Stormy weather: how villages on the outskirts of Dimitrov were liberated

The troops of the Center group continue their offensive in the Red Army direction. The villages of Balagan and Moskovskoye, located on the outskirts of Dimitrov, have been liberated. Despite the loud statements of the Ukrainian authorities about counterattacks and stabilization of the situation, they could not stop the advance of our troops. Izvestia learned from the soldiers of the 5th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade named after the first head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, how the battles for the liberated villages developed.

Prepared defense

— All the activities of our department have to be carefully planned. The enemy is really serious — it's not some kind of "mobs" caught in a "busik". They have foreign weapons, high—quality communications, and we only hear numbers in interceptions - they don't talk openly. You can't hope for an accidental success," says Lieutenant Boris Larionov, commander of the assault squad.

According to the source, he and the commander of the reconnaissance battalion and the brigade commander personally planned the operation.

— When I couldn't act according to the plan, the brigade commander called me in. We talked with him, he gave a couple of tips, I accepted them, took advantage of them, which is why we are now standing here with you and recording an interview about the release. I bypassed the enemy from the flank from which he advised, it turned out that there really was no one there. The scouts were already in the enemy's rear in positions that they had occupied in advance," says Boris Larionov.

Before storming the settlement, it was necessary to pass kilometers of "zelenka", enemy strongholds in the forest belts. Boris says that the defense on these strongholds was so prepared that there were two-story dugouts. When, after heavy fighting, the enemy began to retreat, thinking that he was advancing to his positions, he came under fire from brigade reconnaissance, which the day before had bypassed the advanced positions from the rear and gained a foothold there.

— One of the opponents finally escaped from this ambush. He stripped off everything, took off what he was wearing in fashionable American clothes to run across the fields. We didn't destroy it. They let him walk to the place where his "brothers" were sitting. We studied this place and inflicted pinpoint strikes with artillery fire, and after that they finished it off with drops and fpv drones," the lieutenant recalls.

— I prepare my soldiers, as well as scouts, for the fact that you can be at a distance of 50-70 meters from a target where your artillery is working. There are certain commands, we give them, the guys hide, after which a fire defeat is inflicted. The brigade artillery is great, they really hit where the enemy is sitting," the officer notes.

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The enemy was hiding behind civilians

— The enemy was entrenched in almost every residential building in the villages, they evicted half of the population, and half remained. We used small group tactics with the support of unmanned systems," says Major Viktor Voronin, commander of the UAV unit.

According to him, in the villages themselves, the enemy, being exposed to fire, did not hold on, but tried to roll back to Dimitrov's multi-storey buildings. But the problem was the presence of civilians, who were hiding behind the enemy, and this prevented the use of massive fire. Additional reconnaissance and accurate target acquisition were constantly needed.

— Our systems are developing, our pilots are growing. During his time, those boys who came at the age of 18-19 have already become aces. The enemy is suffering significant losses from fiber-optic control systems. There is practically no counteraction to such technology — only shooting down in close combat with small arms, but this is unlikely," Viktor explains.

At the moment, when our troops have gained a foothold in populated areas, drone operators are fully in control of the area in front of the villages and are helping to stop counterattacks. A few days ago, an attempt at a flank strike was repulsed, the enemy was detected from the air even at the stage of advancing from Dimitrov.

Foot reconnaissance also helps in the offensive, which uses special camouflage equipment to move stealthily, remaining invisible to enemy UAVs.

— Since the "zelenka" has not yet descended, the enemy still has holes and dugouts in the landings, which cannot be detected from the air. We move through fields at night, through forest belts during the day, and enter populated areas carefully so that we can get on the train. Some reconnaissance groups accumulate in a populated area, while others lead stormtroopers," says Artyom Nalisny, commander of the reconnaissance battalion. According to him, if it comes to small-arms combat at short distances, enemy units prefer to retreat without demonstrating resilience in such a situation.