LPR fighters seize Ukrainian positions
The main direction of the offensive of the People's militia of the Luhansk Republic is now developing bypassing the cities of Severodonetsk and Lisichansk. After crossing the Seversky Donets River, the People's militia of the LPR liberated the city of Happiness and went further north, to Novoaydar and Starobilsk. From there, the troops turned west towards the former border of the region. This maneuver creates a threat of encirclement for the entire Ukrainian group in Severodonetsk. About what the Ukrainian paratroopers left behind, about the losses of the APU tanks in the direction of the main strike and how life is being restored in the liberated territories — in the Izvestia report.
Abandoned company
All along the road from Stanytsia Luhanska to Novoaydar, there were traces of the retreat of Ukrainian troops in the form of abandoned vehicles and armored vehicles. On the roadside there are also characteristic shipping containers from NLAW anti-tank missile systems delivered from the UK as military aid. They weren't going to give up here without a fight.
The first Ukrainian T-64 tank, parked on the side of the road, meets us at the village of Stepovoye. A little further, beyond the village of Sredneteploe, four "sixty fours" are thrown at once on one kilometer of the road. One of them lost a caterpillar on the move and flew into a ditch, getting stuck in the ground, which was limp from the cold rains that had charged.
The other three show no signs of combat damage. The equipment looks serviceable. All of them have been spray-painted with white identification marks Z - a symbol that they are planning to be evacuated and put into the service of the people's militia. The characteristic pixel camouflage, a forgotten pea jacket with yellow-blue chevrons and dry rations with inscriptions in Ukrainian do not allow you to make a mistake with identification.
Armored car BRDM-2 of the Army of Ukraine
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Valery Melnikov
LNR fighters are picking at the bogged-down tank. It will not be easy to pull it out and put it back on the tracks, but no one thinks of throwing a valuable trophy either. Another captured T-64 is already on duty at the checkpoint in Happiness. Due to the lack of bridges across the Seversky Donets, the crossing of heavy military equipment to this shore is very difficult, and Luhansk residents are pleased with such a replenishment of their arsenal.
In total, seven T-64 APU tanks have already been captured on this road or are still awaiting evacuation. This is a small tank company that failed to engage in battle and provide decent resistance. Not a single unit of destroyed LPR equipment is visible on the route.
The matter is not limited to tanks alone. A couple of trucks and an armored personnel carrier with the emblems of the Ukrainian airborne assault troops - an analogue of the Russian airborne forces — came across on the roadsides for several kilometers. At the intersection of roads in Petropavlovsk there is an intact BRDM-2 with flat tires, obviously recently repaired and painted in fresh pixel camouflage of the APU. A military UAZ abandoned nearby has already been driven away.
- The Ukrainian soldiers just switched to civilian cars and left— - says an elderly local resident who introduced himself as Nikolai Ivanovich. — There were a dozen of them here. I looked into the abandoned UAZ, and there were weapons: grenade launchers, Kalashnikovs, pistols. I slowly pulled everything out and kept it with me, handed it to our people when they entered the village.
Landing base
In the former pioneer camp near the village of Peredelskoye, there is a stronghold of Ukrainian paratroopers, stationed here since 2014. Judging by the information stand in the barracks, the 6th company of the 2nd Airborne Assault Battalion of the 79th Brigade was based here. It was this compound that was responsible for the defense of the entire direction in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska and Happiness.
The base of the Ukrainian paratroopers was abandoned after an artillery raid. There are a lot of trees cut by fragments on the territory. A warehouse of rocket and artillery weapons was blown up. One deep crater remained on the site of his building. The accompanying military are asked to look more carefully at their feet: ammunition, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines that were stored here have scattered around the area. Some of them are burnt and especially unpredictable. Scattered cylinders of the most dangerous "frogs" are visible in the mud — antipersonnel jumping mines OZM-72 circular destruction.
Abandoned positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Image source: Photo: RIA Novosti/Valery Melnikov
During the artillery raid, one of the shells hit directly into the hood of the Ukrainian PZM-2 regimental earthmoving machine. Even her placement in the caponier did not help. The wrecked engine is still smoking. A faulty armored personnel carrier and several vehicles were abandoned in the hangar, but the main part of the company's equipment is missing.
A whole pack of mongrel dogs — adults and puppies - left on the base are running around the territory. They are non-aggressive and fawn over new owners and guests.
In the barracks, there are children's drawings on the wall next to posters with instructions for disassembling the machine gun and mounting, apparently sent to the fighters from home. There are also posters with the characteristics of weapons of a potential enemy - Russian drones "Orlan-10" and "Outpost". Nearby, for some reason, there is a similar plaque with data on the American strategic reconnaissance drone Global Hawk.
New oath
The People's Militia of the LPR had already liberated more than 40 settlements by March 2. Therefore, an oath ceremony of the leadership of the liberated settlements was held in Lugansk on Wednesday. Among them are some former faces. The Kiev authorities are already preparing repressions against them. Thus, a criminal case of high treason was initiated against the head of the village of Lugansk, who defected to the LPR.
Most of the liberated villages in Stanichno-Lugansk and Shchastyinsky districts do not look badly affected. There were no troops stationed in them and no battles were fought. The town of Happiness suffered the most. Ukrainian troops have fortified themselves right in the blocks of high-rise buildings facing the demarcation line. The bridge over the Seversky Donets here was blown up by them during their retreat.
- People came up, they say: "Please remove the equipment, there are residential houses here." And they answer, I can't even pronounce such a word: "We don't...", - says Natalia Zakharovna, a resident of the damaged house. - They usually brought such wheeled vehicles into the yards, armored personnel carriers. And in 2014, tanks were driven in. He's like a bang - and the glasses are flying.
The City of Happiness
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
According to local residents, they do not have heating, water and gas yet. Communications are damaged during battles. Only electricity has returned to some houses so far. Working teams of electricians can be seen around the city.
On the outskirts of the Village of Lugansk, liberated a few days earlier, a supermarket is operating almost normally. But there is a shortage of perishable products in it: fruits, fish. The delivery of goods has begun at the pedestrian crossing from Lugansk, but only small Gazelle-class trucks can pass through it.
Prices are still indicated in UAH. During the transitional period, its parallel circulation is allowed in the liberated territories. At the checkout there is an announcement that the recalculation is carried out at the rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation 1:2.78. Local residents mostly pay in Ukrainian currency. The change from Russian rubles at the checkout is also given by her, having carefully calculated the necessary amount on the calculator.
A humanitarian convoy is being formed in Stanytsia Luhanska to provide food and basic necessities to more remote settlements. The leadership of the republic also ordered the creation of three additional border crossings with Russia in the liberated territories of the LPR. This should simplify logistics in the future and establish a normal supply of everything necessary.
Anton Lavrov