A searing documentary capturing the brutal, metre-by-metre struggle of Ukrainian soldiers has been declared one of the best films of 2025 for UK audiences. 2000 Meters to Andriivka, the follow-up from Oscar-winning director Mstyslav Chernov, offers an almost unwatchably intimate portrait of modern warfare.
The Unimaginable Journey of a Single Mile
The film's title refers to a distance of just over a mile—a short walk or a quick drive under normal circumstances. Yet, in the context of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in late 2023, this stretch of wooded land became a lethal gauntlet. Ukrainian forces from the third assault brigade fought for weeks to advance towards the abandoned, one-street town of Andriivka, a target on a key Russian supply line.
What should have been a ten-minute advance was transformed into a several-week nightmare of relentless Russian artillery, sniper fire, and aerial attacks. Chernov, embedded with the troops, was virtually the only documentarian on this specific frontline, working in an environment flooded with propaganda.
A Harrowing Fusion of Footage and Testimony
Chernov masterfully blends his own recordings with soldiers' bodycam footage, creating a visceral, first-person view of the conflict. The result is a chaotic and devastating sensory overload, described as a fever dream blending First World War trenches with modern drone warfare.
In rare moments of downtime, the film captures the soldiers—mostly young men in their twenties whose lives were upended by the full-scale invasion—in reflection. Tragically, for many of these individuals, the footage serves as their final record. The documentary stands as a stark memorial to their sacrifice.
An Essential, If Punishing, Cinematic Experience
At 106 minutes, 2000 Meters to Andriivka is described as an almost unspeakably devastating watch, leaving viewers physically and psychically exhausted. It forces audiences to confront the reality of young men who, in another life, would be at university or starting families.
Beyond its immense power as a film, it serves multiple crucial purposes: a definitive document of 21st-century combat, a verified record of events, a tribute to the fallen, and a testament to Ukrainian resistance. The film also echoes Chernov's profound fear that as the war drags on, global attention will fade.
By immortalising the specific, pyrrhic struggle for Andriivka, Chernov's work ensures that the human cost and brutal specifics of this battle are not forgotten, challenging any growing international complacency towards the conflict.
