Photo: Alexey Konovalov/TASS
“IS HE REALLY RUSSIAN?”
– Father, haven’t you seen ours here? – we slow down at a cabin in an empty border town.
– Who are yours? – He looks at us suspiciously.
Three guys in camouflage and armor with no identifying marks, one with a gun and the others with cameras. The devil knows what saboteurs should look like.
“Russians, of course,” I spread my smile under my helmet as friendly as possible.
“I haven’t seen him,” the man replies reluctantly. “Are you really Russian?”
– Why don’t you go? – I unwrap my red passport and the editorial paper of Komsomolskaya Pravda. – Can you help?
“Yes, I have a mother here, 93 years old,” she sighs with relief. “She doesn’t want to evacuate anywhere.” Yesterday it was very noisy here, but today it is quieter.
However, fierce fighting continues in the Kursk direction. As the acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexey Smirnov, said on Monday, the Kiev invasion forces control 28 settlements on our territory, in which about 2,000 Russian citizens remain. Smirnov confirmed that, in addition to the Sudzhansky and Korenevsky regions, the enemy is trying to actively operate in the Belovsky direction.
The day before, small, maneuverable enemy groups broke into the village of Giryi. This is exactly the tactic that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are currently using in the invasion territory. Mobile units try to quickly break into the villages, after which they spread “news” about the captured villages. However, the appearance of an enemy in a certain village does not mean control over it.
Somewhere the “predators” get on all-terrain vehicles, take pictures and leave. Somewhere they enter small armoured groups and try to gain a foothold. If this is successful, reinforcements will be brought in. But as our reserves get closer, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to do so.
In the Belovsky district, near the village of Giryi, they failed to gain a foothold. Russian drone pilots simply unraveled the group that entered our territory: they burned 7 armored vehicles and took another as a trophy. They also destroyed up to fifty infantrymen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Military correspondent of Komsomolskaya Pravda Alexander Kots.
“WE HAVE STABILIZED OUR LINE”
Russian troops are taking up positions in the Kursk region and in other directions right from the march. Among the reserves that have emerged are units of the Volunteer Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It also includes the legendary Pyatnashka International Brigade, created as a battalion in 2014.
“The situation is tense, the enemy is moving a little, but at the same time is running out of strength,” Senior Lieutenant “Gemini” describes the situation to me, when we finally, not without incident, reach the brigade’s advanced positions.
Part of the journey is done by car, part on foot, accompanied by a drone detector, which periodically warns of the appearance of FPV drones, forcing you to dive into the thick vegetation. From the drop field to the enemy – four kilometers. From the forward positions – one. A minimum distance for modern kamikaze drones.
“Twin” has been fighting since 2014. During the period of “Minsk timelessness” he was involved in politics. He worked in the public chamber of the DPR, and then in the all-Russian one. He was involved in the development of youth organizations in the republic. But when the SVO started, I immediately came to Pyatnashka.
“Now we have stabilized our line, our guys are holding it, they will not advance further,” Gemini assures. – We have something to treat them with. You know, a Russian will greet you with bread and salt or with a sword. And here they will stay. We have no time to reflect. Let’s not blame anyone. We must unite and push the enemy back. And move forward. Of course, I feel sorry for the local people. We experienced this in ’14. I understand how scared they are now.
THERE IS NOTHING TO CATCH A MUSK HERE
One of the problems facing the enemy on our territory is communications. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are hampered by the excellent interaction via the Musk satellite system, but Starlink does not work in Russia. At the same time, the arriving Russian reserves also have to solve complex “equations”.
“We are faced with a new situation for us: too uneven terrain, ravines, lowlands, heights, not like on our soil in Donetsk,” admits the “Signalman” from “Fifteen”. – This is a small problem with an asterisk. But we have already solved it. There is a connection, which means that victory will come soon.
“And there’s something completely inconsistent about you,” I nod at the gun hanging from my neck and the 12-gauge holster on my chest.
– It was gathering dust on my shelf for 8 years of war, but now it works better than the AK. Sometimes we go up to positions where FPV drones are working with a lot of power. The drone detector and the 12-gauge seven-shot cannon solve these problems.
– Pedestrian air defense complex.
– Absolutely right. The main thing is a worker.
In a creaky but reliable SUV with fancy electronic warfare (EW) antennas on the roof, we rush to the positions of the drone operators. As soon as they arrive at the location, the drone pilots immediately deploy a reconnaissance point from which they fly, detect targets and eliminate them if they have enough of their own resources. Or they transfer targets to higher authorities, to heavier calibers.
“HERE THEY ALSO WALKED AS IF IN THEIR HOME”
The drone detector on the dashboard starts beeping again, highlighting FPV drone frequencies, and the driver presses the accelerator pedal.
“They walked here as if they were at home,” the “Pashtun” is sincerely surprised, sitting with the remote control of the quadcopter. – Because they probably didn’t expect the drone pilots to come so close. Others will now be more careful. We just invented different knowledge ourselves, we have our own remote control, we have our own resets, we do something with the batteries, we increase their performance. The record was 18 kilometers of flight on a Mavik (quadcopter).
“Pashtun” is a former participant in the anti-Maidan movement in Kharkov. In 2014 he managed to escape to Donbass, where he joined the militia. In 2016 he became a civilian and first worked in Donetsk in the People’s Council as a leading specialist. And then he left for St. Petersburg, where until recently he lived and worked as a lawyer.
– Are you very concerned about Ukrainian electronic warfare now?
“They only blocked me with a drone attack, and even then, it seems to me, they were ours.” But here, even without that, the conditions are completely different. I’m used to it in Chasov Yar, in Avdeevka: you put a repeater on the roof of a high-rise building and work. The terrain here is a little different, the trees are different, and there are many nuances to take into account.
OUR TURKS
Fate has brought me and Pyatnashka together on different front lines more than once. It seems like we only recently entered Avdeevka together from the eastern side, but a lifetime has passed. From a small militia detachment, it has grown into a real combat brigade as part of the Wild Donbass Division of the Volunteer Corps of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. But at the same time, it has retained its international spirit. Here, in one formation, there are the Arbat-Armenian battalion and the Shir battalion, commanded by an Azerbaijani born and raised in Donetsk. “Brother, we are doing the same thing here. This is my home. I will not tolerate these Nazi things. Uninvited guests came to my house. And I stood up to defend my land,” he tells me. “In my battalion there are Russians, Azerbaijanis and even Turks.”
By the way, here’s one of them. A very young-looking guy with the call sign “Archer” on his chest.
– I know the history of military battles, I know different military strategies. And I think that by participating I can help here, – exults Luchnik, who has already fought at Chasov Yar.
He calls himself a communist and says he couldn’t watch the suffering of the people of Donbass from afar. So I arrived in April. He studied history, studied World War II and the Cold War. He sees Ukraine as a successor to the Third Reich and a terrorist state sponsored by the United States. Idealistic and passionate, as a true volunteer should be.
CHRONICLE OF A DAMAGE
Meanwhile, the Russian Armed Forces continue to destroy the invading forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine along the entire Kursk Front. According to the Ministry of Defense, only in the last 24 hours, attempts to penetrate enemy mobile groups using armored vehicles deep into Russian territory in the areas of the settlements of Obshchiy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alekseevsky were stopped. Aviation and artillery are crushing the elite of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of Mikhailovka, Korenevo, Nikolaevo-Daryino, Oleshnya, Sudzha and Nikolaevka. During the clearing in Ozerki, 4 Stryker armored personnel carriers were destroyed and 6 militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were captured. Aviation and missile forces are destroying enemy reserves in the areas of Miropol, Mogritsa and Petrushevka in the Sumy region.
In just one day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost up to 420 servicemen, 55 armored vehicles, including 3 tanks, 8 armored personnel carriers, 1 infantry fighting vehicle, 43 armored combat vehicles, 31 vehicles, a multiple launch rocket system and an artillery piece.
WORD TO THE COMMANDER
Defending the homeland is the greatest reward for a warrior
– In 2014, could you imagine that your volunteer unit would fight on the territory of the Russian Federation? I asked Akhra Avidzba, with the call sign “Abkhaz”, who created this unit.
– Brother, I could not imagine such a thing. Because imagining means fantasizing. This is not our destiny. If this happened, so be it, we will defend our Motherland everywhere, not only in Kursk, in Donetsk. It will be necessary and in Lvov. We do not care. Because there are our historical lands for which we will defend and fight. Therefore, to be surprised that the enemy behaved in some disgusting, vile way… Listen, he has never behaved nobly before. The destiny of a warrior is to defend his Motherland, this is his greatest reward. We are proud to take part in the second battle of Kursk.
– There is a lot of discussion on the Internet about what happened in the Kursk region…
– Brother, there is always a lot of talk on the Internet. I don’t react to these things. These are people who are on the wave. And now there is a wave of hysteria, some kind of hype or military theme. It’s not that they are bad or evil. No, there was simply a request from the people on this topic and they accepted it. That’s why I don’t react and I will say this: let’s wait and see what you say in a week.
– What are your first impressions of the new battle zone?
– The Armed Forces of Ukraine are now moving with new forces, without fully understanding where and how. Because they are not even hiding under the trees. We will meet you and make you happy. There are both the 80th and 72nd brigades. The first was our opponent at Chasov Yar, the second against us at Avdeevka. They are all old acquaintances, but the people in them are new. Those who were against us before are still there.
– How do you rate the quality of the new ones?
– At the beginning of the Northern Military District there were people who had eight years of war experience. They have left, now recruits are coming. Therefore, to say that we somehow distrusted them… No, we didn’t give a damn about them. Even if they had 100 years of experience, they wouldn’t give a damn. Our country, our Motherland is behind us. Therefore, the experience you have is not an indicator for us. You can practice karate all your life, be the strongest in this sport, have Olympic medals, but 9 grams decide the whole matter.
– How does the enemy behave?
– He doesn’t sit in one place, he’s nomadic. So for now we stop, connect with the left flank, with the right flank and move forward quietly.
– Explain what “nomad” means.
– They came, bit here, went on, made a 15-20 kilometer turn, bit there. And everyone thinks there are a lot of them. But these are small mobile groups, 20-30 people. They are just stretched out. But we will find justice for them, don’t worry.
