Lieutenant of the Armed Forces (AF) of the Russian Federation Igor Korneev on Thursday, March 10, told Izvestia how the operation against the nationalists in Ukraine took place. With his squad, he defended the checkpoint from the bridge for six days.
According to Korneev, their task was to prevent the enemy from reaching a strategically important object. At the same time, the officers had no connection with the command and the rest of the soldiers all this time.
Together with senior lieutenant Alexei Akimov, Korneev commanded a motorized rifle unit, which held back the defensive line for a day. According to the military, the enemy used in the battle means of electronic suppression of communication lines. So that the control of the unit would not fail, the commanders decided to withdraw the troops to the area where the main forces of the brigade were concentrated. This allowed them to lure the enemy into a “bag”.
“Together with Senior Lieutenant Akimov, we knew the area around us, the roads knew where the ambush was, where the enemy was, from which sides. We made a decision how to depart, on what roads. They knew that three kilometers away there was another checkpoint with my guys. I knew that a senior officer from there was taken prisoner. Accordingly, I did not know whether people remained there or not. And if we stay and we leave, then the guys will be left alone and it is not known what will become of them. We decided how to leave, and decided to find out for sure whether the guys were there or not in order to pick them up, ”says Korneev.
According to him, the soldiers really expected the arrival of the command. Together with them, Korneev and Akimov moved back to the others.
“On the way back we got into a tough ambush. We were surrounded by enemies. A KamAZ was driving ahead – it was blown up, and it blocked our path. I ordered: everyone to take up defense and shoot back, hold the position. For about an hour we fired back. We fought back the enemy, ”the lieutenant shares.
Moving towards their soldiers, the group led the nationalists who followed it into an environment. According to Korneev, about 50 nationalists and a shooting range of military equipment were destroyed.
Korneev and Akimov were nominated for awards. Now they are separated: each performs its tasks.
“It’s nice, of course, it’s encouraging … Relatives called first of all, congratulated me. Glad to hear it. But a reward is just a reward. The main thing is that we are all alive, healthy, and we will continue in this spirit,” the lieutenant summed up.
Earlier, on March 10, Tamara, the wife of officer captain Dmitry Pochesny, learned about the feat of her husband during a special military operation in Ukraine from the media, since there was no connection with her husband. According to the woman, her husband managed to get in touch with her two days later. Dmitry promised that he would definitely return home.
Earlier that day, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that during the special operation, Russian officers Captain Dmitry Pochesny and Senior Lieutenant Stanislav Kim showed their best side. They advanced to a given area as part of a column of a battalion tactical group of a tank regiment.
In mid-February, due to the aggravation of the situation in the Donbass as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics announced the evacuation of the civilian population to the Russian Federation and asked for recognition of independence.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a corresponding decree. On February 24, he launched a special operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. As the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov clarified, the special operation has two goals – the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. According to him, both of these aspects pose a threat to the Russian state and people.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.