The BBC documentary “Ukraine: Enemy in the Woods” by a film director Jamie Roberts was awarded a prestigious BAFTA television award in the “Single Documentary” category.
The film documents a critical seven-week defensive operation in eastern Kharkiv Oblast conducted by the 210th Special Battalion BERLINGO in November 2023.
The documentary provides firsthand footage from Ukrainian soldiers themselves, offering viewers direct insight into frontline conditions. The mission involved approximately 100 soldiers tasked with protecting a strategic railway section running through snow-covered forestland northwest of Kupiansk, which is considered one of Ukraine’s most contested battle zones.
This railway held the tactical significance, as Russian capture would have enabled supply line reinforcement and potentially opened a path for advancement toward Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
“This is an extraordinary portrait of lives compromised by the turmoil of a bloody war, filmed by Ukrainian soldiers,” the description on IMDb states.
Members of the 210th Special Battalion BERLINGO featured in the documentary were primarily volunteers who enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine immediately following the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Director Jamie Roberts dedicated the award to two young Ukrainian soldiers who filmed much of the documentary but were later killed in a tank ambush.
“I want to dedicate this to two people, one is Vovan, who is the main character in our film, and one is Vlad, a 19-year-old from Ukraine. They filmed a lot of the film. We’ve met them in Ukraine. We stayed there for two months on the frontline. Unfortunately they are now dead. they were killed by a tank attack in an ambush but the BERLINGO battalion lives on,” Roberts said during an awards ceremony.
He highlighted the documentary’s role in revealing frontline realities while the BERLINGO battalion continues its mission.
“We’re so proud that we can show people what’s actually happening there [Ukraine’s frontline],” Roberts said.
In February 2025, the short film “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” depicting the harrowing realities of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, won the BAFTA award for Best British Short Film.
Directed by British-German Franz Böhm and featuring Ukrainian actors including Alexander Rudinsky in the lead role, the 20-minute film tells the story of 18-year-old Ivan who takes up arms to protect his family and wounded shelter inhabitants during the war. Rudinsky dedicated the award to his fallen friend and all defenders of Ukraine.
