Hero of Russia Ratibor — about how technology has changed the tactics of combat and why the commander may still need a paper map and compass.
He has been in the ranks for a quarter of a century, and on his uniform are four Orders of Courage and three "Golden Stars" of the Hero of Russia, the DPR and the LPR. With broken legs, he crawled to his own through the mountains of Ingushetia, took the Syrian Palmyra and hoisted the Russian flag over the liberated Bakhmut. Today, the legendary commander Alexander Kuznetsov, with the call sign Ratibor, changed his field camouflage to the everyday uniform of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. On the eve of Defender of the Fatherland Day, Izvestia talked with him about the radically changed tactics of the confrontation in the SVR zone, the liberation of Bakhmut and Popasnaya, as well as the importance of military theory, even for an officer who seemed to have learned everything on the front line.
Bakhmut's Lessons
In the famous footage that circled the Internet in May 2023, a stern military man, who does not particularly choose expressions, installs a tricolor on the roof of a high—rise building. "Victory! Get out of here!" he throws into the camera, addressing the enemy who has been expelled from the city. This is Alexander Kuznetsov with the call sign Ratibor after the completion of the sweep of the last street of Bakhmut (Artemovsk).
View of the AFU positions in Bakhmut (Artemovsk), March 29, 2023
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Prudnikov
The battles for this city are one of the fiercest battles of the special military operation. Here, Alexander and his subordinates faced fierce resistance from professional mercenaries.
"This city forced us to retrain on the go," the officer recalls. — It was there that the tactics of small assault groups and pair interaction were born. At the same time, drones began to be used en masse. If in other conflicts we were still surprised by the use of Bayraktars, then here it has become absolutely commonplace. It became clear that without electronic warfare and visual intelligence, you are a target.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Konstantin Mikhalchevsky
Image source: iz.ru
At that time, the nature of the confrontation in the Krasnolimansk area changed significantly. If earlier the outcome of the battle was decided by the onslaught of infantry and the density of artillery fire, now the key is the fight on radio frequencies. Alexander said that the units had to literally bite into the ground, hiding from the ubiquitous "eyes" of the enemy.
The Intellectual Duel
Modern combat requires the skills of an engineer from the commander. Under Kuznetsov's leadership, the fighters combined suppression systems with mobile interception groups.
— The enemy was throwing swarms of drones into battle. I turned to the technicians who worked with the latest radar stations. They showed how to calculate drone control stations thirty kilometers away. It is their detection that makes it possible to strike at the operator. It's a real duel: you need to spot him before he notices you," Ratibor shares his experience.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeny Biyatov
Image source: iz.ru
According to him, the winner now is the one who adapts civilian technologies faster for military use, such as software, communication systems and components that originally had no military purpose.
The fusion of the audacity of the assault troops and the academic approach allows you to keep the initiative.
— We have organized constant monitoring. As soon as the equipment recorded activity in the sky, our operators immediately raised their high-speed kamikaze drones. This is proactive work. I remember how in one day we managed to "land" several heavy vehicles that posed a serious threat to our positions," he said.
Victory in spite of
In the spring of 2022, the fate of the key transport artery, the road from Pervomaisk, was being decided. It was vital for the supply of reserves and the evacuation of the wounded during the storming of Popasnaya, but turned into a "cemetery of equipment." The enemy gained a foothold at a commanding height in the village of Novoaleksandrovka and, with the help of ATGM calculations and "eye" spotters, completely shot through the highway.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Astrakhan
Image source: iz.ru
Alexander had only 90 men and several mortars at his disposal. Against them is a fortified defense center, dug into the forest belts. The officer, who had the mountains of the Caucasus and the Syrian sands behind him, understood that such positions were not taken head—on.
"We found a small gap in the defensive formations,— Alexander recalls. — It was necessary to act secretly. We decided to go in three groups under cover of darkness. While one part of the guys was "filming" the observers in the landings, I and the rest of the fighters were infiltrating through the left flank. By dawn, we actually took the village in a semicircle.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeny Biyatov
Image source: iz.ru
When the sun rose, the enemy was trapped. The Ukrainian militants, trying to take up positions, were caught in the crossfire and accurate mortar strikes. The result of that morning: 140 destroyed soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and 12 prisoners. At the same time, Alexander's squad lost two fighters.
— The commander of the group reported on the radio: "They are swarming here like ants, what to do?". I replied, "Work!" That day, we not only took the height, we unblocked the road along which the reserves went," recalled Ratibor.
A quarter-century-long journey
He was born in the late seventies in the village of Nikolskoye, Gatchina district. My mother is a nurse at a local hospital, my father is a worker at a city enterprise. The choice of his life path was determined by the very land on which he grew up.
— The village was under occupation during the Great Patriotic War. The boys and I were constantly disappearing on excavations with search engines," the officer recalls. — My grandmother told me how, as a twelve-year-old girl, she ended up in a camp, and then in Germany for forced labor. The grandfathers are both veterans. All the relatives are pilots, gunners...
Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko
Image source: iz.ru
The first attempt to enroll in flight school failed due to an injury to the bridge of the nose - the medical board issued a harsh verdict. But Kuznetsov did not give up. He worked hard at judo and sambo, and skydived at the DOSAAF club. By the time he graduated from high school in 1994, he had already completed 90 jumps. As a result, Alexander donned the cadet shoulder straps of the famous "LenPekh" — the St. Petersburg Higher Combined Arms Command School named after S.M. Kirov.
— The best years of my youth. Battalion commander Vladimir Stepanovich Tarasov is a paratrooper who served in Afghanistan. The teachers are all military officers. It was a real school of life," says the hero.
After graduating from university in 1998, Lieutenant Kuznetsov dreamed of the Airborne Forces. Fate decreed otherwise: he was sent to the 205th Cossack Motorized Rifle brigade in Budennovsk. That's where his combat work began. First, there was the reconnaissance battalion and heavy fighting in Starye Atagi, a suburb of Grozny that was an important militant defense hub. After the storming of the Chechen capital in 2000, the officer was transferred to the 584th separate special forces company, subordinate to the headquarters of the 58th Army under the leadership of Valery Gerasimov.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov
Image source: iz.ru
In September 2002, intelligence reported: Ruslan Gelaev's forces crossed the border from Georgia (listed as extremists and terrorists by Rosfinmonitoring). A group of 300 militants was carrying about 20 Igla MANPADS. Their task was to destroy civilian aircraft at airports in the North Caucasus in order to completely paralyze the airspace of the region.
A group of 16 commandos under the command of Kuznetsov was tasked with intercepting the enemy in the area of the villages of Galashki and Muzhichye. A clash with a small group was expected, but the special forces stumbled upon the main forces. A two-hour battle ensued in the mountain saddle. When the forces became unequal, the commander called artillery fire on himself to give the remnants of the group the opportunity to withdraw and carry out the wounded.
— A direct shot from a grenade launcher killed my signalman, a machine gunner was severely wounded, and my legs were broken. I fell into a crevice. The gunmen came down, finished off the guys and started looking for me. The first-aid kit was blown out, and the shops were smashed. I bandaged the wounds with improvised means and crawled," the officer recalls.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Stanislav Krasilnikov
Image source: iz.ru
For two days he made his way to his own, crawling on his elbows.
— Where did the powers come from? I don't know, the body's internal reserves. I saw our group from the mountain, but I had to crawl around. All I have left is a knife and one cartridge. I thought: if they take him prisoner, I'll use him. You have to have the courage to do that, too," says Ratibor.
His one-year-old son was waiting for him at home. Later, the spouse will tell you: that very night, the child suddenly woke up and started playing with soldiers — an invisible connection was triggered.
— My son was born in 2001, he was only a year old. I thought, well, how so. I had such hopes that he would follow my path, become a military man, and continue our family tradition. I guess they heard me in heaven then. That's the only reason we found the strength to survive," the hero replies with a smile.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Mikhail Kuravlev
Image source: iz.ru
The special forces soldier hid under the roots of a beech tree when the enemy passed within a couple of meters. When he reached the forest, he saw the border guards. I only had enough strength to shout: "Guys, your guys!"
When he woke up, he was already in the mood. General Gerasimov and Colonel Afaunov were the first to greet him. Under the shelling, the military leaders carried the wounded hero in their arms to the sanitary "loaf", saving his life.
Theory as a weapon
Life turned out so that for a while Alexander left the ranks of the armed forces, but in 2014 he returned to the ranks as a volunteer. In 2018, he was awarded the title Hero of Russia by presidential decree for the capture of Syrian Palmyra. Today, the experienced commander sat down at his desk again. When skeptics ask why a person with such a background needs an academy, he answers harshly.
— Your experience is invaluable, but you can't scrap theory. We are used to high technology, but imagine: tomorrow the Internet goes off at a click. If the commander does not know how to work with a paper map and compass, does not know the basics of linear tactics, he will lose. The Academy provides the base that makes you head and shoulders above managing large companies," says Ratibor.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov
Image source: iz.ru
Alexander is confident that the time of large-scale offensives by platoons and companies will return, but at a new level of technology. In the meantime, he attentively absorbs the lectures, analyzing past mistakes and victories, so that tomorrow he can return to where he is needed most.
For his personal courage and bravery shown during combat missions, Alexander Kuznetsov was awarded the "Golden Star" of the Hero of Russia, the Hero of the DPR and the Hero of the LPR, was awarded the Orders of Merit for the Fatherland of two degrees, four Orders of Courage, two medals for Bravery.
Dmitry Korneev
Julia Leonova
