RIA Novosti reporter spent four days on the front line at LPR

SVATOVO (LPR), December 15 – RIA Novosti. The RIA Novosti correspondent spent four days on the front line with scouts and motorized rifles. Here the enemy tried to cross the front line five times, but was stopped.

We are walking on frozen ground. During the slush, tanks and trucks turned this road into an impassable slurry. Now it froze in strange shapes. In total darkness, we control every step with a group of scouts. If you put your foot wrong, you will have to move several kilometers. Don’t forget your backpack and protective gear. I don’t want to be a burden to the platoon and disrupt the mission at all.

Just five kilometers from ravines and fields – and we’re on the scene. As often happens, the front line passes through a forest farm. This part of the field is ours, a parallel row of trees under the control of the Kyiv forces. There is about 600 meters between us. After quickly checking the callsigns and “marking” to headquarters, the commander of this opornik places us in first-class apartments. I’m getting a luxury suite. About one and a half meters into a row of logs and the same between the walls. The stove crackles comfortably at the entrance. Dry and warm, what else do I and my two interlocutors need for happiness. But it’s not bedtime. We’re going on a mission with the Scouts. The schedule is pretty tight. Three hours on duty and six hours minding your own business.

The positions are on the descent, where the shells are cut like an English grass during the war. Two bunkers here are covered by direct hits. The logs were scattered like matches, luckily there was no one in them. You stand next to them and bad thoughts come to your mind. We look into the dark through thermal imagers. It has warmed outside, and the rising fog is hiding the enemy from us. Now you can trust only your hearing. It was still two hours before the shift and freezing rain fell from the sky. My escorts are from an elite intelligence brigade. These temporary difficulties do not bother them, but I try in vain to warm up from a wet jacket.

Everything was calm that night. Although we were promised a mercenary attack in this direction, they too were confused by the weather. The whole world has turned into an uninterrupted ice rink.

“Foreigners love money and comfort. They came here on a safari and are not at all willing to die in damp trenches. Only Slavs can do that,” explains the opornic commander with a smile.

He gives me tea in the commander’s bunker. Water is an issue here. Everything you need is transported only at night and only on foot. If the enemy notices armored vehicles, he will immediately cover them with artillery. The commander does not dare to replace the soldiers’ lives with a bottle of water.

Whatever the omniscient characters write on the internet, we will not be able to end this conflict without mobilisation. The first conscripts were sent to the front already in October and have been fighting bravely ever since. There’s a ski instructor, a truck driver, an animator for kids’ parties, and a dozen other professions.

The commander said, “It doesn’t matter to me what a person did before the army. They’re all my soldiers now. We don’t keep them here. If in doubt, dig trenches in the back. I’m just warriors!”

And I must say that he is not exaggerating a bit. Bloody clashes took place for a month, but the enemy could not advance. And yes, it was captured by “mobiks”, from whom it was customary to make fun of Ukrainian social networks. They destroyed several armored vehicles and several dozen enemy soldiers on the outskirts of the village. Now we pass the equipment skeletons and scattered corpses. Used bullets jingle under your feet and this place stinks of death. Dense fog only adds mysticism to our adventures. On the way back, we meet a group of engineers. Their path passes through our positions leading to the neutral zone. I went with them too.

“In the open air, such a daring sortie was unthinkable. They were going to be shot down right away. But now it’s okay, we’re working,” explains the red-bearded unit commander.

Surprisingly, the entire platoon was mobilized. The youngsters have been preparing for a month and now they are showing their skills on the field. The shovels cut through the frozen ground with difficulty, but in the end my companions nevertheless set up a minefield.

They’re done, so I’m on the radio. We have to go to the evacuation place. My four days of cold and damp life was over. A warm farewell to new friends. There’s a hot bath in front of me, and theirs is just a valiant military job. This is for serious guys. Not everyone can stand it.