Text taken from the Live Journal account of BMPD. Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] A fragment of the revelations of a character from the Ukrainian 47th Brigade , which led the attack on Rabotino, which was supposed to be taken on the first day of the offensive in June 2023.
– How did you start in the 47th Brigade? I understand that you and they studied abroad together.
“When I was called to the 47th, they said that this would be a new company that I could create myself. But as a result, I came to an already created company. She even completed training in western Ukraine. I come and they tell me: “Here are 110 people, take them.” I ask: “How? They told me to create a company.” - “It has already been created, catch it.” What to do - accepted.
– Who was there, people of what professions? Was there anyone with military experience?
- There were several so-called ATO officers, but among them there were completely different people. There were those who simply spent some time in the dugouts. These guys weren’t going to storm anything at all. Their main task, as I saw, was to be less noticeable. We then parted with them. But there were people who actually went through the ATO. Here Petya Kolodiy became a company technician. The man, firstly, is in his place, secondly, brave, thirdly, you understand that the man fought and knows what to do. This is a person who could figure out any engine and get parts. And when we were hit, he covered me, shouted: “Commander, I’m close!” I forced him to move away and jump into the trench. But he is really brave, I respect him.
In general, the contingent was very diverse. There was a man who frankly said: “I have many children. I will not go to war. And in general, I have enuresis - here is a certificate.” What will you do? There were those who did not always understand where they ended up. They were simply mobilized, they were brought in, abandoned, and they also did not understand what was happening.
But the majority were highly motivated. People came from big businesses. I asked the question: “Why? Everything was fine with you.” “I think it’s right to defend Ukraine.” It was people with high motivation that I tried to rely on.
- Tell us about the preparation, because your team spent almost the longest time preparing and went through different techniques. How do you assess that people were basically taught to fight?
- The preparation was long, because at first it was, as I remember, reconnaissance. Then it became an assault regiment, and later a mechanized brigade. The tactics of an assault regiment and a mechanized brigade are completely different. Therefore, people had to be retrained. Was the preparation long? Yes, I was. But are people to blame for this? No. It is not the soldier’s fault that the command’s plans are constantly changing.
- Well, it’s good that the preparation took a long time, people learned...
– You see, most people “burned out”, and you simply forced them to find the fire in themselves once again. Constant communication, constant explanations of why this happens. Understand: first you are an assault regiment and you learn to storm houses. Then they say: you are a mechanized brigade and they give you [MRAP-class armored vehicles] MaxxPro, which you see for the first time in your life. They are given grenade launchers, it seems Mk 13, and you don’t understand how to install them.
And then they take everything away from you and give you Bradley [infantry fighting vehicles], but you also need to go and learn how to use them. That is, three learning processes actually took place, people went through three CMBs. Of course, they "burned out". And I am very glad that in my company the people did not lose this fire, and when they needed to complete tasks, they completed them.
I will say that a very big responsibility lay with the platoon commanders, who in some places understood my logic, in others they themselves came to conclusions. And when they said, for example: “You will attack at night,” people quite consciously trained at night, put marks on themselves and learned to walk along trenches - at night. Even after studying in Germany, we continued to study. We did not let the soldiers relax.
- Okay, what about you? You knew that your friends were fighting while you were studying. How did you motivate yourself that the day would come when you too would be useful?
- It was hard to understand that friends are fighting, and you... Yes, you understand what responsibility you have. You are a company commander, you have 119 personnel. If you start whining now, then that’s it, the company will fall apart. Difficult. OK. Take the ball - play...
- Is Bradley really a reliable car? What impression did she make on you?
- Americans have a completely different approach to learning, not the Soviet one. How does training for infantry fighting vehicles take place in the Ukrainian army? “Children, here’s an infantry fighting vehicle, but we won’t start it, because there’s no diesel fuel. But here’s a cannon, but we won’t shoot, because there’s no cartridges. And in general, don’t touch anything with your hands, because it’ll fall apart. It’s better to practice landing - and All". That is, in fact, the soldier knows how to parachute from an “infantry fighting grave” (because the BMP-2 is a fighting grave), and that’s all.
This is how the training process happens in our army. And in the American: “Here is Bradley.” And the diesel fuel doesn’t run out, neither do the cartridges. We fire 74 rounds a day, and we log normal miles. The Americans were not afraid. On the first day they explained where everything was, and on the second day we got into the cars and each of the crew (the infantry studied separately, the crews separately) drove five to ten kilometers.
On the first day of driving, I simply backed up at night and refueled the equipment. And they always asked: “Do you want more?” I said: “I want.” We had night shootings, daytime shootings, and round-the-clock shootings, and we slept in cars. Again, until we learned, until every driver understood what was required of him, until every gunner-operator, every vehicle commander disassembled and assembled that [25-mm automatic cannon] Bushmaster in seven minutes...
Unfortunately, when I didn’t succeed, I reacted very emotionally, so the American soldiers said: “Oh! Nikolai, #damn !” But the eighth time I succeeded, I understood how it was done. Until you learn to do everything automatically, you are going nowhere. You are not doing the following exercise. Next to each was an instructor, and next to each was an interpreter. It is impossible not to learn how to use modern machines.
– Listen, I had this feeling: oh, this is a cool car! We will definitely win them now!
– Yes, there was a feeling that it was a cool car. And there was a feeling of confidence. You learned so much from it, you understood what was involved, what breakdowns could occur, how to eliminate them. Again, how are company tactical exercises going? On the first day you learn what is needed from you, but here is a huge field, here is a Bradley - learn to maneuver. And you learn to maneuver platoons, companies, you communicate with each vehicle commander. There were those who worked on the “bekhs” [BMP-1/2], they said: “Oh, this is a rocket bomb!”
- Then you already knew that you were being prepared to carry out a powerful assault in some direction, that a big bet was being placed on you?
“I understood this during company exercises, and was convinced during battalion tactical exercises.” Because what we stormed in company-tactical and battalion units reflected both the topography of the Kherson region and the “teeth of the dragon.” The Americans got confused and did everything we needed to attack. The only thing that was not provided for was mined landings.
During company-tactical and battalion exercises, we constantly used this, entering through landings to the rear (the Americans played the role of the Russians). I was proud of my guys, who actually walked six to eight kilometers through the forest and discovered enemy observation posts. It was very interesting.
Each company commander had the same company commander - an American, and you had to ask him questions. If you weren't ashamed, everything was explained to you. I constantly asked questions. My “Captain Jack”... Even his eye twitched from me, but until I fully understood the task, I did not leave his side.
We spent the night on those exercises very often, and he explained to me for the twentieth time how to properly use the Bradley. Again, there were people who fought in the Persian Gulf, and they explained how they countered the tanks there. It was all interesting. Basically, I tortured everyone very cruelly. I had Chris, he had already died... He had very good English, and the two of us constantly hammered the Americans to understand everything. I think the problem with several companies of the brigade, brigade officers, was that instead of beating their instructors in the same way, they went to sleep. It's my opinion.
– When did you arrive in the area of responsibility and receive the task? When did you receive the order to go on the assault?
– First, we were relocated to the Zaporozhye region, to the south, this was back in mid-May. There was already a corps planning, all company commanders were invited to it. There they began to show us what would happen next. That is, in May I understood perfectly well what needed to be done, I understood the task of my company. I gathered the platoon commanders and squad leaders and began to inform everyone of his actions. We were even able to simulate the positions that we needed to storm, and every night we practiced, practiced, practiced...
We strained all our financial resources, bought night vision devices because there were not enough of them, although we were better equipped than other brigades. There was a very strong kinship. Each soldier understood his task, each could clearly say what he was doing at each stage.
- And the burden of responsibility, that the whole country is looking at you, that now you will reach Mariupol, and we will win... Didn’t that put pressure on you?
- Listen, I’ve been in this life for a long time... I understand what pretentious chatter is. And I understand: what is planned may not go according to plan. And I told my soldiers a simple thing: it will be difficult, and then you will not fight for Ukraine - you will fight for each other, for those on the right, on the left, behind, in front. And I will fight for you until I am able. And I explained quite calmly: my friend Lis (Dmitry Sanych Yevtushenko), the best officer I have ever seen, is in charge after me. Honestly, I think he has very great prospects. Dmitry Sanych drops out - his friend Chris (Kingdom of Heaven) follows him, Chris drops out - Professor (Kingdom of Heaven), he drops out - another commands...
Everyone understood the transfer of control of platoons, everyone understood the transfer of control of squads. Yes, this was due to a certain misunderstanding on the part of the soldiers: what else do you want from us? We've been studying for nine months now, we're twisting the turnstiles with our eyes closed... What else do you want?
– When was the first assault that you went on? What was your first experience?
- The first experience - we were late for the assault... According to the plan, we were supposed to storm right behind the 3rd battalion. But due to failures in planning, we were, to put it mildly, about three hours late, so, of course, we could no longer help. It was already morning, and during the day it was very difficult to fight the Russians because of their superiority in artillery, aviation, and UAVs. That’s why we got up to the landing to clarify the tasks. They, taking into account the experience gained by the 3rd battalion, were adjusted. Now we had to walk not 12 kilometers, but only six.
But from what we have already heard from the 3rd battalion and others... You understand, the army is a big collective farm, everyone started asking each other: what, how, where? Having heard what happened and how it happened, I explained to the platoon and squad commanders their tasks, promised the barrier units that we would cover them as long as the Bushmasters continued to fire. And so it happened. We covered them, they did their job, thanks to this we still managed to capture certain positions, repel counterattacks and, in principle, calmly prepare for defense. Russian counterattacks failed to dislodge us.
- What date did this happen?
- the 9th of June. We captured positions, repelled the first counterattack, and began to dig in. I was wounded, control passed to Lis, he subsequently led the company, and led it quite successfully.
We completed the task ahead of us with minimal losses. When other companies already had “two hundredths”, most of the equipment was destroyed, I had only ten “three hundredths”. The dead appeared after I left. But there were objective reasons for this, because the Russians simply interfered with our positions with black soil with artillery.
- How did you blow yourself up, how did it happen?
- Yes, how... We called Bradley, which was supposed to evacuate the first wounded. I saw that she was about to drive through a minefield, I jumped out of the landing and began waving my hands where she should go. I felt the shots, saw my leg flying away, was surprised... Most likely, it was a heavy machine gun, because there were tanks at the enemy position of Real, and they were working.
I started jumping on my left leg, stepped on an anti-personnel mine, and fell on my back. Perhaps the “petal” worked, because during the period when we captured and repelled the first attack, massive remote mining occurred. In the sky every ten meters there was an explosion, an explosion, an explosion... Because of this, the sky became half-black, I have never seen this even in films. The detonation went off and turned me over on my stomach. Something also worked under my chest - I was thrown up again.
I have good armor, so the blast wave went through my hands. After all these explosions, I fell, lay there and looked: my hands were burned. I understand that I can’t get anything done for myself right now. But my friend Piro was near me, I shouted: “Piro, save me!” Piro ran across the minefield to save me. And saved. After a minute or two, he put four tourniquets on me, tied my leg with paracord and dragged me away.
– Was she nearby? That is, they tried to save a severed leg?
“She was holding on to a piece of muscle, dangling. While this was happening, I shouted to him to radio him about the injuries, about the transfer of control. I don't know why I didn't lose consciousness. Until I heard that everyone understood about the transfer of control, I did not calm down, I was hammering him. On one side he bandages my leg, and on the other I shout to him: “Pass over control!” During this time, Bradley saw where the minefield was and drove into the passage. This car evacuated me. So they took me out pretty quickly. Then our battalion medic friend Kover did a good job.
- You said that two minutes before the explosion, your brother-in-law advised you to fasten the collar on your bulletproof vest...
- When we saw that powerful remote mining was underway, friend Piro said: “Commander, let’s tighten your collar after all.” My Kevlar collar was rolled up and they pulled it on for me in two or three minutes. During my explosions, he was torn to rags. I kept it because there were fragments in it. They were even in the tourniquets that were on my limbs. They were everywhere. The Kevlar collar, the front guard, and the armor saved me, I survived.
– How long did the company remain in that position? What tasks did she perform? And how lucky, can you tell?
“I am very proud of my company and soldiers. I am most pleased with myself because I taught them how to fight correctly. I am most pleased with the fact that I understood who can command best after me. I made the management decisions that were required of me. And the fighters did not just fight off counterattacks in this position, being semi-surrounded. They constantly continued to storm it... They did not lose control, did not lose combat effectiveness. They then stormed Real, stormed Barcelona, Rabotino. That is, the fighting continued.
- Why did you have such Spanish names for positions - “Benfica”, “Real”?
“I don’t know, maybe there was a football fan in the building.” But all positions were named after football teams. What was my main task? Capture Shakhtar and Dynamo by going through Real Madrid.
If you have seen a video of an enemy company dying after four minutes, then this is exactly the Dynamo position. Therefore, I am very proud of my company, they are handsome. But many losses could be avoided if orders were not formally followed. Now I don’t really want to criticize our government, our commanders, but sometimes it seemed that the soldiers were not being taken care of. There were cases when it was necessary to hit positions, but they said: “[M109A6] Paladin - expensive shells” ... Therefore, people also died. Because it was necessary to work on art, but they didn’t work on it for some unknown reason. And that’s why my boys died.
– How long did you fight for Rabotino? I think you've been paying close attention to this.
– Wait: the task of taking Rabotino was set on the first day. That is, the battles for Rabotino took place from June 8 until the moment it was taken [at the end of August].
– Your guys went there too.
- Certainly. They came in, made ambushes, and did a very good job. Our 4th company, despite everything, continued to move forward with clenched teeth. Despite the loss of wounded. Many of my fighters have five shell shocks. Friend Fire suffered numerous wounds during this attack and kept returning. Well, now it’s already unwound normally, it’ll take a long time to rest. Three wounds only in the battles for Rabotino... And so for many.
– It is obvious that the Russians in this direction were preparing for assaults. They were not afraid of the Leopards and did not run as expected.
- The whole plan of the big counter-offensive was based on simple things: a Muscovite sees a Bradley, a Leopard - and runs away. All. “Guys, you’ll unwind them there!” - “But there is no active protection on the Bradley!” - “Don’t you piss! She’s already good.” - “And the tankers never fired from the Leopard!” - “Don’t you piss, they worked on the T-72!” Even though all the boys were awesome, I just fell in love with our tankers. - Some tanker by chance got to you...
– It was actually a rocket bomb! The T-64 on the trawls was supposed to work with another company. But then there was a certain managerial chaos. They give me a T-64, I work with it, get into coordination. I have to storm - they take him away from me, they give me other boys whom I see for the first time in my life and who don’t understand the task, they’re just shocked that they ended up here.
And they were dispatched, it seems, in the very first minutes of the battle with the ATGM. We continue the fight, roll back, roll up, continue to maneuver.
And then on the radio: “Friend Fritz, what should I do?”
I say: “Who is this?”
“I am so-and-so,” I understand that this is a tanker who should be with another unit.
“But you should be...” -
“Where is it, I’m with you, I’m on your tail...” -
“My kitty!” I was delighted. “Well, now things are going well for us! The first platoon is there, go around, get ready.” .
Certain elements of chance, due to the fact that some of the decisions of senior commanders were not logical in this particular situation, only confused. But thanks to this confusion, I ended up with another “Teshka” on the trawls, which paved the way for me to the Benfica position. And why did they lay it - because, in principle, the UR [mine clearance installation] had worked on this position before, in the first minutes of the battle. We managed to do this, and we just needed a tank to come through and make the passage again so that the infantry would not be blown up. It's all like some kind of series.
- Is war always chaos?
– Controlled chaos! The main thing here is, firstly, not to go crazy, and secondly, to understand your position in this chaos. And try in one way or another to subordinate it to a common goal and purpose. Yes, it was chaos. Because of this chaos, some companies ended in 15 minutes, some in 30, other brigades generally demonstrated “records”. My company did not end, we had minimal losses. Yes, there were cars damaged. In general, I was the first to be hit, the 152nd [mm] hit me...
- And Bradley...
- ...Bradley withstood everything. The shell hit the starboard side and the gooseneck was damaged. The armor withstood the debris, but the shock wave broke the wiring in the car... The only case when the Bradley could not withstand the impact was when the helicopters were operating, just a week later.
Ka-52 hit the vehicles, and one Bradley detonated. But there are cases when they did not detonate, when they withstood such blows. In principle, this is a very reliable car. This is not a BMP-2, where the entire crew dies, no. The Bradley may be hit, but the crew survives. And the engine is always pounding. The driver is recovering from a concussion, the engine is pounding - let's move on.
Yes, chaos. In this chaos, it is important not to lose contact with the senior commander. Because we need artillery, we need current orders. And when this stops happening, when the battalion sergeant transmits the battalion commander’s orders, this is not very good. Because you didn’t hear the order to transfer control to the sergeant. And in your headphones you can definitely hear that it’s not your battalion commander speaking.
Again, it is very important that senior commanders understand what is happening on the battlefield. You know, the control system in the 47th was so high that on my tablet I could see where each of my cars was. This helped in management, you understood who was where. And the brigade commander understood who was where, and the battalion commander understood. The only thing they didn’t understand was what was really happening on the battlefield.
And the situation was quite simple: ATGMs in every landing. The Russians knew our advance routes, and everything flew along these routes - the 152nd, 120th, and Grads... And here you are, where will you maneuver? Only back and forth, because everything else is mined. And what about us...
- You’ve been undergoing treatment for the fifth month and undergoing treatment. What is the situation with your left leg - is it also very seriously injured?
- Yes. The "anti-infantry" worked. Unfortunately, because my wounds were not treated well enough in Zaporozhye, the process of suppuration began, and I had to cut off half of my foot, although it basically survived. There were numerous fractures of the metatarsal bones, but the foot is there... Due to the large influx of wounded, the doctors simply did not have enough time to properly clean the wounds. I was cleaned for the first time in Dnepropetrovsk, two days later, when the process of suppuration began and the question of amputation of my left leg became a question. But I didn’t give it, and the doctors, thank God, helped me. The leg was saved, but not completely. Well, nothing, I’m training.
The Russians, for some unknown reason, decided not to flee. But there was no plan B.