The Russian military, during a special operation to protect the population of Donbass, not only perform combat missions, but also try to save the lives of personnel as much as possible, the Defense Ministry said on Saturday, May 7.
This is how Lieutenant Mikhail Petelin acted when capturing a stronghold of Ukrainian radicals. Moving deep into the defense with his platoon, he discovered a strong point of the nationalists and, having assessed the enemy's forces, decided to give battle. The positions of the Russian military were immediately opened fire from machine guns and heavy machine guns. Petelin, under fire, was able to suppress the enemy's firing point with a heavy machine gun and destroyed at least seven radicals. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Petelin, the platoon destroyed more than 20 nationalists, two calculations of anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) Javelin, suppressed three firing points with a heavy machine gun. The competent management of Lieutenant Petelin and the coordinated actions of the platoon made it possible to capture the strong position of the nationalists without losses.
Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Olkin, the brigade's artillery chief, personally trained artillery units to perform tasks from the first days of the special operation, was at the forefront, helped and passed on practical skills to subordinates.
In the course of conducting aerial reconnaissance, the drone detected the position of the enemy's multiple launch rocket systems. Lieutenant Colonel Olkin decided to hit the target, personally carried out fire correction and destroyed two multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) "Grad" and more than 10 nationalists.
A few days later, having advanced deep into the enemy's defense, Olkin, on the basis of intelligence, conducted a correction of fire on the positions of armed formations of Ukrainian militants. This made it possible to destroy four units of weapons and military equipment and up to 15 radicals. The professionalism of the lieutenant colonel and his participation in solving combat tasks allowed to inflict significant damage to the nationalists.
The same tactic was followed by the commander of the calculation of the howitzer self-propelled artillery platoon, Sergeant Vladislav Gudkov. He, with the calculation of military personnel, carried out tasks for artillery support of Russian units that were attacking the positions of Ukrainian nationalists. Suffering defeat, the enemy fiercely resisted.
Gudkov's calculation during the battle inflicted a targeted strike on the positions of the militants and destroyed more than 10 enemy manpower and two infantry fighting vehicles with crews. This helped the advancing Russian units to defeat the armed formation of radicals who, throwing down their weapons, fled from the battlefield. Thanks to the competent command of Sergeant Gudkov's platoon, Russian servicemen managed to overcome the militants' defensive line without losses.
On the eve of May 6, the Ministry of Defense told how the Russian military, consisting of tank regiments and motorized rifle companies, are moving deeper into enemy positions day after day to liberate settlements from nationalists, their weapons and equipment, what efforts the fighters of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation manage to do.
On May 4, the Ministry of Defense showed the work of artillery units of the Russian Armed Forces. The agency presented footage showing how the 2S7M "Malka" self-propelled artillery unit (ACS) copes with combat tasks while conducting counter-battery warfare.
On February 24, Russia launched a special operation to protect Donbass. The situation in the region worsened in mid-February due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. The authorities of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics announced the evacuation of residents to the Russian Federation, and also appealed to Moscow for help. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the independence of the DPR and LPR and promised to support the republics.
For more relevant videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
