Hay two types of soldiers in the Ukrainian war: those who hold their breath every time they enter the combat front, stationed at the car window with the Kalashnikov in their hands – to shoot down the omnipresent Russian drones that attack them -, and those who turn up the radio to full volume and step on the accelerator.
With music or in silence, more and more Ukrainian units today enter the margins of Pokrovsk to try to contain the inexorable Russian advance that is swallowing up what remains of the Hilly.
And once inside their combat positions, the objective is to neutralize any Russian movement and thus give a boost of oxygen to the infantry that is inside Pokrovsk and Myrnogradofighting head-to-head with the Russian sabotage groups that are entering the city.
The situation in this part of the Donbas front It has deteriorated drastically in recent days because Russia has reinforced the number of troops, drones and air strikes with guided bombs. Even within the positions that extend on those margins, the impacts of those bombs – which the Ukrainians call Line– every few minutes.
“Kab is constantly falling, they are launched into Pokrosvk and also against the cities further north. They are reducing everything to rubble, they have plenty of ammunition and they do not discriminate“says one of the Ukrainian soldiers, from one of those trenches dug underground. “We have to select the objectives very well before attacking, because we have fewer resources; but they shoot just to shoot,” he says.
When everything is reduced to rubble, the Kremlin’s tactic is to send small sabotage groups to advance street by street. “We neutralized them, and immediately they sent another and another,” says an officer of the Azov Army Corps, deployed in the area. “There are days when they lose 1,000 soldiers in combat… in just one day, but they don’t care,” he insists.
A Ukrainian soldier walks through the besieged city of Myrnograd (Pokrosvk front), where he has his combat position.
Although the conquest of Pokrosvk is having a cost for Russia in human lives that could exceed that of the losses recorded at Bakhmut, Putin seems obsessed with announcing that victory before the year ends.
And Putin’s officers do not discuss orders, They only send their men as simple pieces of meat with the aim of breaking the Ukrainian lines due to saturation, and preceded by swarms of drones that give no respite.
death zone
At the moment, the density of drone attacks is so high in this part of the front that a 15 kilometer “death zone”. That is the distance that soldiers must cover on foot to enter Pokrovsk: as it is half surrounded by three skinny men, it only leaves one road to access and vehicles cannot pass through it without being spotted and hunted by drones.
This represents enormous difficulty in reinforcing the Ukrainian infantry within urban areas, and forces Zelensky’s Army to intensify the work of its large drones – such as the Vampire or the bombers WE ARE– around the city.
With these unmanned vehicles, not only are Russian offensives stopped, logistics are also sent to Ukrainian units. These fighters now they extend rotations by 30 or even 60 days in places like Myrnograd – a city located on the east side, and where Ukraine still controls the entire perimeter – to avoid crossing that death zone too frequently.
Ukrainian troops from an unmanned vehicle unit prepare a GARA bomber drone for an attack mission on the Pokrovsk front.
It is precisely in the Myrnograd area where the unmanned vehicle unit of the Predator Brigade It has its area of operations, using GARA-type bomber drones to execute combat missions.
They receive live images of the Russian lines, showing the movements of troops and war material. When they find a target valuable enough, They arm the GARA with bombs weighing up to five kilograms and perform a ranged attack.
“Although this drone has great performance during combat use, the truth is that we have a limited number of pilotswe also have a limited number of drones – which are not exactly cheap – and to this we must add that the direct action of the enemy is very intense: guided aerial bombs, Lancet, Shaheds…they pull everything against us,” acknowledges the commander of the position, nicknamed Viking.
Counteroffensive or loss
Currently, with a numerical disadvantage on the Pokrovsk front of 8 to 1, Ukraine finds itself at the crossroads of launch a forceful counteroffensive with its rapid response brigades – as it did in August to recover the eastern flank of Myrnograd – or carry out a withdrawal of its troops before they are completely surrounded by Moscow’s forces.
If they launch the counteroffensive, casualties in the Ukrainian ranks would increase drastically. But the kyiv Army cannot afford a high loss of personnelespecially its infantry troops, which now have to reinforce positions also in Kupyansk and Liman (on the Kharkiv front).
However, there would be an opportunity to evacuate the approximately 1,200 civilians remaining inside the city –surviving in basements without electricity, heating or running water– that right now cannot be rescued, since no vehicle can enter where they are.
Ukrainian pilots from the Predator Brigade carry out an attack mission with a GARA bomber drone on the Pokrovsk front.
If they do not launch the counterattack and withdraw from Pokrovsk, the next major battle of this war would occur 100 kilometers north of that city, in Pavlograd –where Russia is already intensifying airstrikes–.
But Pavlogado is not the Dombas: this mining town belongs to the Oblast de Dnipropetrovskan industrial region of great importance for Ukraine, where the country’s main steel centers are concentrated.
Neither of the two possible scenarios is going to be free for the Zelensky Government. The Ukrainian president seems more inclined to safeguard the lives of soldiers than the commander in chief of his Armed Forces, the general Syrskyapparently more willing to maintain the siege of Pokrosvk – despite the human losses – to prevent Russia from extending the war to the heart of the country.