Crews of two SAU-122 howitzers – which look like tanks from a distance – exchange jokes in the freezing cold from the edge of a small forest. Faces are tired. To give themselves courage, they prepare coffee by heating it with a blowtorch. Explosions echo across the gray sky. The feet of the soldiers who did not stand in the tanks were stuck in the thick mud. The city of Bagmouth, which the Russian forces are trying to capture with artillery barrages About ten kilometers away, continuously for more than four months.
Oleksandr Lapa, a green hat pulled just above his eyes, makes sure he doesn’t stray too far from the antenna of the Starlink internet connection system. The 24-year-old is awaiting orders from the command of 58e Regiment for the regulation of fire at the positions of the Russian army. But the freezing rain prevented the drones from flying, tasked with identifying targets. So, to pass the time, the soldier weaves together events that tell the human cost of battles in order to avoid capture by the enemy of this Donbass city.
In footage taken by a Ukrainian drone flying over Russian infantry positions, Oleksandr Laba saw men fleeing in all directions to avoid the blast. “I don’t know if they were on drugs, but they were running aroundHe said calmly. There, an explosion, three deaths, then another explosion, another three deaths. The guys kept running…” Another time, Ukrainian soldiers managed to retrieve a military radio after reaching enemy positions. For several days, the Kyiv forces listened to the orders of a Russian commander. “He shouted and gave the soldiers thirty minutes to seize a place, threatening to kill them himself if they didn’t take it.” Oleksandr Laba says casually.
In the Pakmoud sector, Russian forces, the regular army, newly mobilized soldiers and mercenaries from Wagner’s private militia, have been on the offensive for months. Conquering the bombed city would allow them to advance in their goal of seizing the entire Donbass region, partially annexed by Russia, in September, and secure a long-awaited victory after the last military setbacks on the frontline. Southern Ukraine.
Violent fights
In this sector, Moscow’s forces, numerically superior, are slowly making ground, while the Ukrainian gunners are running out of ammunition. The fighting was terrible in violence and heavy in human losses, from one side to the other. Despite exhaustion, after nine months of fighting, Q’s troops somehow resisted the enemy steamroller.
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