Thread by @Boba12340769066

Big update on #Soledar & #Bakhmut.

From Oleksander Pogrebyskyi, Sergeant of the 46th Airborne Assault Brigade, as of midday of Jan 11.

A very long thread with a view from the spot.

1/
#Ukraine #UkraineRussianWar

❓Who controls Soledar now?
✅Fighting continues, situation is controlled by UA army. Enemy statements are somewhat funny. Sometimes a bunch of "Wagnerites" sneaks into building in the industrial area to record a video. And the next day we find out that they are 200 (killed).
2/

❓"Fighting continues" - so the city isn't controlled by RU forces?
✅No.
❓What is the percentage of the city that is now controlled by UA army?
✅I'm not allowed to talk about this. Also the situation may change rapidly, the dynamics are very high.
3/

❓Several words about the 46th brigade.
✅Our guys are very motivated, we feel the support of the command. Our commanders of all levels are always with us in battles.
We have about 80% mobilized personnel now.
4/

From the beginning, our brigade was staffed with an operational reserve of air assault troops with military experience. But after the assault operations in the south, we had many wounded.
Therefore, there are many new, young guys without experience now.
5/

But properly built management allows us to trust the commanders and motivate people to fight till the end.
Our brigade shows the highest efficiency in Soledar of all those located there.
❓The potential encirclement of the city has been actively discussed for several days.
6/

✅It was possible, but we level the situation. Our unit didn't fail or retreat.
Our brigade has very powerful combat control, all commanders are in their places, well-established logistics, surveillance, and reconnaissance. This allows us to hold positions around the clock.
7/

We even planned an assault, a recapture of positions.
But there was such a situation that neighboring units on the right & left were not as effective as we were. So the enemy managed to bypass us on flanks. There was a potential encirclement, but now the situation is changing.
8/

❓Is the situation changing for the better in your opinion?
✅Yes, so far the dynamics are positive. Let's see what will happen next. Their tactic is to throw people to their deaths, both "convicts" and "Wagnerites". All of their dead, whom I saw, were without first-aid kits.
9/

Once a Russian vehicle with ammunition broke through, but they just went to suicide... When they were already dead, we approached them and saw that everyone in it was without bulletproof vests, without helmets, one magazine per rifle.
10/

In very close combats, we heard the commanders shouting to them: "If you step back, we will shoot you." We have heard and seen it ourselves.
The wounded "convicts" shouted to our guys through the walls that they were paid $400 for a "one-way ticket".
11/

❓There was information that RU brought additional airborne assault units to the Bakhmut area. Have you seen them?
✅No, we didn't see the airborne. In assault groups engaging in combat clashes at close distances of 20-30 m, we don’t see regular military personnel at all.
12/

Perhaps they are somewhere on the 2nd line to arrange support for infantry groups, but the assault groups themselves are just "cannon fodder".
I don't know how many of them we eliminated. I don't know why they do it again & again, they don't change tactics. What's the point?
13/

❓Was the retreat from the city discussed in order to avoid encirclement?
✅I'm the chief sergeant of the company, they don't discussed such things with me. The command is probably preparing different options.
14/

❓Is Bakhmut-Siversk route (passes through Soledar) under RU fire control now?
✅No. There was such a situation, but, as I know, it has stabilized.
❓So the logistics are still working? Can they bring ammunition, people?
✅Absolutely everything works fine in this regard.
15/

❓Since August, Soledar has been an almost impregnable fortress in the Bakhmut area, among other things, by the efforts of the 93rd brigade. At what point did the situation deteriorate sharply? What went wrong?
16/

✅The 93rd is very powerful, mechanized, with experience in the Donetsk area since 2014. They have a lot of experience in both defensive and offensive operations. Therefore, when they stood on their lines, it was not a problem for them to hold back the enemy.
17/

As I understand, the problem is in the new units rotation, where there is often a problem with command & control. I can't say this is anyone's fault, because we are dynamically forming all these units, commanders may not have combat experience.
18/

But from what I see, the command is trying to dilute experienced units or quickly send experienced brigades to where there are problems.
❓It looks like it was a surprise for UA that RU broke through the flanks from Yakovlivka (north of Soledar) and Podhorodne on the south.
19/

Do I understand correctly that newly formed units were in those areas?
✅Yes.
❓So, the reason for the Soledar defense breakthrough is that unprepared units were sent to those areas?
✅Perhaps, but I have not been in those units, I don’t know exactly their training level.
20/

The unit must have well-established communications, management level, the adequacy of commanders, good moral and psychological state. All this must be worked on before the unit is sent to war zones.
❓When did the aggravation on Soledar begin - somewhere before the New Year?
21/

✅Like that. On Dec 31 we got the order to secure the defensive lines on Jan 1.
We had just returned from Kurdyumivka (dominant height south of Bakhmut). We successfully stormed the enemy's positions there. We regained control there and were replaced by infantry units.
22/

❓You mentioned Kurdyumivka. How the situation is developing south of Bakhmut? Is it true that RU mainly stand along Siversky Donets-Donbas Channel and in some places were able to cross it?
✅We are no longer there, but what I can see on the maps - yes, there is a situation.
23/

But this doesn't bring them great strategic success, just more damage to their infantry.
Their Donbas strategical plan isn't clear to me. Some political bonuses for Prigozhin, who wants to please Putin. He wants to show their unit has a higher efficiency than regular troops.
24/

But this is nonsense.
❓If RU do capture Soledar, will this affect the defense of Bakhmut, the main fortress of the East?
✅Tactically, no way. I don't see this opened up the possibility to flank Bakhmut or take control of the Bakhmut-Siversk route.
/end