"But we are fighting for our land, not for money," said the platoon commander. "Our captive told us his salary is 200,000 rubles ," said Yashchir, which is about $4,000 Cdn - a large amount in Russia. He said the tank driver who surrendered was a 32-year-old soldier from Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city. This Ukrainian platoon commander, who goes by the nickname Lizard, says he has been holding down front-line positions for the past 70 days. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in the eastern region of Luhansk, a day after Russian state media claimed the army had driven Ukrainian defenders out of the city of Lysychansk, the last bulwark of resistance in the province. Russia's war on Ukraine has become a grinding battle of attrition, characterized by a 1,000-kilometre front line and punctuated by an ongoing Russian offensive over a relatively narrow 90-kilometre portion near the eastern city of Lysychansk. Ukrainian soldiers interviewed by CBC at their front-line positions say Russia's triumphs in the Luhansk region have obscured hard-won military successes elsewhere - including in the neighbouring Izyum region. Ukrainian officials won't discuss the number of men or the amount of equipment they have facing Russian forces at the front in eastern Ukraine. But they confirmed that this platoon of the 93 Mechanized Brigade operating near Izyum, which is in Kharkiv oblast, has captured three such Russian tanks of late and quickly put them back into service.
Duration 0:56 Ukrainian soldiers near Izyum describe how they captured a Russian tank and what they plan to do with it.
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