ReportNorthwest of the capital of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian republic, soldiers of the 6th Ukrainian Brigade entrenched themselves in their excavated position in 2015. Their goal: to block any enemy advance and intercept reconnaissance groups.
Thursday 21 April was a calm and sunny day in the forward position of the 6and Ukrainian Brigade “Grigorovich”, 5 kilometers west of Donetsk. So conducive to a rain of steel, modified by Russian drones and shot observation cameras dug at this position in 2015. But despite the Kremlin’s promises of a “Great Battle of Donbass”, the intensity of the bombings remained inexplicably low on the southern front. We distinguish the instruments and their place in the infernal war orchestra.
“Count! annoying “, Andrei, 33, notes a private, after a long six-second growl. The “grad” are rockets fired as a salvo at Peski, a village under Ukrainian control northwest of Donetsk. “120, Krasnohorivka”, his comrade Vassili, 40, replies after a full and muffled blast. Consider a mortar shell falling on a position in the opposite direction. The concert lasts half an hour, without the explosions coming any closer.
Meanwhile, a handful of Ukrainian soldiers swallow a cream cake offered by volunteers, washed down with chamomile tea. They talk to each other in Russian, seem completely relaxed and in a good mood. “No one in this position has died since February 24, tfou tfou tfou! †Rejoices Petty Officer Andrei, 47, who ends his sentence with a superstitious exclamation mark.
His men haven’t had a day off in five months. “I arrived here in November 2021 and I don’t know when I’ll be home again”explains Vassili serenely. “We will come back after the win. We don’t have a choice”, his comrade Andrei continues. No rotation of the 6and brigade is planned. “We need soldiers everywhere”Vassili continues, with a pensive smile.
The first enemy trench at 600 meters
They haven’t twirled their thumbs in the past five months listening to the grenades whistle overhead. “As soon as the weather permits, i.e. in poor visibility, we reinforce and enlarge the position. The Russians have not been able to penetrate this area at all because we have been locking it since 2014.”explains the prosecutor.
The labyrinthine trenches dug under a line of trees that separated two fields stretched 500 meters in length by the soldiers’ sweat. The walls are clean, covered with planks in places. A basic drainage on the ground allows not to be trampled in the spring mush. Here, a kitchen, there, a bedroom “bunkers” reinforced in the depths so that four soldiers could sleep safely. Observation and shooting posts with heavy machine guns or rocket launchers. A pit for an armored vehicle (absent).
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