Steel "dreads": how villages on the important highway to Zaporozhye were liberated
During the liberation of the settlements of Alekseevka and Zelyony Kut in the DPR, our troops used tanks with dreadlocks and special ponchos to hide fighters from enemy thermal imagers. As a result, the superior forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could not withstand the attack of the 114th Guards brigade of the Center group of forces. The details of the fighting for the villages on the important highway leading to Zaporizhia are in the Izvestia article.
March in the dark
Prior to the assault on Alekseevka and Zelenyi Kut, a thorough additional reconnaissance of enemy positions in the villages was carried out. Then they began to secretly accumulate stormtroopers in a nearby village called Andreevka. This was done in the dark. Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine monitored the area using drones equipped with thermal imagers that can detect a person by thermal radiation.
"Anti—drone poncho cloaks were used to conceal the movement of fighters and accumulate them before the assault," recalls Senior Lieutenant Nikita Galik, commander of the assault company of the 2nd motorized Rifle battalion of the 114th separate Motorized Rifle Brigade.
It was a difficult road. Any exposed part of the body, the radiation of which is visible in the infrared spectrum, can highlight a fighter on the thermal imager screen.
In order not to give the enemy a chance, everyone hemmed and adjusted the thermal insulation ponchos.
— The fighters walked 4-5 km to the gathering place, and it took three or four hours, — says Nikita. — The man lowers his head and walks, you tell him on the radio: "Left-right." He moves carefully, with small steps. He walks, at full height. If you crawl, the poncho will come off and it will be clearly visible.
The senior lieutenant is sure that not everyone can cope with this difficult task.
"But thanks to confidence and good physical training, our fighters overcame difficult terrain," he is proud.
Thus, up to two infantry squads were accumulated on the outskirts of Andreevka. It's time to start the assault operations.
We entered in silence
The attack took place with the fire support of artillery and tanks, but our attack aircraft operated in conditions of numerical superiority of the enemy.
— It was necessary to enter the first strongholds quietly and destroy the enemy so that he could not raise the alarm, cause fpv drones or mortar fire, — explains Nikita Galik. — Then they went in somewhere blindly, with grenades in their hands, they destroyed the enemy. But mostly everything was done quietly so that we wouldn't be discovered or even able to figure out what had happened.
Nikita Galik
This is how our assault force managed to gain a foothold in Alekseevka.
Then the suppression of powerful strongholds began — at this stage, armored vehicles were involved. The tankers provided accurate fire from closed firing positions for correction from the air and directly from the battlefield. The participants of the assault recall that sometimes the distance between the enemy's firing points and our assault groups was no more than 100 m.
"We received a task to enter the village, work out at certain points and help our infantry advance," says tank company commander Yevgeny Sukhanov. — Work has begun. We rolled into Alekseevka and stood in closed firing positions. Our troops had just begun to enter the first streets of Alekseevka, and it would have been very difficult for them without the help of tanks.
The main problem in assault operations is the protection of tanks from the threat from the air. For this purpose, armored vehicles are being tuned, new tactics, and electronic warfare equipment are being used.
— Our deputy technicians (deputy commanders in the technical department) are working well. — Ed.), — says Evgeny Sukhanov. — They reinforce tanks very strongly with both sheet metal and dreadlocks.
Tank company Commander Evgeny Sukhanov
"Dreadlocks" is a new word in the field tuning of armored vehicles. The machines are scalded with thick steel cables that bend under their weight, so they resemble a matching hairstyle.
According to our interlocutors, such protection makes it possible to significantly reduce the damage of tanks by kamikaze drones.
"Besides, we have a jammer on every tank," the tanker explains. — We also have fighters who watch the sky. They are armed with rifles and submachine guns. They protect our combat vehicles from kamikaze drones and Baba Yaga.
After the liberation and cleansing of Alekseevka, they managed to take Zelyony Kut, which is a small village, and there was less work here.
The enemy's counterattack attempts were stopped even before entering the building. In front of Alekseevka, AFU units were destroyed with the help of Russian kamikaze drones and precision artillery fire.
The troops are moving forward
Earlier, Izvestia reported on how the liberation of the village of Orekhovo in the DPR took place. Motorcycle fighters played an important role in the assault. They distracted the attention of the AFU kamikaze drone operators, which allowed the stormtroopers to enter the settlement.
The motorcyclists acted in groups. To protect them from UAVs, they had powerful electronic warfare (EW) systems in their backpacks.
The fighters stormed the houses in twos. The village was completely cleared within two days. The enemy's counterattacks were repelled with the help of disposable grenade launchers, which they took with them before the attack. During these battles, our fighters destroyed several pickups and a MaxxPro armored car. They hit an American-made armored car with an accurate shot from a grenade launcher directly into the windshield.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
