Stark video from Ukrainian soldiers shows that little remains in liberated village near Bakhmut

Destroyed buildings are seen in Andriivka, Ukraine, on September 6. Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

One of Ukraine’s brigades has released extraordinary footage of its advance on the tiny settlement of Andriivka, which Kyiv's forces said they recaptured Friday as part of a slow-moving counteroffensive.

The three-minute video, posted to the brigade's Telegram account, was apparently filmed by a camera mounted to a soldier’s helmet. It shows a small group of fighters from the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade making their way through a brutalized landscape of charred trees completely stripped of their branches. Piles of bricks and other rubble dot the land around the advancing fighters — presumably once the houses where Andriivka residents lived.

In one clip, an infantryman braces slightly as an incoming mortar screams past him, landing close by. In another clip, a soldier bends down to pick up an abandoned assault rifle, possibly discarded by a Russian solider. 

Thick smoke hangs everywhere. 

Some background: Andriivka lies southwest of the key city of Bakhmut and has been a focus of Ukraine’s eastern offensive in recent weeks. The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade is mostly involved in fighting around Bakhmut.

Ukraine’s General Staff — made up of its top military leaders — declared it liberated on Friday. But the video, and comments from a brigade spokesperson, make it clear that former residents have nothing to return to.

“There is nothing left of the village of Andriivka. There may be only a few basements. There have been no civilians for more than six months. They were evacuated when Wagner was advancing,” press officer Oleksandr Borodin said on Ukrainian television Saturday morning, referring to the Russian mercenary group which led the assault on the area earlier in the year.

Borodin indicated that Ukraine’s forces will continue their slow advance around Bakhmut.

“Everything is stabilizing. We are consolidating our position, and we are preparing our positions. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. The right flank of Bakhmut is very important. Should the flanks fall, it will be impossible to hold Bakhmut,” he said. 

Russia’s military bloggers describe ongoing fierce fighting Saturday to the north of Avdiivka around the larger village of Klishchiivka.

A top Ukrainian commander said Friday that capturing Andriivka has given Kyiv's troops a key foothold in the area surrounding Bakhmut.

CNN cannot independently verify battlefield claims from either side in the conflict