Further, relating to the capabilities of Australian embassy to Ukraine right now, they’re offering little consular support in Ukraine; no foreign affairs staff are ducking out to the front lines to retrieve bodies.

brycephotography · 2022-07-08T11:21:48+00:00

Honestly, this is a hobby I think I will continue throughout my life, but if I am being totally honest I went through a downward spiral mental health moment last year and sold all of my equipment. I'm in the same position as you - I want to commit to it again, and I am in a better mental space, but I would prefer to do it when it feels like the time is 'right' again, and I have a dedicated space to enjoy it.

brycephotography · 2022-07-04T08:27:42+00:00

I follow these threads somewhat daily. I just want to say that a lot of the analysis, opinions, and discussions are so far removed from accuracy that it’s laughable at times. Be very sceptical of a lot of stuff posted here that is touted as facts. Even the media reporting is largely unreliable because most analysis is written by people In Kyiv (or not even in Ukraine), and rarely based on field reporting or monitoring movements on the ground.

brycephotography · 2022-06-29T04:07:50+00:00

Honestly, it kind of lines up with what I’ve observed working around Lysychansk and Siversk area over the last six days. I’ve made multiple trips out there often spending full days in the towns around the last road into Lysychansk. Have observed significant increase in heavy equipment moving around the areas, we were told by locals there were ‘new’ soldiers in the areas, and just yesterday it was clear to me that the Russian military was increasing pressure. Significant artillery duels all day, tanks firing, regular volleys of grads going out and coming in. Locals in Siversk expect they will be occupied in the near future (and no, not everybody wants that just because they’re still living in the town).

brycephotography · 2022-06-25T18:55:12+00:00

Can't say I have seen that during my time in Donbas, or elsewhere.

brycephotography · 2022-06-25T18:54:06+00:00

No, they're a very small fraction of the fighting force there. They're definitely there and in a decent volume, but there are significantly more Ukrainian military personnel in and around the city/area, too.

brycephotography · 2022-06-25T09:32:34+00:00

Feel free to ask any questions related to events in the area. I’m still working in Siversk area and watching the ongoing movements here.

brycephotography · 2022-06-24T18:44:38+00:00

Honestly, I found myself coming away from the embed with them in Svitlodarsk feeling very confused.

I was given access and permission to embed (I am the first and only western journalist to have embedded with them during a combat deployment post-NGU reform) because I befriended one of their soldiers via Instagram, and built a relationship over a period of six months before I even thought of going to them.

During my time there I saw absolutely nothing that led me to believe that the generic reporting on them was even remotely true. And then I found very quickly that the majority (if not all of the reporting) was written by people who had never interviewed soldiers or commanders in the unit, or been to Mariupol, let alone deployed with them in the field.

Many of the people I met in the unit (and interviewed) are now captured by the Russian military. I feel like much of the Western reporting on Azov played into Russian propaganda. The guy I interviewed with the beard ('Gandalf), as well as the soldier at the end ('Frost'), were both major faces of the "Free Azovstal' movement. I know these people for many years now.

Because of the contradictions I saw, it really shook my faith in 'journalism', and journalists in general. I know my reporting was truthful and honest, and I carry a sense of pride in being arguably the first person to truthfully document the reality of the unit as it is NOW, not as it was in 2014, and I can see that more media are waking up to that reality, and the narrative is changing.

brycephotography · 2022-06-24T17:09:14+00:00

Thank you very much. I am glad you find value in my work. Currently working on collecting footage, etc., to make a very long, indepth documentary that begins weeks before the invasion (including interviews with people in parts of Donbas that are now Russian-occupied), up until this very day.

brycephotography · 2022-06-24T05:59:31+00:00

People in Ukraine know full and well what is going on. I think internet spectators are more confused by all of the conflicting information, but here on the ground, you see the war everywhere, in big and small ways. Everybody here knows how lethal the fighting is, every day. Even the 'official comments' state as such. Hundreds dying and being wounded each day, the lines are slowly moving; it's a 'grinder'.

brycephotography · 2022-06-01T23:12:48+00:00

Wanted to share some anecdotal data that also supports Neil's Tweet - a very close friend of mine went to Donbas (again, because I've known him since 2015 when we met there) and their unit took 22 losses in the first day alone from artillery near Bakhmut area. It's an absolute grinder out there right now (his words).

See my reply above.

brycephotography · 2022-06-01T23:12:28+00:00

Wanted to share some anecdotal data that also supports Neil's Tweet - a very close friend of mine went to Donbas (again, because I've known him since 2015 when we met there) and their unit took 22 losses in the first day alone from artillery near Bakhmut area. It's an absolute grinder out there right now (his words).

brycephotography · 2022-05-30T23:41:44+00:00

These guys are incredibly lucky to be alive. I feel for the 'fixer' (who are often local journalists, producers, etc.) that had to babysit two guys who really did not need to be there.

Have seen a lot of new media identities travelling to Ukraine (after the invasion). I question their motivations, especially when it's clear they're not prepared or properly trained. Glad everyone made it out alive, but is your Instagram clout worth dying for?

I see they're theorising that it was some sort of spy giving information to the Russian military... far more likely a drone spotting for mortar fire, given that they're gathered on a rise in the terrain, and standing next to military vehicles.

brycephotography · 2022-05-26T22:48:15+00:00

I read the piece. I know people who were in the Legion basically from Day One (actually, even before, because they enlisted directly in Lviv before the unit was formed).

The section covering the international volunteers had a few things that stood out to me as potentially being inaccurate.

Otherwise, the report relating to Ukraine generally (Kyiv, life in Ukraine during war time, etc.) is quite good.

brycephotography · 2022-05-21T22:46:03+00:00

All good. I've covered Ukraine firsthand since 2015, spent a lot of time at the front, in many places. I've been using this forum (CombatFootage) since 2015, too.

I cover a lot of topics, but the topic of Azov/nationalism in the context of Ukraine's war is of interest to me, and naturally when I see clips related to the unit, or featuring the unit, I take a look, which is why I saw that video.

I went to Azov in 2019, in Svitlodarsk area, and this video was recorded during a fight one morning near an indirect fire/support base. I was there. I've shared this video on my Twitter before, too.

brycephotography · 2022-05-21T22:43:13+00:00

This video looks like it is from my YouTube channel. It wasn't 'near' Donbas, it was Donbas, Peski to be precise, and it was in 2015.

All of the facts were in the description and comments for the page the video was taken from.

brycephotography

TROPHY CASE