GlobeLiveMedia in Ukraine: what is the daily life of a key artillery line in the defense of Bakhmut

(Bakhmut, special envoys). The men of Brigade 80 have their own flag which says: “No one but us.” This is the motto of assault paratroopers in Ukraine and refers to the fact that no one but them can perform certain tasks. That carried out by these soldiers meets this definition. They are attached to the Bakhmut front and constitute the artillery support of the line of defense, one of the key elements of the war between Ukraine and Russia. And for weeks they lived much of their time underground.

They do so in the increasingly bitter cold of the Donbass, where ten-degree-below temperatures have been recorded in recent days, as if the impending arrival of spring is a lie. But no one is complaining about the cold at the moment. On the contrary, for them it seems to be the ideal temperature and some move from place to place with their shirt collars open, without gloves, with their ears uncovered.

They are somewhere around Bakhmut, lost in open country or between mountains, less than 10 kilometers from ground zero, the first line of fire. They show us the terrain and point out the places that can and cannot be filmed, and they insist very much that this article cannot contain any specifics. It was the condition to allow the team to GlobeLiveMedia gain access to one of the defensive positions and spend the day with the soldiers supporting the infantry with fire trying to hold Bakhmut and recover some of the lost ground on this battle front.

It also cannot be revealed how many people are in this position, but on the way to the location you can see different camouflaged tents on all sides of the field, light vehicles, other armored vehicles, guns between the trees, soldiers dressed in white to blend in with the snow. Basically, the whole area around Bakhmut today is one huge fortress, the mouth of a wolf desperate to bite. The battle is fought without pause.

Here in this artillery cache two bunkers were built. In the first is seated a young man who has just come down to rest, but he has not taken off his vest or his helmet. His name is Andrii, he is 23 years old and he is a gunner: he helps fire and load the 2S1 howitzer they are in charge of. It is an amphibious vehicle that carries a self-propelled gun. It is Soviet-made and dates from 1972, but it still works like the first day.

“How does it feel to fire the howitzer?” »

I feel hate. Hatred towards the enemy. This first. And then I’m also proud of what I do.

“How do you handle all of this? It’s not a normal life to spend weeks underground safe from cannon fire.

—When you realize that your loved ones and loved ones are waiting for you at home, the task makes sense. This alone helps me tolerate this. Being connected with my family, making video calls, talking, knowing about them. All this helps me.

“Nearly a year has passed since the war. Have you lost any comrades?

-A lot. That’s a tough question that I’d rather not answer, but the truth is that many. It’s a big war, there are a lot of losses, it couldn’t be otherwise… However… I don’t know… We often sit around a table chatting and we remember our comrades who also sat with us before and more… They are always in our thoughts and in our hearts.

Andrew he keeps his composure, he doesn’t shed a tear or hesitate, but you can see through his eyes that at 23 he already knows more about death than almost any boy of his generation.

His superior is a long-bearded sergeant who says the howitzer is a noble weapon, that if taken care of it never fails, and offers “sniper precision”. He opens the hatches and proudly shows the elements of the armored vehicle: the sight, the shells, the pedals. It is protected in a kind of special trench and is covered on the front with a fence erected to protect it from kamikaze drones. It is that if it were detected, it could be launched immediately against him to destroy him. Thanks to the net, he wouldn’t touch it and he would explore sooner. In any case, it seems difficult to trace this location: the infrastructure is minimal, almost indistinguishable from the landscape.

About six people sleep in the bunker, maybe eight. There is a salamander that gives warmth and they are provided with soft drinks, snacks, potatoes, chocolates, coffee, preserves and a few other things. Nothing seems to be missing, certainly not too much either.

The sergeant, commander of the howitzer, is 36 years old and has already participated in the war in the first years, in 2014, 2015, 2016. At some point he left the army and tried to have a life normal, but it was difficult for him. him to return to civil society. “It wasn’t easy, I had some problems,” he said. “That’s why when this war is over, I will go back to work in the fields. It’s my thing, it’s what I like, ”he adds.

“When you have free time, who do you think about?

— In family, friends, and especially in the things I will do in the future. Here, if you don’t dream about the future, you can go absolutely crazy.

“What kind of targets do you usually attack?”

— Enemy troops. Light, sometimes more powerful armored vehicles. Enemy firing positions, bunkers, weapons. And a few other things.

— How do you feel when you shoot?

— It depends on the situation, the place, the case. But I still feel the adrenaline rush. It’s very difficult to explain, you just feel it.

There are too many things difficult to explain in the war between Ukraine and Russia. If everyone thought in the first weeks that it would be a quick victory for Putin, everyone was wrong. What is certain is that in the first months the Ukrainians suffered a large number of casualties from the powerful Russian artillery. The basic principle of the use of artillery is the concentration of ordnance. The closer the guns are, the better, as it gives more fire support. The fight to advance in territory could be defined as the combination of maneuver and fire support. Maneuver involves placing forces in the most convenient position to defeat the enemy. The fire support is the curtain to carry out this manoeuvre: the fire is open obliging the enemy to protect themselves and thus the troops themselves can take up position with greater freedom.

At first, the problem was that Russia reacted too quickly to Ukrainian artillery fire. It’s the duel of counter-drums. That is to say: when a force opens fire, the enemy immediately detects it and opens counter-battery fire, in order to eliminate the threat. The Ukrainians at the beginning of the war suffered heavy losses because the aforementioned Russian artillery powerhouse had a lot of counter-battery capability. With the much more modern guns that the West delivered to Ukraine, they managed to equalize the situation. They are lighter weapons that allow you to open fire and disarm quickly, leave the scene and not run the risk of retaliation. For example, the French cannon Caesar, which positions, fires and disappears in four minutes. Thus, advances have become more contested.

In this artillery position, the permanent fire is not open because there is no accumulation of fire hydrants, but only a very powerful weapon that acts when necessary or when the opportunity arises . The scouts give coordinates and the howitzer comes out of its lair to launch the attack. He then goes back to hiding and waits for a new target.

Viktor This is another of the soldiers who has been in this kind of base for weeks. He is 23 years old and enlisted in the army on February 27, 2022, three days after the start of the invasion. He’s tall and broad, and unlike the others he doesn’t let his face be seen, though maybe that’s because of the cold, which is sometimes around ten degrees below zero.

For Viktor, the anniversary of the war is anecdotal, what hurts him is the number of friends he has lost this year, more than in his entire life combined. We see him most of the time alone, cleaning his weapon, priming it. At one point, he walks over to another of the squadron’s vehicles and sits on some empty ammo boxes. After a while, he agrees to talk. The first thing he says is something related to his comrades: “They are always in my memory.” Her hat and scarf don’t reveal her expression, but for some reason something can be guessed in the movement of her hands, in the way she uses her body.

The conversation is short. Like good, sadness also multiplies soon after.

“What do you think of the Russian soldiers?

We cannot underestimate them. They have a powerful army. Well, at least they did. Despite this, they continue to attack our positions. And they are not only mobilized, they have seriously trained soldiers. We will win anyway. The victory will be ours.

“How do you feel when you kill an enemy?”

– How do I feel? I feel the recoil of my rifle on my shoulder.

Video and photos: Franco Fafasuli

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