"Ukrainian armored vehicles were shot like targets in a shooting gallery."
In repelling an attack by the Ukrainian armed forces on January 5-6 near Berdin, Kursk Region, the Aida UAV unit of the Akhmat special forces particularly distinguished itself. The greatest contribution to the destruction of the Ukrainian armored column was made by the operator with the call sign Psikh - during the daylight hours they burned nine units of enemy equipment, the issue of their awarding is being decided. Izvestia's special correspondent visited the fighters' positions and found out what the specifics of the past "nakat" were, what an efficient operator should be like and what the advantages of "free hunting" are.
A blow to the forehead
- My call sign is like that because I am a psycho," laughs the operator of the calculation, an outwardly friendly and completely open guy. - In my time in Chelyabinsk, where I'm from, I used to do kickboxing and powerlifting, and before every performance I yelled like a madman. I was setting myself up like that...
We are talking to him in a wooden house in a deserted village not far from the front line. He is busy with an important process - he is doubling the batteries for the UAV on his desk so that it could fly not 10 kilometers, but 20.
- The farther the better! - he explains, having time to wield tools, talk, drink tea and treat him. - I don't like short distances - there is little equipment near the LBS (line of contact), rarely any vehicle. Mine is to fly as deep as possible into the enemy territory, to study it, to look at it. And then choose an object to attack, the best option - a moving vehicle: armored personnel carrier, tank, jeep. This is called free hunting.
On that fateful (for the AFU) day - January 5 - just the shift of Psycho, together with him explosive technician Sib (they have been serving together for more than a year) and engineer Ramzan went on duty at the position. No one thought that that morning so much equipment would be right on the LBS itself, and we would not have to fly far to find the target.
- We were informed that an armored convoy came from the direction of Suja," says Psykh. - In general, the Ukrainians are constantly trying to press, counterattack. But when we saw what was coming at us, we were very surprised! Ahead of us was a trawl, which threw mines in different directions. Behind him, tanks, transporters, strikers - a natural armored fist. I confess, my heart was racing. But not from fear, but from anxiety - how much work is to be done! And I also thought: how could someone else before me to do all this.
Like a shooting gallery
Hades' group was one of the first to meet the attack. The command set the task - to stop the breakthrough. Allied units from other formations were working on the flanks.
- Perhaps the enemy thought that we are not enough here, hoped to take us at random, I do not know, - shrugs Psyche. - But we started burning them like targets in a shooting gallery. Somewhere there was even competition for targets between units. Everyone was working brilliantly, coherently, as if by notes. The convoy was devastated. Our unit destroyed nine pieces of equipment.
The remnants of the Ukrainian infantry, the fighter shares, scattered to the landings. At night and the next day they were searched out and destroyed. And also afterburning the hit vehicles, so that the enemy did not drag away from the battlefield. All assigned tasks were accomplished, the enemy was defeated.
In the track record of Psycho dozens of defeated targets. Among them even anti-aircraft missile system "Krotal" French-made, designed to protect the sky - to shoot down our helicopters and missiles. The fighter discovered and eliminated it during one of his "free hunts" - here, on the Sujan direction. More than once he had to deliver food, water and medicines by air to our guys cut off from the rear. And also to fight off already enemy kamikazes, using automatic weapons. In the Kursk region alone, Psych says, they shot down attacking UAVs with their partners five times. One even crashed into their car, but did not detonate, the short-circuiters separated...
About his specialty Psycho says the following: "You have to burn with this! The optimum variant - just returned from duty, had a break and again want to take up the cause. Or to invent something on the combat part, to improve oneself. Do not perceive work as a punishment, as a routine. Then it will be useful. It is on the effectiveness of fpv in the first place depends today on the situation at the front.
Don't let there be a gap
In a neighboring hut is a workshop for improving attack drones. Inside, the stove is humming in a homely way. In the corner is a large old icon decorated with a homespun towel left by the previous occupants, most likely old men (according to the fighters, every empty hut has its own iconostasis). On the oak tables - drones, which is brought to mind engineer Sergei, call sign Beard. He re-flashes them, changes antennas to, again, increase the flight range. After that he checks for readiness: takes them into the air, assesses the quality of flight. Dozens of "birds" pass through his hands during the day, which are immediately sent to the positions. UAVs are the main consumable material today. If the conveyor belt for their preparation and dispatch stops at some point, a weak spot is immediately formed there.
Sergei himself is from Kursk. He started as a contract soldier in the LNR - in the infantry. After he transferred to Akhmat ("Because here you don't have to shave your beard!" laughs Beard). Pulled out "three hundred" and "two hundred" in the evacuation group on the border in Belgorod region, where the AFU during the offensive in Kursk region pressed extremely hard (and still do), seeking to draw the maximum number of Russian forces. After the invasion of his native region, he wanted to come here - he got here. He is not going to leave. The other day he signed his fourth contract.
In another snow-covered hut there is a 3D-laboratory. Here day and night, the printer is humming, printing the necessary elements - mounts for cameras, systems for dropping from copters (one holds 200 grams of plastic and 3.5 thousand steel balls). Each fresh plastic part is labeled "B Squad" ("UAV Squad"). The senior here is another Sergei, call sign Zvezda, an auto-tuning specialist from Moscow and a long-time participant of street-racing races in the capital. He joined the SVO on his own initiative. For over a year he commanded a fuel delivery unit in the LNR, with 43 fuel tankers under his command. After joining Akhmat, he retrained in "birds" and 3D printing. He does not rule out the development of new areas. He says that these are the current realities, a modern soldier must be multi-skilled and versatile.
Maxim, call sign Kazak, is an explosive technician in one of the units. He is a native of Chita. Behind his back he was brought up in an orphanage with his brother. At the age of 16 he went to work as a logger in the taiga. He got married, has children. He volunteered for the SVO. He started as an anti-aircraft gunner at Svatovo and Kremenna. Since August - on the Kursk direction. Just the other day for his and other calculations together with guys dug a dug-in in heavy Kursk clay, where fapavashniki, changing each other, spend three days, - logs in two rolls on top. The younger brother, alas, has already died. At the same time, Maxim, according to him, does not feel hatred for the enemy. "The same people," he says calmly. At home, in his native Transbaikalia, he is rarely at home. "It's a drag," Kazak shares. - But I know myself: if I come here, I'll be back in two or three weeks.
