2023-08-07 08:22:27
by Lorenzo Cremonesi
Ukrainian soldiers had to break through to the east, but Moscow continues to build a wall thanks to a consolidated system of trenches
FROM OUR REPORTER
HULIAIPOLE – «Counteroffensive? But which Ukrainian counter-offensive? The front here hasn’t moved since the Russian advances in March of last year and every day their patrols try to attack us.’ Andrei welcomes us with a grimace of annoyance at the door of the police barracks hit on the roof and on the upper floors, as practically all the buildings in the town are. He is 47 years old and, having been given the rank of major a few weeks ago, today he finds himself acting as spokesman for the semi-abandoned local municipality. But he doesn’t have much to say.
«Here there were 18,000 inhabitants before the war, 1,830 remained, practically all elderly pensioners. The children have been evacuated for some time now. More than 16 months ago the Russians deliberately interrupted the aqueduct, electricity and gas lines with cannon fire. Those who stay must equip themselves with generators and hope that diesel will arrive », she explains quickly. With the addition of a piece of advice: «Don’t trust moments of calm, they are brief and change suddenly. The Russians bomb every day, often at night. The last cannon fire fell three hours ago. Yesterday they killed an old woman and wounded two others who hadn’t gone down to the cellars. Try to stay close to cover.’
In Zaporizhzhia we were warned that in Huliaipole we would encounter a “difficult situation”. But we didn’t think we’d find ourselves practically on the front line, with cannon fire coming everywhere like around Bakhmut or Avdiivka in the heart of the disputed Dontesk and the Russian trenches only three kilometers away as the crow flies. The first alarm comes from the soldiers at the checkpoint at the entrance to the town. “Better put on your bulletproof vest and helmet right away,” they suggest. Then deserted streets, a few military cars hidden in the vegetation and an uninterrupted succession of damaged houses and buildings, some more slightly and perhaps with plastic sheeting on the roofs with holes and on the windows without glass, but many others burned, with large holes in the walls or even reduced to rubble. These are the effects of the long war of attrition fought on this delicate junction of the front between Zaporizhzhia and Donbass, which since last year has become gangrenous in a situation very similar to the one that has arisen not very far from here, in the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk occupied by pro-Russians since 2014. «The enemies have entrenched themselves very well. Their minefields extend as far as the outskirts of Huliaipole, just behind them they have dug a formidable system of trenches, then even better protected are the bunkers with artillery, rocket launchers and tanks buried in reinforced concrete shelters even three floors deep, with the command posts that drive the drones. Their sentinels don’t even have to expose their heads, they have organized themselves with excellent camera systems», some explain to us Bradley armored personnel carriers of the 47th Brigade, bivouacking in a field on the outskirts.
Since the beginning of June, they have been part of the units that should try to break through to Melitopol and the coast of the Sea of u200bu200bAzov towards the Crimea. But they themselves admit that this first phase of the counter-offensive is not working. Western observers note the exponential growth of dead or wounded soldiers: by now we are talking about 25,000 disabled Ukrainians, the majority with their legs severed or in any case crippled by mines. «Our commanders are rethinking their strategies with the General Staff. The generals realized that the training sessions carried out with NATO in the spring were not sufficient, or even had not foreseen the new enemy defense capabilities. The Russians have learned from us, they are able to interfere in our communications, they disturb our drones, they even manage to paralyze the targeting systems for rockets», explains Viktor, a thirty-year-old tank sergeant who agrees to explain what the new guidelines are .
What to do? «We are recovering last year’s strategies. We continue to bomb their rear massively, we weaken them with the new guns and missiles. Above all, demining patrols on foot are making a comeback. They often move at night in small, unidentifiable groups. Their task is to open the assault channels reclaimed for the armored brigades », he replies.
The Russians study the Ukrainian reactions, drones and aviation spy from the sky, ready to hit anything that appears to be a threat. On June 9, a 500-kilo remote-controlled aerial bomb devastated Huliaipole hospital. “The Russians did it as a preventative measure. They didn’t want to be able to treat soldiers engaged in the offensive here,” says Natalia, who is 64 and is the head nurse. But she is not discouraged: «Since last year only the emergency room has been working here. We send the seriously wounded directly to the rear.”
August 7, 2023 (change August 7, 2023 | 07:16)
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