CALLSIGN SNAKE

SYNOPSIS

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Savita could not simply stand by and watch. The young German woman travelled to Ukraine during her semester break to help. As a driver for international journalists, she was one of the first to witness the atrocities committed by the Russian army in Bucha and Irpin. What began as a humanitarian mission drew her ever deeper into the war from that point onwards.

She wants to do more. Having previously dropped out of her medical studies, she joins a group of European and American volunteers as a frontline medic in the Ukrainian army. In no time at all, she becomes an indispensable part of the closeknit community, alongside whom she now lies in the trenches, saving the lives of wounded comrades and among whom she also loses more and more friends on the battlefield. When the Ukrainian army pushes back the Russian troops in the successful counter-offensive in autumn 2022, it seems for a brief moment as though they might win the war.

But as the gruelling war of attrition drags on and on, it eventually puts her relationship with her husband Karl – whom she left behind in Germany – to the test. Her soulmate – and the first man with whom she ever felt truly at home – grants her complete freedom and supports her in her struggle. Yet his concern for her, her moral obligation and her loyalty to her new friends tear her apart more and more from within.

In January 2024, Savita loses her life whilst attempting to rescue two wounded comrades. CALLSIGN SNAKE tells the true story of a young woman who goes to Ukraine out of political conviction – and ultimately stays there above all because her fellow fighters have become friends whom she does not want to let down. A loyalty that takes her further and further away from her old life and, in the end, demands everything of her.