"The fighting spirit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has already been broken, it will not be easy to come to your senses from such a defeat"

33 years old, 12 wounds, three years without leave, a special sniper school — these are some facts about the commander of the Akhmat commando assault squad, Aida. During Operation Potok, his unit, together with the Veterans OSH, was the first to exit the pipe on the outskirts of Suja and engage in combat. Currently, the soldiers of the detachment are continuing their offensive in the border area. In an interview with Izvestia, Hades spoke about the two stages of the secret landing in the rear, the price of a victorious breakthrough and the portrait of a modern stormtrooper.

— Today it is already possible to summarize the interim results of the operation to free Suji. Did the "Stream" play a key role in this?

— The offensive of our formations began simultaneously in all directions. But the "Stream" certainly gave the strongest impetus to the collapse of the front. At the first stage after the landing, the task was to cause confusion and panic in the enemy ranks. And in this sense, our throw paid off in the first half hour.: The Ukrainian Armed Forces began to leave their positions and almost immediately blew up the Martynovsky railway bridge over the Sudzha River. And the destruction of such an important communication means only one thing — the enemy is cutting off his own logistics and trying to slow down the advance of the advancing forces.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Prudnikov

— What was the second stage?

— Engaging in circular defense. "Veterans", "Vostok" and the 11th airborne assault brigade have gained a foothold in the industrial zone. Together with the 30th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment, we began to hold Kubatkin farm (6 km north of Sudzha), as well as control approaches and landings to prevent anyone from approaching the exit from the pipe. And wait for our forces to break through. In the end, we all persevered and waited. Two days later, the 155th Marine Brigade, the 3rd Regiment, and the Akhmat Special Forces Chestnut Battalion joined forces in our area. The enemy was cut up. After that, we were able to evacuate. The last attack aircraft was sent to the rear on March 11.

— Why was it necessary to defend the entrance to the pipe?

— If the connection of our flanks was delayed, the only way to get out of the encirclement would remain underground.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Prudnikov

— What was the balance of power?

— The garrison of Suji and nearby villages ranged from 7 to 10 thousand people. In general, Kiev deployed the most elite and combat—ready units in the Kursk adventure - special operations forces, assault and amphibious units, nationalist formations, and the 47th separate mechanized brigade equipped with all types of modern NATO equipment. And they all ran away. I think the fighting spirit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has already been broken, and it won't be easy to recover from such a defeat. As we know, the Ukrainian media first reported that the "Stream" had failed, they had destroyed us all. After that, there were assurances of their own successful defense. And now information is being replicated that their withdrawal from the Court is a voluntary decision. It is clear that you should not engage in cap-making either, they have reserves in the Sumy region, they can pull them up to expand the neck of the boiler and help their own get out. We are ready for this.

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— What was the biggest surprise for you during the operation?

— That everything worked out for us. I believed in my guys, I knew that we could handle at least the first stage for sure. As a result, both were successfully implemented. All the members of my group were injured in these battles. But none of them died.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Prudnikov

— What is the portrait of a modern stormtrooper, including in your unit?

— The age range is wide. There are those who are 21 years old, and they are already battle-hardened. There are a lot of guys over forty who take out the experience. The work takes place in "threes" and "sixes". Each fighter knows which sector he controls during the assault, everyone understands each other without words. The Troika is used to clear individual strongholds and trenches, it has two submachine gunners and a machine gunner, or all three are armed with AK, and one has an additional shotgun to defeat drones. The "Six" is for more mass events, it can already have a grenade launcher, a flamethrower, a sniper, a combat medic. Each operation is carefully planned and "polished" to perfection: luck loves preparation. When storming, we have no option but to retreat. For these reasons, we have not failed any task, and these are Belogorovka, Serebryansk forestry, Volchansk, Kharkiv region, and now the Kursk direction.

— Is "Stormtrooper" a concept of modern times? Previously, there were more in use — "infantryman", "shooter" ...

— Until January 2023, everyone was engaged in assault operations — motorized infantry, paratroopers, marines, and even reconnaissance battalions. At the beginning of the year before last, Storm detachments were created in the brigades of the Ministry of Defense, they include tankers, mortars, sappers, scouts, but the basis is made up of attack aircraft, whose task is exclusively assaults. These guys can safely be called the modern military elite.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Prudnikov

— What are the basic principles of behavior and work in your department?

— Strict discipline. Prohibition. The rule of the "last order" is that it is carried out at any cost and is not discussed, you can only clarify the details. If you show cowardice, you are removed from the front and sent to the rear, and there is no worse punishment. We introduce newcomers to the business gradually, without immediately throwing them to the front line. And yet — we have no concept of surrender. In particular, because captivity itself, in fact, is not going to happen to us. Last year, our scout with the call sign Leto came across an enemy with his partner during a landing near Pushkarny. He received six wounds, and his friend also turned out to be "three hundred." Realizing that they would not be able to pull him out, Leto told his partner to move away, and he committed suicide. Thus demonstrating an example of heroism, following orders to the end and loyalty to the oath.

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— Everyone who is currently on the Kursk route is working hard, as they say, the days merge into one, there is not enough time to sleep. How do you manage to maintain such a schedule, given the complexity of the tasks?

— In all my time, I have never been on vacation. During his 12 injuries, he never went out for evacuation or rehabilitation, so as not to leave the personnel, be on the spot and control the situation. The reason is that when you do a job that you like, you don't get too tired.