"Enemy artillery is a priority target for us"

Izvestia visited the units of the People's Militia of the DPR, continuing the offensive on AvdiivkaIn the Avdiivka direction, the units of the People's Militia of the DPR continue to move forward.

Successes have been achieved in the area of the settlements of Vodiane and Opytne, the troops managed to cross another section of the Donetsk Ring Road, which was the enemy's line of defense. How the gunners of the Donetsk People's Republic use high—precision shells "Krasnopol" and why the enemy does not take losses into account in order to recapture the "Anthills", - in the report of "Izvestia".

New in service

— The main direction we have now is Avdiivka, we are advancing from the Experienced side. Our comrades are advancing slowly, the enemy is being defeated," says an officer of the 1st brigade of the NM DNR with the call sign "Student".

Its 152-millimeter Hyacinth-B guns strike deep into the enemy's defenses, competing in range with the NATO systems in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Due to the active counteraction, the Ukrainian artillery is less and less able to carry out large and prolonged raids, finally turning to short terrorist attacks on Donetsk. Over the past week, several strikes have been inflicted on the city center. Yasinovataya and Makeyevka also remain under fire. Nationalists from the Armed Forces of Ukraine choose public transport stops and busy intersections as targets.

— The enemy's artillery is a priority target for us, — says the gunner of the 11th regiment "Gypsy".

Shell casings from 152-mm cannon 2A36 "Hyacinth-B" at the positions of the artillery troops of the People's Militia of the DPR near Avdiivka

Image Source: Photo: TASS/Valentin Sprinchak

During the week, his unit in the Pervomaisky area destroyed a long-range 152-mm howitzer "Msta-B", a tank and a large number of infantry of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

As the DPR units were integrated into the Russian army, the armament also improved. In particular, corrected artillery 152-millimeter shells "Krasnopol" began to be used en masse, which make it possible to conduct counter-battery warfare with an accuracy and speed of guidance impossible for conventional ammunition. Their characteristics also make it possible to destroy equipped enemy strongholds on the front line.

The Krasnopol shells are guided by a laser beam from a ground target designation station or a drone. In the conditions of fighting on the lines of defense in the area of Avdiivka, both methods are used, since there is not always a need to substitute UAVs under the fire of anti-aircraft gunners. Drones are also used to detect enemy artillery in the rear and destroy it.

The transition of the People's Militia units from 122 mm caliber to 152 mm played its role in increasing the effectiveness of artillery . Thus, not only has the power of ammunition increased, but now modern projectiles can be used much more widely.

Military personnel collect the corrected artillery ammunition "Krasnopol"

Image Source: Photo: TASS/Kirill Kukhmar

In addition, more and more drones with night vision devices are appearing in the units, which allows both gunners and tankers of the NM DNR to strike more often at night. Previously, the Ukrainian troops, due to the supply of night vision devices and detection systems from the United States, considered night to be their advantage, but now this is no longer the case.

The tactics of mass use of sabotage and reconnaissance groups (DRG), which has become his favorite, also does not bring success to the enemy. Special units of the DPR have destroyed at least three enemy DRGs in the Avdiivka direction in recent days. At the same time, they were hit by artillery fire, without engaging in contact combat.

Two "Anthills"

The cleaning of two fortified areas of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — the "Anthill" and the "Small Anthill", as well as the defense lines behind them, has been completed. These Ukrainian positions were located behind the runway of Donetsk airport, almost at the border of Donetsk. Powerful fortifications were built during the so-called creeping offensives, when, during the Minsk agreements, Ukrainian troops advanced to Donetsk, and then, taking advantage of the ceasefire, strengthened under the cover of the OSCE.

Towering over the runway of the Donetsk airfield, the hill of the "Big Anthill" dug up by the Ukrainian positions was taken in September. Small — by the beginning of November, but fierce battles continued for him. The Ukrainian command repeatedly unsuccessfully sent strike groups here with the task of recapturing a strategically important position.

A separate problem for the storming of fortified areas was the saturation of the Ukrainian defense with robotic surveillance cameras with thermal imagers and a zoom of large multiplicity. They have been supplied and installed for years both on special masts and on power transmission poles, mine copra and so on. Some of the cameras have armored hulls. Such small-sized targets are difficult to detect and destroy. For this purpose, anti-tank guided missiles or large-caliber sniper rifles are used.

The Avdiivka direction is one of the most important for Ukraine. Here are the most prepared defensive lines in engineering terms. And Ukrainian propaganda can boast that even today the APU are only a couple of kilometers from the capital of the DPR.

The damaged APU tank

Image Source: Photo: TASS/Valentin Sprinchak

Therefore, losing well-fortified positions for several years, the enemy is forced to make counterattacks, trying to beat them back. The APU cannot afford to withdraw to the following lines of defense.

Enemy counterattacks on well-studied terrain and in the absence of maneuver are suppressed by all means of destruction concentrated on the site. And as the offensive potential of the Armed Forces of the DPR is exhausted, the forces of the DPR are moving forward again. Such tactics can make it possible to exhaust the enemy, who is already forced to strengthen regular brigades with a large number of mobilized.

Dmitry Astrakhan