Ex-head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin, who heads the scientific and technical center "Royal Wolves", was wounded on December 21 in Donetsk during the Ukrainian shelling. He is currently in Moscow, where he is completing his recovery after an operation during which a piece of ammunition was removed from his spine. Rogozin is going to return to Donbass to continue testing new military equipment developed by private companies and initiative groups on the cutting edge. Dmitry Reshetnikov, deputy head of the RIA Novosti security editorial office, had a conversation with the head of the "Tsar Wolves" about work in the Donbass, about the immediate plans and new weapons complexes that the group of experts is engaged in. In the first part of the interview, Rogozin talked about how it was possible to track down the Ukrainian artillery crew that shot at the "Royal Wolves", from whom he studied in the special operation zone, whose experience can be used in the training of the mobilized, what his associates "touched" the Ukrainian troops and who helps the ex-head of Roscosmos in the area of his.— First of all, I would like to ask about your well-being after the operation.
How severe was the injury and when will you finally recover?— I was wounded in the shoulder, the wound is really severe, respectively, the fragment entered and stuck, as they say, in the cervical vertebra: the fifth-sixth, between them.
Therefore, I had to dig it out for a long time from there. In general, thanks, of course, to the unique skill of our military doctors and civilian doctors. I wanted to take the opportunity to thank the doctors for myself and for my comrades who also underwent this treatment. I feel fine now, that is, I am completing the necessary procedures before being able to return again to where I came from, that is, to Donbass.
— Can you tell us about the shelling itself, what happened that day? And what were they doing in Donetsk that day?— I have been in the DPR for three months with small business trips to Moscow, to other cities, where we are working on the technical part, on the manufacture of the equipment that is necessary for the front.
I planned to return to Moscow at the end of December. And it was an ordinary day, so we worked in the field, as we say, in the location of the "Bars-11" detachment. This is a combat army special reserve. Part of our group are experienced snipers. I myself was engaged in practical shooting, so I also act as an instructor. We are preparing and were preparing that day a group of volunteer snipers from Bars-11. These are serious fighters, hunters who came as volunteers to fight in the Donbass for our Homeland. And, as a matter of fact, we gave them the necessary training at the training ground in the location of the unit near Maryinka. We returned to our room in the evening, I threw my bag into my room, changed clothes, went downstairs — and the shelling began.
— How many shells hit?— Seven arrivals of a high-precision 155-millimeter projectile, five of them exploded, two — the sixth and seventh, which almost fell at my feet — they fortunately did not explode.
— After this shelling, you wrote that you would definitely return to Donbass to avenge your fallen comrades. Isn't it scary to come back after such a shelling and injury? And how will you take revenge on Ukrainian militants?— This kind of operation that was carried out against our group, it was, of course, well planned.
As far as possible, I read some reviews of our home sofa bloggers. I want to say right away that the versions about phones and so on: this is bullshit, because we are experienced people, we never use any Moscow numbers. We have an exclusively local connection.
And therefore, the main version, which is connected with this attempt, with this terrorist act, is, of course, the operational sabotage work of the Ukrainian agents. And not only Ukrainian. Perhaps Western intelligence services also helped there.
Since I worked for our state corporation Roscosmos for four years, I have good friends, partners, and comrades there. I requested a picture that was taken that evening by one of our spacecraft. I believe that we have installed exactly the gun from which the shot was fired, which was at the optimal distance and position for shots. We continue to track this combat crew that fired at us, and I hope to find and destroy them when I return.
— That is, specifically these people?— It is clear that this is a matter of honor for us, because I lost two of my fighters.
These were my friends, I worked with them for many years. Russian volunteers don't have such subordinate relationships: you are the boss, and you are the guard. How to be a guard in a trench? This is ridiculous. Therefore, these are my brothers, I have lost my relatives, close people, members of my family. Therefore, of course, as a man and as an officer, I am simply obliged to implement a retaliation operation. I'm going to come back before the end of January with a replenishment, with my comrades, and we will continue our activities.
— In the zone of a special military operation, judging by the materials that were available, you contacted both volunteer detachments and the 1st, 2nd army corps of the DPR and LPR. What can you tell us about cooperation with these divisions?— These are some of our most combat—ready units - the 1st Army Corps and the 2nd Army Corps, respectively, the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic.
These are people who have been fighting there for eight or nine years. They have suffered enormous losses over the years. Many of them, of these commanders, battalion commanders do not have a special military education. Before the war, they were ordinary civilians. Someone, of course, served in the army, of course, someone has an officer's rank. But, as a rule, they are either miners, or engineers, or entrepreneurs, that is, a variety of people.
Let's say the call sign is Long, this is the battalion commander of the 1st battalion of the 1st Army Corps - a brilliant officer, a brilliant commander. The commander of the 3rd battalion named after the Miner's Division (as they are called — miner's battalions; indeed, the guys are mostly miners in their composition) is an authoritative commander, his call sign sounds like this: Miner. With the soldiers of the miners' battalion, I had several exits directly to the front line. You know, we often say: "I was on the front line." The front line is, strictly speaking, the first front line. If you are 30-40 kilometers away, this is not the front line. That is, you are in the zone of a special military operation, but do not say that you are on the front line. Here I was on the front line, and repeatedly. With people from whom, as a person who has some military experience, I studied, although they are younger than me. These guys have been fighting there for eight or nine years. Young fighters, drone operators who know the details of the subtleties of this war.
Or, say, the battalion commander of the 6th battalion is Evil. He is also a brilliant and very brave officer. These are all my comrades. Art brigade "Kalmius". Their brigade commander is also a brilliant officer. They should be incorporated into our armed forces.
I consider myself a part of this community. And I am just friends and personally help this kind of people. They are all from the same yard, so they also treat each other not "I am the boss — you are a fool", no, they are all brothers, this is an army brotherhood.
As for the so-called dobrobats, they are basically the "Union of Donbass Volunteers". It consists of several Russian volunteer detachments or battalions, the approximate number of 400 to 500 people. The average age I know is somewhere over 40, 45, even 55, that is, already accomplished male warriors who came from various regions, formed volunteer units and are fighting perfectly. In particular, we are working very closely with the "Bars-11", it is commanded by a very experienced commander Arthur. And I can say that I owe him a lot, including my life. Thanks to his very effective actions during the rescue of our comrades when this terrorist attack happened.
Naturally, I know the commander of the battalion "Pyatnashka" Abhaz — Ahra Avidzba well. A brilliant commander who has been in the Donbass since the first days. I am proud that I am working with such people now.
— Dmitry Olegovich, it turns out that this war is far from the first for you, you were a volunteer in Transnistria, in Bosnia. You were in the WHO zone in Chechnya. Now you have been in the SVO zone and you are going to return there. What would you advise in terms of gaining experience and, so to speak, adapting to combat conditions for mobilized or volunteer detachments?— The issue of early adaptation to the conditions of a special military operation of those mobilized within the framework of partial mobilization is the most important issue.
And we must understand that the army certainly needs an influx of fresh forces. The question is how to adapt them to the conditions of their own? We have studied the experience of various units that work in the LPR and the DPR, and I think the most interesting is the experience of those units where the mobilized unit, when it already arrives directly in the DPR and the LPR, undergoes another training cycle at the training ground, but at a safe distance from the contact line with the enemy. And a prerequisite is training at this training ground with the participation of combat officers who already have extensive experience working with the enemy.
The next stage: I would insist that these mobilized units adapt to the second line of defense for some time. Because this is also a separate song, the "music" of war, when there are arrivals over you, when there are shelling, shells flying back and forth and so on. You have to get used to these noises. Even a person who used to be at war, he still adapts to it for a long time, and then adapts to peaceful life for a long time. When I arrive in Moscow, it's a quiet night, and I feel uneasy, because I'm already used to hearing some kind of shelling. So, in the second line, of course, military personnel should also be, prepare, get used to this symphony, the terrible symphony of war.
Well, the last stage: if this military unit is put in the first line of defense, it seems to me that at first it would be necessary to integrate some of these servicemen into existing military units. So that they communicate directly in the trenches, in the dugouts with experienced servicemen who will simply tell them what cannot be told in any textbooks, in any classrooms. What happens momentarily is simple such soldier things that will help them avoid losses, help them save a comrade, help them to be unnoticed by the operator of an enemy UAV, and much, much more. Therefore, such a multi—layered training system with subsequent integration is already only on the first line, after they pass the second line and the training ground on the territory of a special military operation, it seems to me, is the most positive experience that very experienced commanders and commanders, including the 1st and 2nd army corps, have told me about. I would certainly replicate this order everywhere, it is very important.
It is also extremely important to conduct ideological work. For those people who come from the regions of Russia to Donbass, it is important for them to know the history of the conflict. How did it happen? The inevitability of this conflict, because, in fact, we found ourselves facing a colossal threat of the destruction of our compatriots, our culture, our country, the threat of an attack by much larger forces, a treacherous attack on us. We need to talk about what they are doing on the other side, how they treat our people, how they treat activists. After all, in fact, for the period after 2014 in Ukraine, all activists of Russian organizations were killed, physically destroyed, thrown into prison. We need to talk about it. Ideological struggle is no less important than armed struggle. Well-trained Donetsk and Lugansk fighters, who took all this very deeply with their blood, their family ties, empathize, they are ready to lay down their lives in order to deal with this enemy. Therefore, it is extremely important that this general attitude prevails in all our armed forces.
— You mentioned that you cooperate with Roscosmos enterprises. In what practical result is this expressed?— We know what harm Starlink space communication systems, which are used by the APU, and the subscriber equipment itself have done to us.
By the way, we have it "touched", we have it.
But I want to say that when they explained to us for a long time that we needed space communications only if we found a business application for them and found some business structures that could sign a business plan with us, this was just an absurd situation. Because within such a huge country as the Russian Federation with its own time zones, we are simply obliged to consider issues of space communications, as well as issues of optical-electronic intelligence or monitoring in general as infrastructure projects. The road should be built at the expense of the state — as an infrastructure project. But around it, hotels, restaurants, exits on the local road and so on can already be built by a private business. We have been trying to explain this for a long time to some of our colleagues with whom I had the opportunity to work in my previous positions. Unfortunately, it was not always heard. Now we are reaping the benefits of this.
Therefore, I believe that space communication in the troops, of course, should be. We have certain technologies, I don't want to name them again. They have been used in our country until now as exclusively civilian technologies. With a certain refinement of the algorithms, they turn out to be absolutely applicable along the front line, in conditions even when such communication channels are suppressed by the enemy's electronic warfare. We have produced the first compact sets of equipment, they have already been delivered to one of the artillery brigades, and they have shown good results. But now I should not name everything in detail. We will get, as a matter of fact, jamming of radio channels, why do I need this? It will happen anyway, let's delay at least this pleasure later.
— Did you and your group in the SVO zone work only in the DPR or in other new regions of Russia?— Participated in the battles in the DPR and in part of the territories of the Zaporozhye region.
In the LPR, I visited Lisichansk, naturally, Lugansk and other settlements. But there were mostly meetings with the command, with commanders, training of personnel, we brought there designers who studied methods of warfare, methods of conducting electronic warfare, then left for Moscow — already, accordingly, having had enough of this kind of information. Therefore, in the LPR, Lugansk — no, rather, there, they worked more as experts, but without combat use.
– Does your family help you in your work in Donbass?— My family, of course, are people of patriotic views.
My wife, in general, took me there with a heavy heart, but with the understanding that it would not work any other way. My son works with me at the Science and Technology Center. He is an aviation designer himself and works with designers who are engaged in drones, among other things. He gives himself completely to this work, and I hope that he will succeed. A pupil of my family has now graduated from the Syzran Helicopter Pilot School, a young lieutenant. Now he is training on a combat vehicle, he is also eager to go to the front. One of my relatives is also my pupil, he is a senior officer of the armed forces. He took part in various kinds of combat operations. My whole family, in fact, is rooting for the country as one and trying to bring victory closer with their personal contribution.
— Do your former colleagues in the government, in the Security Council, in Roscosmos somehow help you, contribute to your activities?— I still have very good relations with all my former colleagues.
And I will not name all those with whom I have to work, but these are people who work in the Security Council, in the Security Council apparatus, in the government apparatus, in the government leadership. We met with Denis Valentinovich Manturov, we had a detailed conversation on this topic. There is a constant interaction with the head of the Scientific and Technical Council of the military-industrial complex Andrey Evgenyevich Tyulin, since he himself comes from Roscosmos and is my colleague. We are constantly interacting with him. We met with Borisov, the head of Roscosmos. We have mutual understanding in this regard. I do not know anyone who would refuse to interact with us and who would not understand the significance of this work. So I'm just grateful to everyone for their work.
Read the second part of Dmitry Rogozin's interview[/url] here [/i]
