Thread by @CedricMas

#Ukraine I want to write a thread on the ongoing fighting in the #Soledar - #Bakhmut front.
Not from the point of view of the maps with colors & big arrows but at eye level or private scale.
❗️⛔️‼️ Violent And GRAPHIC contents

2/ #Ukraine Every 3 to 5 days, Ukrainians groups rotate towards the front line, made up of several defensive lines: the 1st is made up of strongpoints used to warn of enemy attacks & guide fire, and others formed by réserves.

3/ #Ukraine When possible, soldiers progress by vehicle.
To save and préserve men.

4/ #Ukraine Sometimes movement in vehicles becomes dangerous because of enemy fire guided by drones whose threatening flights are permanent.

5/ #Ukraine And there is also the configuration of the terrain which sometimes does not allow vehicles to be risked, the advance is done on foot, often at night for the UKRs.
Morale is often good.
In the beginning anyway.

6/ #Ukraine Ukrainians soldiers crossed ruined landscapes with desolation, and sometimes come across evacuations of wounded and civilians (who only leave with regret).

7/ #Ukraine Then they take a stand. Either in the middle of fields bearing the traces of artillery shelling (since the beginning of July).
By deploying collective weapons: missile launchers, rocket launchers and machine guns.

8/ #Ukraine Either in town among the ruined buildings.
Each soldiers have to take his bearings and acclimatize to a devastated and hostile environment.

9/ And then begins the wait. About the next Russian attack that will happen.
They play cards, trying to deceive the tension, a precarious calm, interrupted by the detonations which are permanent, sometimes far away, sometimes close. #Ukraine

10/ Attacks are often preceded by more intense and concentrated bombardments.
Each one must then lower his heads and grit his teeth.

11/ And then it begins.
The enemy bombarded and the infantry advanced in small groups.
When you are in the 1st line, you have to identify the axes of progression & guide the shots by praying that the artillery is available with sufficient ammunition. #Ukraine
⛔️‼️Warning GRAPHIC

12/ Then the hulldown tanks take over to fire on the advancing enemy groups.
Since April, the tactical use of tanks has been adapted. They are mobile firing platforms and often used in indirect fire. #Ukraine

13/ And mortars which play a vital role in providing much-needed fire support to break up the waves of small groups of infantry trying to advance.

14/ To spot the enemy, direct fire and counter-attacks, drones have become the essential element.
Obviously the weather must allow them to act. #Ukraine

15/ For Russian infantrymen, Wagner (or Chechen FCGNS as here), this moment is the most difficult.
They must advance and survive enemy fire. If they retreat they will be sanctioned and the more they advance the more they risk death or injury.
⛔️‼️ GRAPHIC CW ❗️ twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

16/ Sometimes Russians manage to approach the Ukrainian lines. The fights then become closer.
#UkraineWar

17/ These impressive images show an assault on a portion of a Ukrainian trench that narrowly fails.
The tension is palpable on both sides. There’s no place for beginners or anyone who panics or misses their shot or progression.
#Ukraine

18/ Sometimes the position has the support of an armored vehicle which provides welcome fire support but is exposed to the anti-tank missiles with which the two armies are richly equipped.

19/ Among the advancing Russian infantry groups, there is often one that reaches cover: ruins, buildings, depressions in the ground, woods... And then ukrainians soldiers must fight at close range.

20/ The situation then becomes tense and dangerous because it serves as a support for the progress of others.
Defenders must counterattack like here.
#Ukraine

21/ And the counter-attack places the UKRs in the vulnerable position of the attackers: you have to get out of cover and progress while taking the risk of being spotted and caught under enemy fire.
Ukrainian counter-attacks are often nocturnal and costly.
#Ukraine

22/ If the UKR counter-attack fails the losses are necessarily heavy. Like here in Bakhmuts'ke or Soledar where a group of Ukrainian soldiers was wiped out by Wagner mercenaries.
⛔️ GRAPHIC CW ‼️

23/ If the RUS attack succeeds, the UKR defenders must evacuate to avoid capture by Wagner mercenaries, Chechen militiamen or RUS soldiers disrespecting the laws of war.
(Here one evacuation at Dawn).

24/ if the RUS attack fails, it is the Russian soldiers who suffer the dramatic consequences.
And they are terrible like these images in front of Bakhmut (at least 58 bodies over a few square meters).
⛔️ GRAPHIC CW ‼️

25/ For the Ukrainian defenders it is then the moment to take a little rest, with a coffee or a meal (if possible hot).
You quickly get accustomized to the sound of the gunfire that continues.
#Ukraine

26/ They come out of the shelters and They film.
To realize what just happened, that they’re still alive but also to remember.
When it's over, who will remember? Who will believe the stories of those who were there?

27/ This is what the fighters endure.
And Winter is coming.
Behind the colorful Maps, the comments of people far away behind his screen, here is the reality.
And it's up to us that it ends quickly, with the victory of Ukraine & the fall of Putin.
End #Thread #Ukraine

#Ukraine Precision For those who are denying that it was Russian soldier’s bodies, « because there is no black boots »,
Remember that mobiks & Wagner musicians hadn’t black boots, especially latest recruted one.