A DAY AT THE FRONT - The 28th mechanized
We spent a day with the 28th mechanized brigade, operating in eastern Ukraine. In this thread we give an honest insight of what we saw and what the current situation is at the front.
A story with @guillaume_ptak and @PDocumentarians
We spent a day with the 28th mechanized brigade, operating in eastern Ukraine. In this thread we give an honest insight of what we saw and what the current situation is at the front.
A story with @guillaume_ptak and @PDocumentarians
We woke up at 3:30am and met the press-officer of the 28th Mechanized Brigade in Kramatorsk. We had to move under the cover of darkness so as to avoid being targeted by the Russian FPV drones now plaguing Ukrainian defenders on the frontline....
According to the officer, FPV drones are responsible for the vast majority of casualties now sustained by Ukrainian soldiers in eastern Ukraine. After meeting the drone operators, we jumped in the back of their flat-bed truck and set out towards the cold and snowy frontline....
During our ride we saw Ukrainian air defenses hard at work, the orange glow of their munitions briefly lighting up the sky as it made contact with their targets. After a while, we arrived to an unused trench located about a hundred meters behind the last Ukrainian positions....
The Russians, whose forces there included Storm Z units, were about 500 meters away from us, and as the dawn finally rose, a firefight broke out in the distance. Automatic rifles, machine guns and mortars were used...
The trench had filled up with water, turning the ground into a ankle-deep layer of dirty black mud which made any movement difficult. The drone operator sat inside the position and started preparing the antenna's and FPV drones, outfitting them with fragmentation munitions....
We awaited the orders, and were initially told that a Russian tank had been selected as a target. But the confirmation did not come, and we went back inside the rudimentary shelter that offered some respite from the mud, snow and scurrying rodents....
Andrii, one of the soldiers and a veteran of the war in Donbas, told us that he knew of some soldiers who had lost fingers or toes to the freezing cold during the fight for Bakhmut.
Some confusion ensued as the other units initially couldn't be reached over the radio. When orders eventually came, the unit had issues with a weak drone signal which did not allow the operators to fly it. The soldiers had to fidget with the antenna to finally get it to work...
The men told us that they would go out to different positions every day, depending on the situation and the types of target they were tasked with destroying. They told us that they had been striking both tanks, APC's and infantry positions over the past weeks...
Andrii, one of the soldiers and a veteran of the war in Donbas, showed us on his phone how he took out two Russian soldiers on a motorcycle a couple of weeks ago, catching up with the vehicle and killing its riders in a fiery explosion....
After finally getting the drone to work, they flew it out towards the frontline but quickly lost its signal. The onset of winter has proven an obstacle for drones operators, as batteries discharge faster in the cold and the humidity interferes with the signal....
Andrii apologized to us, and explained that their work for the day was over. However, they would have to stay at the position until evening, making their way back under the cover of darkness. Artillery shells kept landing in the distance, on Russian positions....
We bid the men farewell and set out on foot towards a crossroads located two kilometers away, where we were due to be picked up by a 4x4. The trek back was laborious, and we almost lost our footing a couple of times, owing to the slippery mud....
Rapidly degrading weather conditions, added to the dissapointing counteroffensive and the growing threat of Russian FPV drones have impact on the soldiers' morale. Ukraine needs all the help it can get, as only a decisive Ukrainian victory will ensure a just and lasting peace...
This story was created in collaboration with @guillaume_ptak and the 28th mechanized brigade.
Guillaume regularly visits the front lines in Ukraine for NOELREPORTS to report on current events.
We encourage you to support Guillaume. buymeacoffee.com/guillaumepk
Guillaume regularly visits the front lines in Ukraine for NOELREPORTS to report on current events.
We encourage you to support Guillaume. buymeacoffee.com/guillaumepk
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