The legendary Cascada drone with the call sign “Nixon”
Photo: Dmitry STESHIN
The military correspondent of KP.RU visited the fighters of the OBTF * “Cascade”, who fought all summer and autumn with Bandera’s troops on the “Vremevsky ledge”. Today tranquility reigns here: 3 brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remain forever in these endless fields.
THE SMELL OF MILITARY ROADS
The summer plan of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was clear: the main attack would be against Zaporozhye, on the coast of the Sea of Azov, to cut off the land corridor to Crimea. The second most important blow occurred here, in the Ugledar region, at the junction of the DPR and the Zaporozhye region. According to military science, any junction on the front line is the most vulnerable and therefore the most reasonable place for an attack. But the Ukrainian Armed Forces failed to build on their success. The so-called “Vremevsky exit” was cut off at the cost of colossal enemy losses. And then the offensive failed. Ours stood firm and did not give in. The bump became flat. The Ukrainian Armed Forces considered the “liberation” of the village of Urozhainoye as a victory. In fact, it is in the “gray zone”, neither ours nor the enemies are there. The number of mechanized brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2023 will be 3,500 people. Was this “victory” worth 3 brigades, about 10 thousand dead and wounded? The question is rhetorical, but the answer has already been received. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, as our fighters say, were “impressed”, and then the pre-winter began in the south, putting an end to the “counteroffensive”.
What managed to freeze thaws quickly.
Photo: Dmitry STESHIN
At the end of the week, in just a couple of hours, the thermometer went from -8 to +4 and immediately it started to rain and continues to rain. Sometimes the rain gives way to a blizzard with a furious wind. What had managed to freeze quickly thawed. Another day, and the fields towards Ugledar will be passable only for tracked vehicles, and exclusively for us. According to the fighters, the “Western gifts” have difficulty overcoming off-road conditions, the engines overheat, cannot withstand the load, and the armor lifts up and becomes a target.
war roads
Photo: Dmitry STESHIN
Our Niva continues to drive, often sideways, sliding like a piece of soap along the wall of the bathtub. The car already smells like “war roads”. Yes, they have their own characteristic sense of smell, and smell is a person’s most powerful and memorable sense. And it is stored in memory for a long time, longer than visual images. This smell can be perceived when the car reaches its destination or moves slowly: the dirt begins to dry on the bottom of the box, transfer case and axles, forming a whole bouquet.
The main element is the chemical alcohol of transmission and motor oil of military equipment and armor. Unlike civilian cars, it consumes tons of oil and almost a third spills on the road, drips and soaks into the ground.
The second component is the smell of coal chips or even dust spread by coal trucks.
And the third element, the most powerful: the smell of smoky black earth of the great wild steppe. It makes your head spin, it is impossible to get used to it and you will remember it for the rest of your life.
ARE THE SHELLS OUT, ARE THE GUNS BROKEN?
In the frontline zone, everyone has been a scientist for a long time, all units and locations (troop locations) are distributed around the area, “parking in Auchan” is rare – cars are hidden, covered and camouflaged. Despite the calm, they still enter the LBC (line of combat contact) only at night, for several days. Then back. I’m visiting the boys who have just been relieved from their positions near Novodonetsk. They managed to sleep and wash, so they are happy and cheerful. A shooter with the call sign “Kasper” says that just a couple of weeks ago they realized that “the counterattack was over, they were shocked.” The battered but experienced units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were withdrawn to the rear:
– Inexperienced men appeared, mobilized from the streets, who did not know how to enter the position without losses. They drive with headlights at night!!!
Dmitry Steshin
Photo: Dmitry STESHIN
-How did you resist the “counterattack” here? Do they say that the mines helped a lot?
Casper confirms:
– When we sat on the defensive, everything around us was, as far as possible, covered with our mines. They couldn’t get close. How it see? The first explosion of equipment in their assault column, the armor begins to deploy and are weakened again, panic, confusion, our artillery hits them, that’s it, the attack is interrupted.
– Was Western technology attacking you? What is your opinion about it?
– Yes, the British mastiffs were coming towards us. What to say? They burned it! What they could, they captured. The French wheeled tank, for example. We examine it. Beautiful technology. It cannot be compared with ours. The chairs are made of leather, everything is taken care of. Not to fight, but to patrol in Africa. He got into ours and went to fight!
We spoke with a fighter with the call sign “Muk” on the bench. The grenade launcher is short, dense and, in general, it is clear why he has such a call sign. He says that the enemy in his area began to entrench themselves. Our task is to prevent it from being installed:
– They are digging dugouts in all the plantations, we don’t allow them. And we don’t allow mining. Then we have to attack here!
I ask about enemy artillery and get an unexpected answer, most likely correct:
– In the summer, when the cluster munitions arrived, they attacked without stopping. And now they are silent. I think the wear and tear on their artillery is simply extreme. The NATO “three-axis” gun (M777 howitzer – Ed.) is also extremely light, meaning it is less survivable. But the crested ones did not take care of their weapons, they thought that no matter how much they asked, they would be given as much.
“Muk” laughs infectiously.
THERE IS NOT ENOUGH “CHARM”
The commander of the “operational squadron” with the call sign “Lev” has two mutually exclusive patches on his field uniform. A purely Orthodox: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century.” The second patch is Rodnoverie or pagan. I ask “Leo”, don’t sparks fly between the two sacred poles? “León” laughs:
– “Amulets” are never enough! – and adds seriously:
– I respect all our gods. They help. So far, the hardest thing we’ve been through…
“León” says that the enemy has returned to old tactics:
– Of course, there is no comparison with June 5 (the beginning of the “counteroffensive” in the direction of Ugledar. – Author). Deflated. The equipment does not work, the artillery does not work. “Cassettes” come to a minimum, rarely, apparently, having problems with support. They no longer attack on a broad front, but instead try to take over a forest area, for example. What is the point? Did they take it and find themselves semi-surrounded? It seems that their tasks are distributed in the headquarters, but no one cares about the execution and the result.
Commander of the “operational squadron” with the call sign “Lev”
Photo: Dmitry STESHIN
– What does it look like on earth?
– Small enemy groups without equipment, without obvious artillery support, are trying to enter somewhere. I haven’t seen any technology lately. And the climate, you see for yourself, Western armor does not walk on that ground.
“WE DO MAKEUP”
I ask about the enemy’s morale. “León” once again produces a ready-made aphorism:
– There are few fools left in Ukraine, and even fewer who want to die. There are ideological ones, but it seems to me that the majority have already been caught in the streets. Volunteers no longer join the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they still understand what is happening… Well, we are fighting for our land, you must admit that there is a difference!
We talked a little about the future, about living in peace and forgiveness. These types of conversations are now easily supported. A turning point occurs first in the consciousness of both yours and the enemy, and only then is it embodied on the front lines. “León”, who has been fighting since 2018, will finish his studies at the institute. Traveling through Russia, of course. And regarding reconciliation and the future…
– I’ll tell you myself, I still have relatives in Ukraine, cousins. We called each other, but by silent agreement we did not talk about military matters. And also about politics. In order not to fight, we are relatives, and this is above all. Secondly, I fear for them: the SBU controls everything.
-How are you doing there? We really don’t know…
– It’s not fun. The biggest problem is work. There are problems with electricity and gas; The problem is simply eternal. I feel sorry for the people, but we also endured it for nine years.
“Lion” waves his hand:
– Let’s make peace, as long as they don’t confront us again.
ORCS Knights
The first thing I notice in the arrangement is a strange sign, a handprint made of smeared paint. It’s everywhere: on the hoods of unmanned vehicles, on the flag, on the patch attached to Nixon’s holster. He explains to me the sacred essence of the sign:
– At first it was a joke. The commander had the following chevron on his helmet: “Born an orc, defend Mordor” (Kiev propaganda calls Russian fighters and residents of Donbass orcs; this is a technology for “dehumanizing the enemy,” as they once called “Colorados”. – Author).
Nixon continues:
– As a joke, they started leaving these footprints everywhere. On the first “Lancet” (kamikaze drone. – Ed.), which appeared on our “Cascade”, they left a mark. Then they made a chevron and flags.
While we have coffee, “Nixon” tells me a story that transports the listener to a time when heroes, charismatic bosses and star pilots faced each other in battle. Modern combined arms battles have lost the element of individual confrontation between strong individuals or units. But there are exceptions.
A strange sign, a handprint with smeared paint. It’s everywhere: on the hoods of unmanned vehicles, on the flag, on the patch attached to Nixon’s holster.
Photo: Dmitry STESHIN
At the beginning of the Northern Military District, the enemy had a drone unit called the “Magyar group”. They “became famous” for the fact that during the battles for Artemovsk and Ugledar they published a video that caused a terrible scandal, including an international one: they showed dozens of strange munitions dropped from drones. They were stored in refrigerators and covered with insulation before being dumped. Experts suggested that it is a toxic household substance with an unstable composition, which is why it is stored at low temperatures. Our soldiers, one after another, began to record poisonings after drone bombings. In the summer, during the “counteroffensive”, the “Magyar group” was moved to Ugledar and there was a battle between two air miracle heroes and their squads: the dark “Magyar group” and the bright orc knights “Nixon”.
THE END OF THE TOURS
“Nixon” laughs and says:
– “Magyar” toured the front for a long time. They are well promoted, they bring them hundreds of drones, money and means of transport from the West. I will not say about their number, neither a battalion nor a regiment. They settled here in Novoselovka. And they told everyone on the Internet that they were participating in a “counteroffensive” in the “Ugledar direction.” We intercepted several video signals from their drones returning to the “home” point, combined the images and understood where their lair was. They called our tanker friend, a very precise gunner. The house was built, and so well that there was not even an evacuation: all the “two hundredths” (liquidated. – Ed.). We were looking at the ruins. What happens if someone crawls out or the Magyarites come to save the team? No. Narrowly.
And the drones stopped flying, immediately! We monitored the Internet and learned that now the “Magyar group” is working in the direction of Kherson.
I’ll sum it up with a phrase from fan slang:
– We expel those bastards from the dumpling shop!
Everyone laughs, but I have a difficult question prepared:
– Are there objects that you don’t operate kamikaze drones on or drop munitions on?
– It was a provocative story… and sad. The enemy tried to break through in column to the center of Urozhaynoye, to the House of Culture, raise the flag and announce: “Urozhaynoye has been liberated from the orcs.” They wanted to enter shamelessly. But we discovered this column, then we worked with our tank crews and changed fire. Part of the column was burned by drones and part by artillery. But after Ukraine, they still raised their flag in Urozhainy, at the monument to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. Knowing very well, we will not crash into the monument. Conscience will not allow it.
“Nixon” sighs:
– It hangs like this, we see it from drones.
Consolation to Nixon:
– Let it hang, the dead have no shame, then remove it, carefully, it will be a memorable trophy with many meanings. You could say: a projection of everything that has happened in the last 10 years!
We talked briefly, quite traditionally, about the usual topic: “How did this happen to Ukraine?” But the conversation fades away on its own. We will fix everything after the Victory. The “counterattack” has calmed down, now it’s our turn. It seemed to me that almost everyone is already thinking about this, both in the back and in the front.
*OBTF – Operational Combat Tactical Training
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS