“Ukrainian Servicemen Prepare for Counter-Offensive against Russian Forces”

Ukrainian servicemen training for a counter-offensive against Russian forces say they feel ready to launch the attack and hope it will end the war. BTA.

Under the hot sun in southern Dnipropetrovsk, members of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade practice deploying, then dismounting and moving their mortars as quickly as possible. “We are preparing for the counter-offensive so that we can finally end this war,” said a 28-year-old serviceman who identified himself as Dikiy, which means “wild” in Ukrainian. “We’ve been preparing for almost a month. And even earlier, we’ve been preparing for this our whole life,” Dickey added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week said his country needed more time to prepare for the counteroffensive, which aims to retake Russian-held territory. He then embarked on a short tour of several European capitals to drum up even more support.

“We are waiting for the offensive. In my opinion, we are fully ready to fulfill our tasks. Nevertheless, we do not stop improving our skills,” said Roman Komich, the 45-year-old commander of the unit. Dickey first joined the army in 2015. He then rejoined its ranks after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He states that the destruction of the war prompted him to make this decision.

“It’s extremely painful to watch them destroy our cities. This is my kind of painful motivation to go and put an end to all this,” added the Ukrainian serviceman. Its 128th Mountain Assault Brigade is an elite unit that has been fighting Russian or Russian-backed forces since fighting in eastern Ukraine began in 2014.

Several servicemen said that before they were deployed to the south, they took part in the fighting near Bakhmut, which was some of the heaviest fighting in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. “Our unit joined the fighting in the first days of the war… We are constantly fighting and will participate in the counter-offensive as well,” Komich said.

The elite brigade trains with Soviet-caliber mortars, but Komich pointed out that the unit’s fighters don’t need new mortars as much as Western-provided armored vehicles. So they will have better protection. A potential goal for Ukrainian forces in the south is the recapture of the Russian-controlled land corridor to Crimea. Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014 and stationed the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet there.