Link to text by Russian military blogger Andrey Chervonets.
Commentary by an unidentified commenter, putatively a Ukrainian soldier:
Just got the opportunity to go online.
During this time, a lot of things happened ...
... There was a march of two tank companies and an anti-aircraft missile platoon.
... There was an order on the move to go to the aid of a territorial defense company and a combined detachment of border guards in order to drive Russian troops out of one of the villages, near the bridge over the river.
... There was the first explosion on a mine of one of the tanks
... There was a rapid entry into the village of tanks without the support of the infantry, which forgot to start advancing.
... There was constant mortar and artillery shelling from which there was nowhere to hide, knocking out tanks from the industrial zone, there was a hit by some kind of rocket in the tank, from which the car bent like a bowl.
... There was a raid by two Russian Ka-52s at low altitudes and there were missile launches from our Strela-10s. One helicopter was knocked out over the village, and the second smoke went to his own.
... And then there was an air raid and the shooting of infantry with cluster bombs, armed only with machine guns and machine guns, in an open field. One hundred - one hundred and twenty people were left lying there.
... There was black smoke from twelve burning tanks and an order to break out of the village and regroup three kilometers from the village.
... There was refueling and a second raid by Russian aircraft, there was again shelling and there was lying along the canals along the fields. And there was the death of "horseless" tankers, who, unlike us, anti-aircraft gunners, were not given bulletproof vests and helmets.
... Two soldiers of my platoon had shrapnel wounds, and there was a ricochet of a fragment from a tree, and a fatal hit between the shoulder blades of a piece of mine to the gunner of the third vehicle.
... In the evening there was an order to leave, leaving the dead and faulty cars. 14 tanks remained at the site of the rout, most of their crews and one of my Strelkas.
... Then, in the morning, in the village where the headquarters was located, we went straight from the march to the general store, and the saleswoman, despite the ban on selling alcohol to servicemen, saw something in our faces, put vodka on the counter and did not take it for it of money. We drank vodka right in the store, but she did not take us.
... And after dinner there was an order to go to pick up the bodies and suitable cars.
... And there was a full KrAZ trailer of bodies in black overalls, somewhere whole, somewhere without certain pieces of the body. Three tanks and my Strela were taken out.
... And then, instead of resting, a day later, the two remaining anti-aircraft guns were ordered to go to the front line near the Siversky Donets and cover the infantry, which did not allow the Russians to build crossings.
And now, for what day, as an incomplete platoon, we have been sitting on landings in the "gray zone", three kilometers from the front line. There are no classes and there is no Internet, just know to sit at the ready in the car, but wallow in the dugout. Of the entertainment, there are hourly arrivals from Russian artillery from across the river, but this is already familiar: you hear a shot, you hear the howl of shells and you guess whether you need to lie down on the ground or you can continue to boil coffee for yourself.
(By the way, my battery in the anti-aircraft missile and artillery division is called “Damned” behind our backs, because since the beginning of the war we have had the biggest losses: for 38 people, 2 killed and 5 wounded of varying severity. It’s easier for the rest of the batteries - there are solid MANPADS on "pick-ups" (fired and moved off mobile), and we were like suicide bombers on our bulletproof "motorcycle leagues" with old clumsy electronics.)
Has something changed in me? I don’t know, the sense of humor has remained the same, though it has turned a little black. He began to hear worse in his right ear (a consequence of a nearby explosion of a mine, but the eardrum was intact). I don’t complain about the psyche, unlike my driver-mechanic - he is already shaking when he needs to get into the car.
If before I was not sure if I could shoot Russian soldiers without mental resistance, now I know for sure - I can and easily. You just aim your machine gun or machine gun, pull the trigger and watch the enemy fall...
Do I hate Russians? No, I don't want civilians to die. And I'm not going to throw curses at all.
I'm just going to continue to defend my homeland from an armed aggressor, and then come what may.
From office:
Last week, one of the high officers of the brigade headquarters defected to the Russians. Perhaps due to the fact that he has relatives in Russia or just a complete bitch (after all, he could have run away in the winter with complete confusion). Now the Russian military has detailed information about the personnel, technical support and location of units. It seems that this is why two days ago a pair of high-precision missiles flew to the headquarters of the brigade, which was stationed in one of the villages of the Kharkov region.
No one was injured from the military, unfortunately, one woman was killed and two children who were playing in the street were injured.
(But they were neo-Nazis and hidden banderophiles anyway, because as V.V. Putin said in his recent interview: "Today's officers and soldiers selflessly fight for our Motherland, for our people, defend Donbass from neo-Nazis.
Our fighters act courageously and professionally, like real heroes." )
Adds Chervonets, although he fails to note the exact date and location:
Total
According to the results of one battle, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost:
- 14 tanks (with 11 burned out beyond recovery) with crews
- one launcher for the Strela-10 air defense system
- at least 150 AFU soldiers died, and if we add the wounded, then 5,000.
losses of the RF Armed Forces - one helicopter was shot down.