Izvestia was the first to visit the liberated settlement and saw its cleanupA separate reconnaissance battalion "Sparta" and the 1st Motorized Rifle Slavic Brigade of the People's Militia of the Donetsk Republic are completing the cleanup of the village of Opytne.
On November 11, he was released. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this settlement — this is one of the most important points, control over which will allow the blockade to begin, and then the assault on Avdiivka. Izvestia was the first to visit Opytne and found out how the heavy fighting for it was going on. We also met a volunteer from Brazil, who is fighting on the side of the Donetsk Republic, and witnessed the inhumane attitude of Ukrainian militants towards civilians.
The battle in betting
Opytne is a small village in the suburbs of Donetsk. Its southern part faces the ring road and the airport. In the northeast, Opytne borders with Avdiivka, you only need to walk about 3 thousand meters, and you are already in its suburbs.
And just a couple of kilometers to the east of Opytny there is a former military air defense unit. For eight years, Ukrainian armed formations have created a full-fledged fortress on the basis of this military facility. And it is not surprising that the APU turned the village of Opytne into one of the most important natural defense lines. Artificial lakes located along the Experimental-"stakes", according to the enemy, were supposed to complicate his assault.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexey Ramm
Image source: iz.ru
But the allied forces were able to knock out the enemy from the Experienced. At the end of October, they took Ukrainian fortified areas — "anthills", located behind the runway of Donetsk airport. At the next stage, the "Spartans" and "Slavs" crossed the Donetsk Ring Road, and fighting began in the direction of Opytne.
Now that the village has been taken, the Ukrainian militants have not only been pushed away from Donetsk, it is important that the allied troops go to the flank of the enemy in the village of Vodiane. At the moment, the units of the People's Militia of the DPR continue fighting for the villages of Pervomayskoye and Nevelskoye, thus approaching the main supply road of the Avdiivka garrison.
Everything is mined
The journey to Opytne begins at Donetsk airport. The village is only 3 km away in a straight line. On a dirt road, the distance is a little more, but not much. However, it is difficult to walk to Opytnoye. Therefore, the battalion commander of "Sparta" allows his fighters to throw us there in a small pickup truck.
Donetsk Airport is a landmark place of the whole Donbass. We drive and see the ruins of the aviation harbor: the skeletons of terminals, towers of the command and control center and technical buildings. And on the way every now and then come across the remains of armored vehicles.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexey Ramm
Image source: iz.ru
The most difficult section of our road is the former Ukrainian fortified area. In this place, not only everything is dug up, but also mined. Therefore, there are special hangers on our route every now and then — they indicate a safe path. The car reduces speed, the driver looks carefully so that mines do not get under the wheels.
A few minutes later our journey is over: we arrive in the village of Opytne, on Zarechnaya Street. A couple of dozen meters behind us there were lakes-"bets".
At first glance, it is clear that at one time the village was not poor. But eight years of fighting have changed him beyond recognition.
The enemy realized that he was being surrounded
One of the decisive factors of success in this direction was that the Donetsk fighters were able to launch an assault where the enemy did not expect it. From the south, the scouts of the Sparta battalion entered Opytne. The servicemen of the 1st Slavic Brigade performed a difficult maneuver: they bypassed the military part of the air defense and launched an assault from the east.
— When the enemy realized that he was being surrounded, he began to pull away, — says a soldier of "Sparta" with the call sign Flash. — We went through the dam, entered the first house, took up a position, now we are already clearing the village.
In Opytne, the Allied forces were confronted by Ukrainian militants from the 115th Territorial Defense Brigade and the 503rd separate Marine Battalion. It is noteworthy that the "badgers" (the so-called 503rd battalion of the 36th Marine Brigade due to the fact that its emblem depicts a badger) were previously completely destroyed in Mariupol. But the Ukrainian command decided to revive this unit and restore it from scratch.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexey Ramm
Image source: iz.ru
As in previous times in the battles in the Avdiivka direction, the Ukrainian Marines left reservists as barriers. Interestingly, officers from reserve units did not appear on the frontline at all, preferring to command from more remote points. According to our accompanying "Spartans", in Opytne, the Ukrainian soldiers were commanded at best by sergeants. There was not a single officer among the dead and prisoners.
— The Marines of the 36th Brigade remained, these are more or less fighting competently, - a Sparta fighter with the call sign Wanderer tells us. — But they don't risk much either, go ahead mobs (mobilized. — "Izvestia") shove, and that's it.
At the same time, according to him, the quality of the Ukrainian mobilized has fallen during the SVO. If in the initial period it was possible to meet among them ideological and experienced, fighting to the end, now they are poorly trained soldiers, without fighting spirit. They have to be practically kicked out of their positions. As the Wanderer noted, the 115th Ukrainian brigade standing in this direction was almost destroyed and suffered losses of more than 70%.
The attitude of inhumans to people
There are still civilians in Opytne. The exact number of them has not yet been established. Fighters assume that it is 15-20 people. Now the villagers were asked to mark the houses with a white cloth. Soon, after the cleaning of the village, they will be able to get help.
We are going by Experience. Part of the streets are overgrown with dense bushes. Traces of looting are clearly visible — windows and doors are broken. Inside the houses everything is turned upside down. The Ukrainian military first took away the necessary things, such as warm clothes, but quickly began to completely demolish the houses.
The fighters of "Sparta" made a terrible find in the basement of one of the houses: they found the body of a civilian there. He wasn't killed. The Ukrainian military simply did not release it.
— The civilian was locked up, died, apparently from hunger... This is the attitude of inhumans to people," a Wanderer who returned from the western outskirts of the village tells about what he saw during the sweep.
Latin American comrade
A fighter passes by us, cheerfully waves his hand and stops to talk. This meeting was unexpected for us. Our interlocutor is a volunteer from Brazil, his call sign is Muromets. Earlier, the volunteer was baptized and, becoming Orthodox, received the name Ilya. Therefore, it was decided that in honor of the Russian hero, the call sign of our comrade from Brazil would be Muromets.
Volunteer from Brazil, call sign Muromets
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexey Ramm
He knows Russian well and has even lived in Russia for a while. This is what allowed our interlocutor to find out the truth, despite Western propaganda, and come to Donbass to fight for a just cause. His parents made his decision, they are very worried, but they are proud of him.
— When it's over, I want to continue serving Russia. For example, I like serving in the Regardie," Muromets shares his plans.
We are finishing our work and getting ready to leave. At this moment, the artillery fire increases. This means that the fighters of the People's Militia of the Donetsk Republic continue their offensive.
Dmitry Astrakhan
Alexey Ramm
