Izvestia special report — about how the fighting is going on in one of the most dangerous places in Donbass, the Avdiivka industrial zoneIn the Donbas, the Russian army bypasses the "citadel" of Ukrainian militants in the Avdiivka area from the east and west.
In the south of the city, in the so-called Avdeevskaya promka (industrial zone), there are also heavy positional clashes. Here, in Zelenka, among the ruins of industrial buildings, Russian fighters engage in close combat with the enemy. Izvestia visited the positions of the 87th Rifle Regiment and saw how our soldiers are serving in one of the most dangerous places of the Donetsk front.
Pictures of the post-apocalypse
— It's quiet today. The fog hides us. Otherwise, we wouldn't be standing here so calmly," says the officer of the 1st Donetsk Army Corps accompanying us.
We are located at one of the observation posts in an industrial zone in the southern part of Avdiivka. Or, as the locals call it, in the "promka". Now these positions are held by the Russian 87th separate Rifle Regiment.
The name "promka" has been assigned to the site along the Donetsk – Gorlovka highway, which runs in the suburbs of the capital of the DPR, since 2015. It was then that this highway became the front line. Here, in the former dacha settlement and industrial zone, the attempt of Ukrainian militants to cut off Donetsk from Yasinovataya and Gorlovka ended. Heavy positional battles have not stopped in Promka since 2016. During the years of the Minsk Agreements, violent clashes broke out on this site every now and then and immediately stopped. Now the enemy is desperately holding on to the positions inhabited over the past years, from which he threatens Donetsk. Meanwhile, units of the 1st Donetsk Corps are advancing from the flanks to cover Avdiivka.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexey Ramm
Image source: iz.ru
Promka is rightfully considered one of the most dangerous places in the Donbass. The positions of the 1st Donetsk Army Corps and Ukrainian militants are only a few dozen meters from each other. Promka is unique in its geography. This is an industrial area with railway forks and high–rise high-speed bridges of the Donetsk- Gorlovka highway. There is also a suburban private sector. Over the past eight years, this area has been heavily overgrown. You walk along a path between bushes and trees and suddenly come out on the ruins of some building. A few meters later, a railway track begins to run on the ground, which is also suddenly lost in the thickets.
Yes, "promka" is very similar to the scenery for a post-apocalyptic movie or a computer game like Horizon Zero Dawn: Forbidden West. With one difference. It's not a game here.
We get to the positions of the 87th regiment on the UAZ "loaf". This unpretentious, roomy and passable car has now become a symbol of a special military operation. In Donetsk, the weather is cloudy, it rains every now and then. There is fog all around. The road is blurred in places, and it is difficult to drive on it. And it is dangerous: the enemies carefully monitor not only the movement of Russian equipment, but also the operation of electronics. Therefore, we immediately turn off the phones.
Irkutsk Stronghold
— Well, what's going on here? We shoot, sometimes they shoot at us," a fighter with the call sign Sensei tells, smiling, about the situation in the Avdiivka "promka". — So far there is no progress in either direction. The enemy is trying to probe different directions. But we don't give him any opportunities to break through.
Fighters from the Russian side are also in habitable positions, which have been rebuilt in the course of dozens of rotations over nine years. There are places with autographs of fighters, where dating begins back in 2014.
— Now the enemy does not go into direct contact fights. But we expect this, the information passes," says our interlocutor.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexey Ramm
Image source: iz.ru
Sensei — mobilized from the Irkutsk region. But he has experience of contract service, including hot spots. In recent years, he found himself in a peaceful profession, was an installer of reinforced concrete structures at large industrial construction sites. Sensei was drafted together with his fellow villagers, and all this time the guys are trying to stay together in one unit.
— Not the same, of course, as I got here, but I had combat experience, — he continues. — There are guys who have served with me from the very beginning, including from my village. Now we are in the 87th regiment of the Donetsk Corps. We found a common language right away, we understand each other just half a word.
Unlike many, Sensei always followed the events in the Donbass. He remembers that a few years ago he discussed with his comrades in the service what is happening here now.
— I assumed that sooner or later we would end up here anyway. Of course, it was an assumption. But nevertheless we are here," he sums up. — Of course, I knew about the civilian casualties — both from the media and from friends. But when I got here and saw these crimes myself, I was just taken aback...
Direct fire
At this moment, the signal on the radio station sounds. Ukrainian militants opened fire on one of the Russian positions — the "Germans" need to be suppressed urgently. The calculation of the automatic grenade launcher of the 87th regiment enters the battle.
— Keep your distance and hide in the bushes. The enemy's "bird" is in the sky," warns the commander of the calculation. — Often the enemy deliberately provokes our firing points to return fire in order to identify them, and then attack with copters. Therefore, we must be extremely careful.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexey Ramm
Image source: iz.ru
The calculation of the AGS-17 does not leave the enemy a chance. The fighters act extremely quickly and smoothly. While the number attaches a snail to the grenade launcher (a drum with grenades — Izvestia), the commander performs all the necessary calculations, calculates the angles of rotation and elevation. A few seconds — and the "Flame" is ready for battle. It takes a few more moments for the calculation number to enter all the settings for firing. Then the command follows, and a grenade burst goes off at the enemy.
— Quickly take cover, — the command follows.
Now we are hiding in a small earthen shelter. We are waiting for the enemy's return fire, as well as the results of our fire. The radio station reports: the calculation worked perfectly. The "Germans" did not detect us, and their firing point was covered with accurate fire. You can go back.
A look at the enemy
We get to an observation post — from here the soldiers of the 87th regiment monitor the actions of the enemy. Despite the fog, there is a great view of the Promka. The distance to the enemy is a little more than 1 thousand m. In the haze, the pipes of the Koksokhim — Avdeevsky coke plant are visible.
— There is a large concentration of manpower and various equipment. And the APU, and the national soldiers, and foreign legionnaires — they are all there together," says a fighter with the call sign Sokol.
Now a "green light" has risen in an abandoned industrial zone, and therefore many places of this territory — from both sides — are poorly visible even from the air.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexey Ramm
Image source: iz.ru
Over the years of fighting, everything that is suitable for shelters has been occupied. There is simply no neutral, "gray" zone on the "promka". In some advanced positions, the distance to the enemy does not even reach 200 m. This is less than the distance of safe distance from the bursts of their own shells during shelling.
— Artillery works continuously, so movement is difficult here. It is extremely difficult to carry out rotational actions so as not to fall under either your own or someone else's artillery," explains Sokol.
Despite attempts to escalate the threat of a counteroffensive from the Ukrainian side, the soldiers of the 87th Infantry Regiment feel confident. Although they are on one of the possible directions of the strike on the capital of the Donetsk People's Republic.
— We are ready for anything. We are doomed to win! Sokol says, pointing to the flag on the chest panel of his bulletproof vest. — The Reds are coming!
Dmitry Astrakhan
Alexey Ramm
