Artem Kariakin and his battalion were routinely crossing the Ukrainian border into the Russian village of Sudzha until a little more than a week ago.
He shows me a phone video of their most recent journey, which shows Ukrainian forces retreating from the Kursk region of Russia. It depicts them passing scores of burned-out military and civilian cars.
A soldier looks for Russian drones over the horizon while brandishing their shotgun, which is their last line of defense. One suddenly flies in the direction of the rear of their truck. Even as sparks fly, they continue.
They were fortunate, according to Artem, because the explosive charge was insufficient to deter them.
Not so lucky was another truck in the area. It was burning already.
