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Like his Academy Award-winning film, 20 Days in Mariupol, Ukrainian director and journalist Mstyslav Chernov once again gives us a heartbreaking and honest look at the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 20 Days, we followed first responders through the city of Mariupol during a siege. In his new documentary, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, we follow the soldiers fighting against the invasion, trying to reach a strategic location — the village of Andriivka — in order to drive Russian forces back. While watching 2000 Meters to Andriivka, I often felt pulled in two directions. On the one hand, the film highlights brotherhood and camaraderie, hope in the face of the hopeless, and the fierce desire to defend one’s home. These things feel within my grasp and understanding, and Chernov is excellent at creating intimate portraits of everyday people.
However, on the other hand, the film’s setting and environment exist in what looks and feels like an alien landscape — a world from the past, not 2023. Decimated forests, villages turned to rubble, and pock-marked land littered with bodies, this part of Ukraine does not look or feel like the Europe we know. But that’s the whole point. Chernov shines a light on the war in Ukraine and puts us in the shoes of Ukrainians facing off against an invasion that will dictate the future of their country for decades to come. He forces us to reckon with the reality of what is happening and shows the beating heart of the resistance against Russia’s invasion and the cost of this resistance.
‘2000 Meters to Andriivka’ Presents an Intimate Look at the Face of the War
At one point near the end of 2000 Meters to Andriivka, one of the soldiers that Chernov is following says that even when he falls asleep at night, he dreams of fighting in this war. At the drop of the hat, the lives of these men have completely changed. “I never saw myself as a soldier and never wanted to be a soldier,” one of the men says while chatting to Chernov. “But that doesn’t mean when there is a war in your country, you should refuse to be a soldier. So I came to fight, not to serve. They are two different things.” Throughout the film, we meet multiple soldiers who volunteered to join the war. They are not blindly serving a leader that moves them like chess pieces across a board, but they are fighting tooth and nail for their home. These are men with families and regular jobs, with dreams of the future and full lives that they’re waiting to live, but once they enter into the waking nightmare that is this war, all of that vanishes.
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Multiple times, we meet a soldier who, during moments when they’re hiding in the dugouts, opens up to Chernov. Good-naturedly, they talk about their life after the war. One man promises to only smoke a normal amount a day when he gets out of the war, cutting down on his bad habit. Another talks about his university life, finding out that Chernov’s alma mater is a rival to his. Each time, I found myself charmed by these soldiers who candidly talked about their personal lives. And each time, Chernov would reveal that that same soldier would die at some later date, never able to escape from the nightmare of war.
The success of 2000 Meters to Andriivka lies in this format that Chernov presents to us. Instead of numbers on a page or names on a sheet, we get to know these men and not only put a face to the name but a life full of potential that they’ve been robbed of. They are placed at the center of each chapter of the film, becoming our de facto protagonists. In chronicling this offensive attack, Chernov offers us a visceral look at what Ukrainian soldiers have been facing for the last decade.
‘2000 Meters to Andriivka’ Shows the Ruthlessness of Modern Warfare
Pairing body cam footage with these personal vignettes into the soldiers’ lives offers a complete image of their experience. Not only do we meet and learn about these individual men, but we see the sacrifice they make as soldiers. One of the toughest parts of the film to watch comes near the beginning. Here, we are not with Chernov but with a group of soldiers. The entire battle is chaos and death. The soldiers might be carrying modern weapons and wearing modern uniforms, but it feels like a scene plucked out of a World War I movie rather than our world today. We follow them as they crawl and flatten themselves to the earth to prevent them from being hit by bullets. We watch as they scramble away from explosives. And, we watch as they try to preserve the life of their comrades, only to watch them die on the battlefield.
For these men, this war is deeply personal. They aren’t on the other side of the world in a foreign country fighting for a cause that they might not believe in. Many of the men are from the area; this is their home. They default to calling Russian troops “motherfuckers” and “cocksuckers.” When they’re caught in a firefight, one yells passionately at the Russian soldiers, asking them why they are trying to take away his home. We watch as men take countless injuries. One man loses the ability to use all four of his limbs, another asks for his comrades to simply leave him to die, and yet another is so shell-shocked by an attack that he is left dazed and speechless as the soldiers guide him from dugout to dugout. The land is littered with bodies as we pass through the forest leading up to Andriivka.
At one point, we meet a Russian soldier who is captured by the Ukrainian soldiers, and even he replies that he doesn’t know why they came here when he is questioned. As Russia bombs the land indiscriminately, treating its soldiers like cannon fodder and willingly wiping complete towns and villages off the map, a horrible feeling arises. Russia’s endless resources will always end up overwhelming the Ukrainian troops. For Ukraine, every bullet, every grenade, and every inch taken back is precious. The lives of these soldiers are precious and their sacrifice is everything, but without more resources, will their sacrifice ultimately amount to nothing?
Hope Is the Rarest of Resources in ‘2000 Meters’
At the end of 2000 Meters, Andriivka is taken back by Ukraine, and it’s a moment where we should feel triumphant, but Chernov points out that in less than a year, the village will be reclaimed by Russia. Much like 20 Days in Mariupol, I often felt hopeless while watching this film. Even small victories ultimately feel like the cost is too high. The odds feel insurmountable. Is victory even possible for Ukraine? It honestly doesn’t feel like it at some points. But that doesn’t quash the hope the soldiers cling to while on the battlefield. Every victory is still a victory.
At one point, a soldier comments on the destruction of Andriivka and speaks hopefully about a future when everything is rebuilt. And even though Chernov, jaded by the horrors of war, silently disagrees, it feels like hope is their most valuable resource at this point. And when a spark of life is found in the rubble of Andriivka, the hope that something good and innocent can survive this war feels possible. It reminds us that all of the death is not for nothing and that though it will not sustain forever, even a small bit of hope can be enough to survive on.
2000 Meters to Andriivka premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
2000 Meters to Andriivka
Mstyslav Chernov once again offers us a deeply personal look at the Ukrainian resistance against Russian invading forces, reminding us of the horrors of war and the value of hope.
- Release Date
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January 23, 2025
- Runtime
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106 Minutes
- Director
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Mstyslav Chernov
- Chernov’s method of combining body cam footage with first-hand accounts from soldiers is extremely effective.
- The film excels at highlighting the lives of each of the Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield.
- While it can feel hopeless at times, the human element of this documentary offers us the belief that even the insurmountable can be overcome.
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