Dn the deserted surroundings of a town close to the front line in the Bakhmout region of eastern Ukraine, a kneeling Ukrainian soldier stands ready to fire, his gloved finger on the trigger of his gun by assault.
“The Russians want to control this road”, assures its commander, who answers to the name of “Virus”, without taking his eyes off a residential street covered in snow.
Behind the garden walls and beyond, dogs bark as small-arms fire crackles in the distance, between the muffled sounds of artillery fire.
Friday will mark one year since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and many expect the fighting to intensify on this occasion.
But for “Virus” and his “Witcher” unit, which have been deployed in the hotly contested region of Donetsk (east), Russian attacks have never abated in the past twelve months.
Along the frontline, especially in the city of Bakhmout, Russian forces have put Ukrainian troops under constant pressure, he added. But the Ukrainian line is holding firm, he said, and its soldiers are ready should the conflict escalate.
“If you ask me, the situation hasn’t changed for our unit,” he confides, before melting into a thick fog, hoping to take the opportunity to locate enemy troops.
“Some people are talking about a new offensive, but the Russians are attacking every day,” he said.
“Meat grinder”
After weeks of hesitation by kyiv’s allies, who feared an escalation of the conflict, new Western-made tanks are on their way to Ukraine.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has now added fighter jets to his list of equipment needed to drive Russian forces out of his occupied territory, again giving the alliance pause.
“Virus”, equipped with a helmet-mounted camera, an AR-15 assault rifle and warm and waterproof camouflage clothing against the freezing cold, does not seem to be short of equipment.
He acknowledges, however, that on the ground, “aviation technology” would certainly help them defend against Russian airstrikes, and stem the very “large” flow of enemy troop attacks.
The Russian strategy, and in particular the use of the Wagner mercenary group in Bakhmout, reinforced by the deployment of inexperienced prisoners, were closely studied by the Ukrainian military.
The heavy losses suffered in Bakhmout, the scene of a bloody battle since the start of the war, have given this destroyed city the nickname of “meat grinder”.
According to “Virus”, Russia is employing similar methods elsewhere on the front, sending five ten-man groups in quick succession to attack Ukrainian troops.
These then push back the first waves, he specifies, but “by the time we get to the fifth, they take possession of our trenches because we don’t have time to reload our weapons, just because we don’t we don’t have time to kill them”.
“They don’t care about the lives of their soldiers,” agrees the commander.
A house for headquarters
Fed with dehydrated noodles, biscuits and other sweets, the soldiers of the “Witcher” unit occupy themselves as best they can in their headquarters, a small abandoned house where an elderly person presumably lived.
In a room covered with floral wallpaper, open ammunition boxes are stored on the floor. Further on, semi-automatic weapons rest against a dresser.
Nearly a year into the war, “Virus” and his men say the morale of the Ukrainian resistance remains high, despite the slim chance of an imminent end to the conflict.
One of the unit’s members, radio operator “Spider”, says he is ready to do anything to push Russian forces out of Ukraine and secure peace.
“If I’m needed to fire the machine gun, I’ll do it,” he said. “If I’m needed to operate an anti-tank system, I’ll do that too.”
19/02/2023 04:38:46 – Near Bakhmout (Ukraine) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
