A Ukrainian drone operator being followed by a film crew feared his life could end at 'any moment.' He was killed the day before the documentary aired.

• An Israeli documentary followed Evgeniy "Dodge" Markarov, a Ukrainian drone operator in the Donbas.
• One day before it broadcast, the team received a call saying Markarov had been killed.
• He'd been philosophical about death in the footage, musing that his life could end at "any moment."

For days, an Israeli documentary team slept, ate, and lived alongside Evgeniy "Dodge" Markarov, a Ukrainian drone operator, as he went about defending his country from Russian attacks.

The footage of the 39-year-old formed a core part of a powerful documentary that was broadcast on Israeli TV last week, showing life on the frontlines of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region.

But a day before it aired, the filmmakers got a painful call.

A source in Ukraine relayed the news that Markarov had been killed by Russian artillery fire.