Tank Rounds And War Trophies As Ukraine Shows Retaken Villages

Moments after Ukrainian soldiers in their nation's east noted a brief lull in fighting, a Russian tank round smashed into the ground nearby, sending a column of soil upwards.

In frontline villages taken back from Russians in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian troops appeared to be in full control of roads and were surveying the area with drones.

But they were being nevertheless harassed by Russian forces battling against Kyiv's long-awaited offensive.

Ukraine announced last week it had seized the village of Storozheve, part of 90 square kilometres (35 square miles) of recaptured territory.

Ukrainian marines from the 35th Brigade were standing by in the settlement earlier this week, waiting for the order to fire a mortar.

Soon after AFP reporters arrived on a press tour, small arms fire could be heard nearby.

Then a loud bang, identified by soldiers as tank fire, sent dirt flying into the air just across the road.

Reporters took shelter down steps cut into the ground, until the threat of another round landing nearby passed.

"With a tank you don't hear the firing. In a split-second, you hear the incoming fire," said a driver for the marines with the call sign Matyoryy, or Streetwise.

"Luckily, the Russians have two left hands," he added.

The marines appeared relatively relaxed throughout and brought reporters mugs of tea afterwards.

"The situation is basically as always -- a little bit them (attacking us) and a little bit us (attacking them)," said Valentyn, a marine from the southern region of Odesa, who took part in the village's recapture.

"First we covered our infantry so they could storm it, then we went in," he said.

Entering the village, "we saw ruined buildings and a bunch of dead (Russians)," he said. "We took a fair number of prisoners and they left a lot of their dead here."

"There were five or six just lying on the road."

Ukrainians have removed Russians' bodies from safer areas but they remain in more dangerous ones, he said.

"We'll push the Russians back a bit further and then we'll clear up the rest."

The soldiers then received a command to fire 120 mm mortar rounds.

There appeared to be more outgoing than ingoing fire and Ukrainians were able to fly surveillance drones.

Ukraine has trumpeted the capture of several small villages -- whose residents had almost all fled or been evacuated earlier.

Houses had shattered roofs and holes blasted through walls. Trees were splintered to the base of the trunk.

A Ukrainian flag flew from a largely destroyed central building, in the village of Neskuchne, which Ukraine announced it had captured on June 11.

Signs of Russian occupation are everywhere. The letter "Z" symbolising Russia's war was painted on walls of houses and gates.

Ukrainians had left the body of a killed Russian soldier lying on his back on the road, his skin blackening and his teeth visible.

At the roadside, there was a smell of more dead bodies hidden from view.

Several birds of prey hung in the air.

Soldiers showed trophies taken from Storozheve -- a bulletproof vest with a Russian manufacturer's label, a Russian tricolour symbol and the date 2022, as well as very heavy armoured plates for vests.

They also showed an old-fashioned metal helmet with Dzhekson (Jackson) written in Cyrillic on the chin strap.

"When the Ukrainians pushed them out, they (the Russians) left a lot of equipment and ammunition," said Ivan, deputy press officer for the brigade.

He said he planned to hand the finds to a museum.

Many of the soldiers were from Donetsk region and said they were motivated to join up by what was happening to their home cities.

"They started firing a lot on Sloviansk. I just got sick of it," said Matyoryy, a former chauffeur, referring to his home city some 170 kilometres away, which has been regularly shelled.

"We're on our land," Valentyn said of the counteroffensive so far.

"That's not an achievement: that will be when I buy an ice cream for hryvnias on Red Square," he added jokingly.