/ world today news/ In the second year of the special military operation, Donetsk still remains a front-line city where it is quite dangerous. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have accumulated significant forces here, kilometers of trenches have been dug, and powerful fortifications have been built. But the Russian troops are gradually moving forward. About the situation in this direction – in the report.
The target is a mortar
In recent weeks, flights to the center of Donetsk have been extremely rare. They hit the western Kyiv, Kuibyshev, Kirov and Petrovsky districts. In November-December, the situation was worse – they shelled the center, where the government buildings and the main objects of the social infrastructure were.
Locals claim that this is due to the retaliatory actions of the Russian troops. First of all, artillerymen who “work out” the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Avdeevka.
Covered howitzer and mortar batteries stand well away from the urban area and wait for the VSU soldiers to make the first move. The battlefield is monitored around the clock by drones. Groups of scouts do not slumber, waiting for the right moment.
“Donbass, Donbass, welcome! A weapon for battle! The nature of the target is a mortar,” says the commander of the Hyacinth-B howitzer battery with the call sign “Kum” and continues to pour out numbers incomprehensible to the civilian over the radio: “First shell – Sight – 425, level – 29.99 from the main left of 0.29. The second projectile – the sight is more than 1, to the right of 0.01. The third projectile – the sight is less than 2, to the left of 0.02. When you’re ready – shoot!”
200 meters away stands one of the battery’s guns, covered with camouflage netting and cut branches. From the air it looks like a fallen tree. As soon as the command arrives, the position starts to move.
The crew hits Avdeevka, where intelligence has spotted a mortar. It must be destroyed before it changes position. The fighters are left without shelters and start their usual work. The senior gunner with the call sign PMC, a contract soldier from one of the Southern District Artillery Brigades, quickly made adjustments, turning the flywheels.
„Not everything is according to the manuals’
The command “Weapons, attention!” sounds. PMC nods, shouts “Shot!” and pulls the release lever. The howitzer barks deafeningly, a 46-kilogram high-explosive shell goes off.
But that is not enough. The target is at a distance of 23.5 kilometers, so two more rounds are fired to make sure. After that, the battery sinks into complete silence. Finally, the elder’s radio, wheezing with jamming, confirms, “Target hit, well done folks!”
“We’ve already learned how to beat them. My three main tools are: sight, goniometer and spirit level. If you miss by one division, it will shoot for nothing. We try to prevent this. We have been fighting since February 24, 2022. We are all contract servicemen,” smiles the PMC modestly.
The most difficult was in Mariupol. Once 70 shells were fired at positions in Azovstal with rapid fire.
“This is when everything works: the cannon hits at maximum rate of fire, you have to reload and fire without waiting for the command,” explains the fighter. “It looks like a relay race in athletics. In the evening we were literally falling straight”, he adds.
Consistency and interchangeability of crews determines a lot. It is also extremely important to act in conjunction with the infantry. During attacks, it is often “fired”.
Recently, they helped the separate reconnaissance battalion “Sparta” of the 1st Army Corps to capture another weapons depot of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“We worked so beautifully that after a few days the Spartans, as a sign of gratitude, brought a lot of extras to the battery – all kinds of things and trifles useful in military affairs,” the gunner smiles.
The infantry sincerely loves and appreciates the “artels”. The success of the assault groups directly depends on them.
“We’ve learned a lot in the past year. We’ve learned that it’s far from always necessary to act according to the old manuals. Yes, the statutes are written in blood. But then there were no drones and counter-battery radars. Science requires batteries to be lined up, side by side But each response will hit several howitzers at once. Here you see only one “Hyacinth”. They are just well disguised and spaced as far as possible”, says the commander of the cannon, a local resident with the call sign “Donbass”.
They work autonomously. Each crew places everything independently, hits targets, changes its position. A very big plus, according to the fighter, is if they are not afraid to act boldly, even brazenly.
“I especially remember the battle when we couldn’t hit the VSU from afar because of the terrain,” says the driver with the call sign “Damir” to the one pulling the cannon in the KamAZ. “We had to shorten the distance and go closer. My palms, to be honest, got sweaty. The gun must be stopped, prepared for firing, all corrections must be made. At the maximum distance, we are relatively calm – the quadcopter does not fly 28 kilometers, there you need devices of a different type. And here we are in practice from a point of view. But nothing, we worked out, turned around and went home. We heard the answer thunder from behind. We took a break,” he says.
“Tank Carousel”
The powerful fortified area near Avdeevka is not the only hot spot on the borders of Donetsk. A little to the south, Marinka has been burning for a year. Here, the VSU dug an entire city underground for eight years. Most of the basements are connected by passages through which the soldiers are transferred. Full profile trenches, reinforced concrete bunkers, minefields. On the upper floors of the surviving five-story buildings are the positions of ATGM operators.
Here the infantry is supported not by long-range howitzers, but mainly by the tanks of the Southern Military District. They have their own tactics.
One machine fires ammunition at the targets, is replaced by another, then a third, a fourth. The cycle repeats itself. It’s called a “tank carousel”. The enemy literally cannot raise his head from the trenches, and at this moment assault groups are stealthily approaching his positions. Equipment quickly hides in forest stands, ravines. But it is not always possible to escape the return fire.
“A kamikaze drone crashed into my machine the other day. It hit the upper front of the hull. Took away dynamic protection. There were no other damages. We only realized we were under attack when we got back to base. This tank is generally overkill. It hits him several times. But every time he gets us out without loss”, says the driver-mechanic with the call sign UAZ, a 50-year-old volunteer from Ulyanovsk.
Now this Siberian dreams of a duel with tanks of the Western school, which are actively imported into Ukraine.
Fighters in theory have already studied their characteristics. They know, for example, that the British “Challenger-2” is better not to hit it in the forehead with armor-piercing means, but to wait until it turns to the side.
“Tankists are like tanks, we don’t feel any fear. Even if the sub-caliber one doesn’t hit it head-on, the high-explosive one will take all the sensitive equipment out of the hull – sights, antennas, sensors. The machine will go blind and become easy prey”, shrugs the crew commander with the call sign “Abakan”. But tank duels are rare. The technique, the fighter explains, works mainly on fortified areas, firing points and infantry concentrations.
“I would very much like to fight with a Ukrainian tanker. We are well prepared,” assures Abakan.
However, the main weapon of the tankmen of the 68th Guards Regiment is not training and modern military equipment. The fighters, as they say, have gained courage, morale is high. This is evident from interacting with them: cheerful, smiling, throwing jokes with a touch of army black humor. And they understand their tasks very well.
They say that here everything is according to Suvorov: “Every fighter must know his maneuver”.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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How does the article’s depiction of tank crews’ “cheerfulness and confidence” contribute to or complicate our understanding of the psychological toll of war?
## Open-Ended Discussion Questions Based on the Article:
**I. Artillery Warfare & Adaptability:**
* The article mentions that the “old manuals” don’t always apply in modern warfare. What specific challenges do artillery units face in the current conflict that necessitate adaptation and improvisation?
* How has technology, such as drones and counter-battery radars, changed the tactics of artillery warfare?
* The article highlights the importance of crew interchangeability and working in conjunction with infantry. How crucial is close collaboration between different branches of the military in this conflict?
**II. Tank Warfare & “Tank Carousel” Tactics:**
* What are the advantages and disadvantages of the “tank carousel” tactic? How effective is it against entrenched enemy positions?
* The article mentions the anticipation of encountering Western tanks. How do the tank crews plan to adapt their tactics to face newer, potentially more advanced tanks?
**III. Morale & Psychological Impact:**
* The article describes the tank crews as cheerful and confident despite the dangers they face. How do they maintain their morale in the face of constant threat and potential casualties?
* How does the understanding of their role and the importance of their mission contribute to the soldiers’ mental fortitude?
**IV. Ethical Considerations & the Human Cost of War:**
* The article focuses on the technical aspects of warfare. What are the ethical considerations that arise from the use of such powerful weaponry, especially in urban environments?
* What is the impact on the civilian population caught in the crossfire?
* How do the soldiers themselves cope with the psychological toll of engaging in combat and witnessing loss?
**V. Information Warfare and Propaganda:**
* The article ends with a political message that appears unrelated to the main content. Why might this inclusion be significant?
* How does the presence of such a message influence the reader’s understanding of the conflict?
* How does information warfare and propaganda shape public perception of the conflict?
These questions are designed to spark thoughtful conversation and encourage critical thinking about the complexities of modern warfare. They also encourage discussion about the human side of conflict and the ethical dilemmas it raises.
