Closing the circle: how the Russian army drove the Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters into the Dobropolsky pocket

In the Dobropolsky area, Russian troops continue to tighten the encirclement. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, units of the 4th and 15th brigades of the National Guard of Ukraine and the 425th "Skala" assault regiment were surrounded. Russian fighters established control over the Golden Well, which allowed them to increase pressure on the logistics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and move towards Dobropillya. The assault groups approached the enemy's positions covertly — in small formations, under the cover of drones, using terrain folds and means of camouflage. How the Russian military overcame engineering barriers, cleared the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and what tactics the enemy uses on the outskirts of Dobropillya is shown in the "Izvestia" report.

Now our Golden Well

We arrived early in the morning to visit these guys. At a time that is called gloomy in ITS own right. During this period, enemy attack and reconnaissance drones are least active. The guys recently "rolled back" to the rear after successfully completing a combat mission. They participated in the liberation of the Golden Well in the DPR and told us how the fighting took place.

According to the deputy commander of the battalion for military and political work with the call sign Solod, the entry into the settlement was preceded by aerial reconnaissance.

"First, the operators of the unmanned systems unit revealed the location of enemy firing points, dugouts and supply routes, after which drones and artillery struck the identified targets," the officer explained.

Under the cover of drones, the assault groups stealthily advanced to the outskirts of the village, acting in small formations so as not to attract the attention of enemy crews. It turned out that in front of the settlement, the enemy had created a system of engineering barriers: several deep ditches, barbed wire and a "tangle". Overcoming the ditches, the fighters used improvised means and prepared stakes: lifting the wire, they secretly crawled under it and went out to the outskirts of the settlement, using anti-drone ponchos. It was necessary to knock out the enemy from houses and shelters sequentially, clearing building after building.

— The village is an extremely important tactical frontier. Roads open from it to Druzhkovka and all the way to the DPR border. They came in twos and threes. Sometimes during the day, and sometimes at night. All this is done under the cover of our drones. The terrain features were partially used. For example, they used reed beds. We put on similar masks and slowly went through this path," the deputy political officer notes.

According to him, the enemy has settled here thoroughly.

— In front of the village, they equipped four anti-tank ditches one after the other. In addition, there is a lot of "confusion". And the forest belts here are not straight, as is usually the case, but curved and with large gaps. As it turned out later, they were inhabited by notorious nationalists. All this, of course, created problems for us. The enemy's plan was to block the approaches to the village. There were not so many Armed forces in the settlement itself. That's why we destroyed them all in a week," the officer clarified.

There are no easy assaults

The deputy commander of the assault company with the call sign Rog said that it helped his subordinates to overcome the engineering obstacles built by the enemy because they were prepared for such a development and had experience.

— We are training to overcome the moats, the "thorn". We work out all these algorithms at training points. Undoubtedly, intelligence helps in such work. We know in advance where it is better to go. We've seen all kinds of things: "fox holes", concrete bunkers. There are a lot of NATO weapons: rifles, machine guns, grenades. Such things don't happen with a single blow. But when our stormtroopers come close to them, the militants, as a rule, do not have the morale to resist. They just give up. And at this moment, their own copters begin to finish them off. In general, there are a lot of subtleties and nuances. But the basis for everything is careful, effective preparation. There are no easy assaults," he stressed.

But the commander of the assault platoon with the call sign Divi noted that the main thing in the stormtrooper's equipment is ammunition and camouflage.

— Of course, we take food with us. For two or three days. But something so light: chocolate, a couple of canned food, water. Basically, our cargo is a tank top and a camouflage poncho," the commander said.

He clarified that the task of his unit was to occupy the outskirts of the village.

— The opponent didn't resist much. There were their forcibly mobilized men. The "Azovites" have already settled in the depths of the village*. These ones never go to the front. When we got into position, we gained a foothold. This was reported to the command. Later, the main forces developed the offensive through us," Divi summed up.

After the liberation of the Golden Well, the group's units gained a foothold on new frontiers. Control over the settlement made it possible to disrupt the logistics of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in this area and create conditions for a further offensive in the Dobropolsky direction.

On the outskirts of the Metropolis

And we're going to visit the stormtroopers from another unit of the "Center" group of forces. These are soldiers of the 61st Guards Marine Brigade. After they destroyed the AFU units on the outskirts of Dobropillya, they returned to the nearest rear and found time to talk with us.

— Recently, while moving towards Dobropillya, an enemy dugout was discovered in one of the forest belts on the outskirts of the city. After conducting a short reconnaissance, they began to storm it. And they took them very quickly. While one of the combat pair was suppressing the enemy with small arms fire, the second one came closer and threw a grenade inside," said the deputy battalion commander with the call sign Zhara.

Since there were passages and "fox holes" inside, the officer gave the order to destroy the entire dugout.

"For this, they used high—explosive ammunition, which allows them to destroy dugouts, strongholds and enemy equipment," the officer explained.

Separately, he drew attention to the peculiarities of the tactics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in defense in this area.

— Their tactic is prolonged concealment. They stay in the woodlands for a long time. That is, they are hiding there. We can't identify them for a long time. We only detect it when the infantry is already in position. Why don't we identify them right away? They disguise themselves very well. You can't see it from drones. Therefore, only the eyes, legs, arms and the reaction of the infantryman help to cope with this trick of theirs. In direct fire contact, destroying the enemy," Zhara emphasized.

And we're leaving the Marines' positions. Because we don't want to take up their precious vacation time. The guys still have a lot of important and hard work ahead of them.

* "Azov" is an organization recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in the Russian Federation