Ukrainians along front: Digging deeper, and waiting, waiting ...
| KUPIANSK AND KREMINNA FOREST, Ukraine
On the farthest northeast edge of Ukraine鈥檚 front line against Russian invaders,聽east of Kupiansk and not far from the Russian border,聽the rows of 鈥渄ragon鈥檚 teeth鈥� stretch across frigid, muddy fields as far as the eye can see.
Designed to slow an expected Russian armored advance, the lines of solid concrete pyramids are bound by cables, on ground laced with land mines and spun with endless coils of razor wire.
Farther back are multiple sets of muddy trenches 鈥� all indications Ukraine is digging in for a long defense.聽Even as Russia mounts scores of attacks daily along the 600-mile front, Ukraine鈥檚聽outnumbered and outgunned forces await supplies from the United States and Europe.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onA tour along Ukraine鈥檚 front lines finds a noted shift from the optimism before last summer鈥檚 failed counteroffensive. With critical U.S. military supplies held up in Congress, the emphasis is on defense, and on patient, courageous resolve.
鈥淭he Russians have been having some tactical advantages; the situation is hard, but controlled,鈥澛爏ays officer Maksym Radchenko of the 123rd Kupiansk Separate Battalion of Ukraine鈥檚 Territorial Defense Forces,聽as darkness falls and distant explosions sound.
At this point, Russian units are north, east, and south, less than a mile away as the shell flies.
鈥淭he advancing capacity of the Russians is very low; it鈥檚 exhausted,鈥� says the officer, when asked about reports Moscow has amassed armor and troops just over the border.
鈥淥ur enemies are looking for weak spots. ... We look for their weak spots,鈥� says officer Radchenko.聽鈥淭he changes here are tactical, not strategic.鈥�
Ukrainian military planners hope that assessment and all their defenses hold, as Russia seeks to capitalize on momentum gained聽in mid-February by聽capturing Avdiivka, much further south,聽after a costly four-month onslaught.
Visits by the Monitor to half a dozen points along Ukraine鈥檚 front line indicate that the聽聽on display a year ago聽has given way to much more subdued ambitions.
After聽the failure last summer of a heavily promoted Ukrainian counteroffensive, and with critical American military supplies held up by U.S. congressional gridlock, the聽prospect聽now聽is聽of a gritty and determined defense, with no end in sight.
Commitment to fight
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last month that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died during two years of war 鈥� though Russia is estimated to have lost tens of thousands more, including 17,000 dead to seize Avdiivka alone.聽Yet despite obvious exhaustion and a host of sacrifices, Ukrainian troops still exude confidence and often a personal commitment to fight.
The bearded and bespectacled officer Radchenko, for example 鈥� who has a soft spot for American culture 鈥� closed his Wild West-themed bar and grill in Kharkiv when Russia invaded, donated the cooking equipment to the military, and volunteered to fight. He is certain that the U.S. will 鈥渘ever abandon鈥� Ukraine, despite the lull in support.
Institute for the Study of War
Similar resolve is found in a cramped bunker dug out of the earth, outfitted with a small stove and cans of Non-Stop energy drink. There, a stocky sergeant nicknamed Tyson 鈥� a graduate of boxing school in nearby Kupiansk 鈥� says his 鈥渕ain job鈥� is to keep building the defensive line.
In past fighting, three of the seven members of his squad were killed, the others wounded 鈥� including Tyson, in his leg and stomach. He could have taken longer to convalesce, instead of manning a sodden trench system where his soldiers captured 600 mice in one multiday shift.
But the army veteran of seven years saw his stepfather, more than twice his age, at the front, and knew that was also where he belonged.
鈥淔or me, this is not abstract,鈥� says Tyson, matter-of-factly. 鈥淭his is my house. I don鈥檛 have any place to go. ... We are here until the end. The minimum that I ask for is to survive.鈥澛犅�
鈥淥n the same spot鈥�
Some reasons for Ukraine鈥檚 defensive posture can be found at a position 55 miles to the southeast, near the Kreminna Forest, where the sound of explosions never stops.
The artillery聽unit was聽lauded as an elite battalion when formed for last summer鈥檚 counteroffensive, which was stopped by聽Russian defenses choked with mines. Even during training, the聽soldiers say, they realized聽there was a聽shortage of ammunition and equipment.
And when they went to the fight?
鈥淲e had some Iranian mortars we got from somewhere, but it was not the Western equipment we were promised,鈥� says one soldier, Vadym, clearly disappointed after such fanfare.聽鈥淲e lost a lot of good specialists.鈥�
These days, when they get coordinates for their 105 mm gun 鈥撀燼n aging Italian howitzer 鈥� the Ukrainians race from their underground bunker, remove camouflaging, and fire several聽rounds.
But this unit has also just been聽ordered to substantially cut back聽the number of shells it fires each day.
鈥淒on鈥檛 underestimate the enemy; our enemy is very smart, and he is developing and progressing,鈥� says Sasha, a squad leader of the 1st Presidential Brigade of the Ukraine National Guard.
He understands Russia is preparing for a spring offensive. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 see the larger picture,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut what we can see is we are on the same spot for a long time, and short of ammunition.鈥�
Humor in a dark bunker
Some miles away, a聽120 mm mortar position is carefully hidden among trenches in the forest.聽Half a dozen soldiers eat, drink, and sleep,聽in an underground command center filled with聽the rich scent of earthen walls.
When the order comes to fire, the team sights聽the mortar聽and聽a soldier nicknamed Yakut shouts, 鈥淲elcome to Ukraine!鈥� as he drops the shell into the tube and ducks for聽cover.
These troops know what they are firing at: Russians in trenches the Ukrainians themselves built, but which they withdrew from in December. A commander points out the precise firings on an iPad. Aboveground, trees are shredded from months of shrapnel.
In the dark bunker, a dark humor pervades. A rucksack in a corner has a velcro patch that reads, 鈥淢om says I鈥檓 special.鈥�
鈥淚 am working well with a shovel,鈥� jokes one soldier, about the need to dig even deeper defenses.
At another artillery position in the Donetsk region, the battery commander, who asks not to be named, says, 鈥淭he gods kissed us on the forehead and gave us this gun.鈥� But ammunition has dwindled.
The unit鈥檚 gunner聽was trained in Germany, by New Zealand officers.聽Back then, he says, optimism about defeating Russia ran high, and there was no doubt NATO support would see the conflict through.
Still, the unit has other means of fighting. At a command center a few miles from the front, large screens show live footage seen by Ukrainian drones as they hunt for targets. At 5:05 a.m., the drone鈥檚 thermal imaging camera shows a cluster of Russian troops.
The screen then also shows grenades dropped聽from drones聽on the Russians, apparently killing or incapacitating them.
Drone wars
Along the far southeast of Ukraine鈥檚 front, the Russians, too, have stepped up their drone expertise.
At the back of an evacuation bus carrying wounded soldiers for treatment is a somber scene of gauze-covered wounds and exhaustion following the retreat from Avdiivka. The bus carries six seriously wounded men in beds, and a cluster of others, many wounded by drones.
Artilleryman Lt. Oleksandr Lytvynenko 鈥� his hands wrapped in bandages 鈥� recalls firing through a truckload or more of ammunition every day a year ago to stop waves of advancing Russian troops,聽what he calls 鈥渕eat assaults.鈥�
鈥淭he meat assaults are continuing,鈥� he says, but as Avdiivka fell, his gun was lucky to have one truckload of ammunition per week.
Lieutenant聽Lytvynenko聽still seems in shock at the loss of his position, after not retreating an inch for 1 1/2 years. He asks about apocryphal rumors of a forgotten NATO ammunition stockpile.
鈥淚f we had as many shells as they have, we would be in Belgorod by now,鈥� he says wistfully, referring to the Russian city 25 miles northeast of Ukraine.
鈥淚 am in an optimistic mood,鈥� says Lieutenant Lytvynenko. 鈥淚 want to get back and keep kicking them in the teeth.鈥�
That is happening at some points along the聽front, some 90 miles west of Avdiivka toward Zaporizhzhia, where the 108th Territorial Defense Brigade is testing a six-rotor attack drone they call the Vampire. It can carry four 82 mm mortar shells and sees in the dark.
Pilot Artem wears a camouflage balaclava and says the drone recently killed 16 Russian soldiers advancing in two groups, with two separate flights.
鈥淎 mortar unit would take seven to eight shots to get the target,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut we can do that with one flight, because we can see.鈥�
That doesn鈥檛 mean that drones like the Vampire make Ukraine鈥檚 urgent need for artillery shells any less desperate. A commander, who gives the name Andrii, talks about drone battles with the Russians, and Ukraine鈥檚 overall needs.
鈥淎mericans, don鈥檛 let us down. We rely on you,鈥� he says in English. 鈥淲e have the spirit and the will to fight, [but]聽without help it鈥檚 going to be much harder for us, and there will be many more victims.鈥澛�
Oleksandr Naselenko supported reporting for this story.
