International Legion - Battle of Severodonetsk - 8 Hour Firefight (06/08/22)

On the morning of June 08, 2022, as part of a larger, coordinated effort to push the Russians back in Severodonetsk, Foreign Service Group-Alpha conducted an offensive operation to recapture territory from the Russians. This footage was captured by one of the team members during the operation. -OPERATION SUMMARY - FSG-Alpha inserted partway into the city via armored vehicle, before continuing to the Ukranian line of control on foot. Both Ukranian and Russian lines of control in the city were separated by a small strip of "No Man's Land", where most of the fighting occurred. FSG-Alpha's mission was to push into said "No Man's Land", clear, capture, and then hold several buildings until reinforcements arrived. The mission proceeded fairly uneventfully until the team began the push into "No Man's Land". While crossing the street and capturing the first building, the team was spotted by a Russian fireteam that was, presumably, attempting to capture the same street. The Russians engaged FSG-Alpha, firing two grenades from an underbarrel grenade launcher. The grenades landed within meters of several FSG-Alpha personell, alerting them to the presence of the Russian fireteam. FSG-Alpha engaged the Russians in return, and the firefight escalated from there, turning into an 8 hour long engagement that only ended when the sun set and darkness fell. Both sides made heavy use of rockets and RPGs, as well as tank and artillery support. Mid-way through the firefight, a second Russian element, located in an elevated position further down the street, attempted to assist the first Russian element, by firing on the building occupied by FSG-Alpha with a PKM equipped with armor piercing rounds. These rounds penetrated the walls of the building, narrowly missing several FSG-Alpha team members. Additionally, FSG-Alpha was briefly fired upon by Ukranian units located behind the team, who recieved fire from the aforementioned Russian elements, and mis-identified FSG-Alpha's position as a Russian one. As the sun set, the Russian elements retreated back down the street to their line of control. FSG-Alpha continued to hold the captured building, and captured a second, adjacent building as well. After nightfall, the team was backfilled by elements of the Ukranian National Guard, allowing the team to extract under the cover of darkness, to rearm and recuperate. Miraculously, FSG-Alpha took no casualties during this operation. Foreign Service Group-Alpha is a team of the GUR branch of the International Legion of Ukraine.