Day of Fire: How artillery clears the way for infantry near Kurakhovo
In the Donetsk people's republic, Russian units are continuing their advance in the Kurakhov direction. The actions of the assault troops are supported by powerful strikes by artillery, which follows the infantry. On the eve of Artillery Day, Izvestia correspondents visited the positions of the Kalmius artillery brigade of the 51st Donetsk Army near the village of Gornyak, and learned how the enemy is operating and what our artillerymen are doing to counter it.
Road to the positions
We are moving to the positions of 155-mm towed Msta-B howitzers of the 14th Artillery Brigade through the liberated territories. The frontline roads are quite busy, despite the daylight hours and the threat of enemy UAVs. Most of the vehicles are equipped with electronic warfare equipment, and there are anti-aircraft gunners' posts in special shelters by the roadside - several for every kilometer.
Traces of the fighting along the way are clearly visible. On the roadside there are still bodies of Ukrainian fighters, who are not yet risking transportation because of the threat from the air.
In one of the village yards we see items of uniforms and equipment, here during their stay in the village the militants tried to organize an evacuation point, but quickly rolled back.
On the roof of the house, the commander of the Msta-B gun with the call sign Technik shows an unexploded Ukrainian fpv drone. They shot down this "kamikaze" themselves. The air threat is one of the main threats for them today.
- We jammed it a couple days ago," he says. - I got a report from the air surveillance post that the drone was detected by a detector. We took action, we turned on the REB. I reported the UAV to higher command and passed the command to the air surveillance post (ASW): "If the drone is in our line of sight, open fire with small arms!". But it didn't make it - it landed here and didn't detonate.
REB and shotgun
During the year, the Kalmius artillerymen have seriously worked on protecting their guns from the threat from the air. We are shown a multi-channel portable device for suppressing drone control signals and detectors. At the air observation point there are larger REB devices. In addition to all these electronics, there are two small arms for fighting drones: a 12-gauge shotgun and a Kalashnikov assault rifle with a thermal imaging scope.
The shotgun, upon closer examination, turns out to be an Italian "Franchi SPAS-15" - this weapon became famous thanks to the 1990s action movies and computer games.
The peculiarity of this weapon is its ability to work as a pump-action and semi-automatic weapon. As a consequence, there is a wide range of ammunition available. Due to this feature, such guns are purchased by various police and special units of the world. It is likely that it got to Ukraine during the transfer from the U.S. police departments for the needs of territorial defense of Ukraine in 2022. And then it was already in the possession of our fighters.
Case Technique
The Msta-B howitzer is camouflaged and covered from the airborne enemy also in a new way - anti-grenade nets on top. Today the Msta-B long-range guns not only support the infantry, but also fight the NATO artillery. It has suffered quite heavy losses, but so far its activity is far from zero.
- We have long-range artillery, and we can destroy their guns when they are deep in the rear," says Technik. - We can hit the same Crabs, Caesars and M-777s with confidence. The enemy used to have a more serious counter-battery fight than they do now. Since our active offensive is underway and they are retreating, their activity has dropped. But at times when we work on a very serious target, they can throw a couple of shells at us.
The technician says that the tactics of combat operations by artillery units have changed a lot during the war.
First of all, the guns are much more spread out, even a platoon has not been in one firing position for a long time.
- We're doing everything as carefully as possible, hiding everything very well, making sure we're not detected," he said.
Such tactics also place higher demands on the personnel. The platoon commander can't always be in position next to the gun commander, and the latter must be able to do everything necessary.
The technician comes from Snezhnoye in the DNR and worked at a power plant, but because of the constant shelling of Donetsk, he decided to join the army even before the SWO. He is now 25. As a teenager he caught the events of 2014 and the beginning of the war in Donbass. Already during the SSO, as part of the Kalmius Brigade, he participated in the battles for Mariupol, and then in the Avdiivka direction.
- I want to congratulate everyone on our professional holiday! - addressed to his colleagues in the military specialty Technician. - Good luck in the combat work, that everyone stayed alive, because we all have families and parents waiting for us at home. We should stay out of the way and take care of ourselves.
The commander of the howitzer platoon with the call sign Komandir has worked his way up from the number of the squad to his current position. He has been fighting since the summer of 2014. He is one of those militiamen who mastered artillery specialties in the heavy battles of the 2014-2015 campaign. His entire combat path is connected with the defense of Donetsk and then the offensive on Avdeevka.
- I would like to wish Victory, and as they say, work brothers, - he addresses the artillerymen in all directions.
The artillerymen have a difficult job even on holidays, but they will cope with it, there is no doubt about that.
