He solely introduces himself as Andrii. A member of a reconnaissance unit of the Ukrainian military who, for safety causes, chooses to not reveal his title or face throughout the interview he provides to Radio France Internationale (RFI), the place he gives a crass portrayal of what’s occurring on the entrance of the Ukraine struggle.
The battle is getting into its first 12 months, now eleven months previous, ad infinitum.
Earlier than beginning the interview, he wants the approval of the superiors and communicates along with his supervisor. “Commander, what am I saying? That I am the chief of a reconnaissance group? Sorry, that is why I am asking you by no means know what’s secret and what’s not‘ he apologizes earlier than starting to talk, revealing the delicate nature of the knowledge he’s about to supply.
Andrii is presently preventing in Bakhmut, one of many Ukrainian cities together with Soledar, within the Donbass area, which is beneath intense Russian siege. Actually, this Friday Moscow claimed the seize of Soledar after a bitter battle, however Ukraine instantly denied and warranted it “Heavy Fights” proceed to manage this space within the east of the nation.
Earlier than his present publish on the epicenter of the fiercest clashes between Russia and Ukraine, Andrii fought on the southern entrance of the struggle in Kherson. Past the geographical change, the Ukrainian soldier factors to a elementary distinction between the Russian troops he confronted earlier than and people he now has to battle.
“There we fought common troops, and the commanders tried to save lots of their males. They didn’t throw them into the hearth like logs. Right here they lead her to her demise. The troopers themselves know they’ll die. They simply do not know if it got here from a Ukrainian bullet or from the Russians behind them, forestall them from returning“, To elucidate.
“They stroll over the lifeless our bodies of their comrades”
The duty of Andreii and his males is to go to the entrance the place the enemy is. Tons of of Russian troopers could be seen on the entrance thrown by him Wagner Group, a paramilitary group that provides troops to the Russian Military, lots of them primarily recruited from prisons.
Though Wagner has no authorized existence in Russia, as personal army contractors are banned, quite a few human rights organizations have repeatedly focused this rising group. alongside Russian separatists from Ukraine in 2014, and that it has additionally intervened in Africa and Syria.
zombies
The group would have two features. On the one hand, “to present the Kremlin a possibility for denial when deploying fighters in struggle zones,” and however, to function a “prepared device.” strengthen their affect with the receptive states.
In Andrii’s description of his experiences on the entrance, the outline of the boys within the Wagner group resonates like a postcard merciless and inhuman from the struggle.
“It is just like the film World Warfare Z. Zombies are at struggle. It is precisely the identical. They stroll over the corpses of their comrades. It’s extremely fascinating. They do medication for me. It isn’t alcohol, it is totally different. As a result of they don’t seem to be afraid. They do not care in the event that they get killed. They solely break down once they can not stroll,” he explains the fighters of the paramilitary group.
the worth of victory
Regardless of the enemy’s dimension and sources, Andrii believes there is no such thing as a doubt that Ukraine will emerge victorious from the competitors. Nonetheless, there are Uncertainty as to when that triumph will come and what is going to it price.
“We will win, that is for certain. The query is: at what value?” the younger soldier asserts and wonders on the identical time. Nonetheless, after months of preventing, he’s requested how he feels His face says all of it.
“Drained. Drained. I imply, like everybody else right here. It is fairly troublesome. What to do? We’re very motivated. We now have to maintain going. We will win, that is for certain. The query is at what price. How many individuals should die? However I’ve little doubt that we are going to win very quickly. Perhaps not this month or subsequent, however quickly,” he says.
The Ukrainians, conscious that they can’t throw so many males to their deaths, are demanding extra tools, armor, artillery. Andrii’s group in flip is requires extra reconnaissance drones.
The scenario in Baymut and Soledar
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky pledged at hand over all obligatory army tools to defend Bakhmut and Soledar to allow them to continued resistance to the Russian army offensive.
The entrance “holds”, he assured.
With out offering figures, Advisor to the Ukrainian Presidency Mikhailo Podoliak admitted in an interview with AFP that Ukraine has suffered “huge losses” on this “bloody battle”, however that They had been “enormous” within the enemy camp.which the Russian Ministry of Protection didn’t verify.
Russia launched its offensive on this space of Donetsk after struggling varied setbacks which led to Russian President Vladimir Putin mobilizing tons of of 1000’s of reservists and launching a punitive bombing marketing campaign towards power infrastructure.
This was introduced by the Ukrainian military on Thursday Assaults repelled in additional than a dozen places area of.
“A lot stays to be executed,” mentioned Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Supply: RFI and AFP