Lieutenant of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Igor Korneev on Thursday, March 10, told Izvestia how the operation against nationalists in Ukraine took place. With his squad, he defended the checkpoint from the bridge for six days.
According to Korneev, their task was to keep the enemy away from a strategically important object. At the same time, the officers had no connection with the command and the rest of the soldiers all this time.
Together with Senior Lieutenant Alexey Akimov, Korneev commanded a motorized rifle unit that held back the defensive line for a day. According to the military, the enemy used electronic means of suppressing communication lines in battle. In order not to disrupt the management of the unit, the commanders decided to withdraw troops to the area of concentration of the main forces of the brigade. This allowed them to lure the enemy into the "bag".
"Together with Senior Lieutenant Akimov, we knew the territory around us, we knew the roads - where the ambush was, where the enemy was, from which sides. We made a decision on how to move away, on which roads. We knew that there was another checkpoint with my guys three kilometers away. I knew that the senior officer from there had been captured. Accordingly, I didn't know if people were still there or not. And if they stayed and we leave, then the guys will be left alone and it is not known what will become of them. We decided how to leave, and definitely decided to find out if the guys were there or not to pick them up," says Korneev.
According to him, the soldiers really expected the arrival of the command. Together with them, Korneev and Akimov moved back to the others.
"On the way back, we were ambushed hard. They found themselves surrounded by opponents. KAMAZ was driving ahead — it was blown up, and it blocked our way. I gave the order: everyone take up the defense and shoot back, hold the position. For about an hour we shot back. They repulsed the enemy," the lieutenant shares.
Advancing towards its soldiers, the group led the nationalists who followed it into the encirclement. According to Korneev, approximately 50 nationalists and a shooting range of military equipment were destroyed.
Korneev and Akimov were presented with awards. Now they are separated: each performs its own tasks.
"It's nice of course, it's gratifying... Relatives called first of all, congratulated. It's nice to hear that. But a reward is just a reward. The main thing is that we are all alive and well and we will continue in this spirit," the lieutenant summed up.
Earlier, on March 10, the wife of officer Captain Dmitry Pochesny Tamara learned about the feat of her husband during a special military operation in Ukraine from the media, as there was no connection with her husband. According to the woman, the spouse managed to get in touch with her two days later. Dmitry promised that he would definitely return home.
Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that during the special operation, Russian officers Captain Dmitry Pochesny and Senior Lieutenant Stanislav Kim showed their best side. They were moving to a given area as part of a column of a battalion tactical group of a tank regiment.
In mid-February, due to the aggravation of the situation in the Donbas as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics announced the evacuation of civilians to the Russian Federation and asked for recognition of independence.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a corresponding decree. On February 24, he launched a special operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. As the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov clarified, the special operation pursues two goals - demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. According to him, both of these aspects pose a threat to the Russian state and people.
Watch more relevant videos and details about the situation in Donbass on the Izvestia TV channel.
