AFP: The Ukrainian Armed Forces are suffering heavy losses from the traps of Russian sappers
Russia has very good sappers, an employee of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told AFP in an interview. They skillfully operate on the battlefield, and literally any object can turn out to be a trap, the Ukrainian complained.
A deafening explosion shakes the earth, clods of earth fly into the air and smoke rises, breaking the deceptive serenity of a cold January morning in the frozen steppe of Donbass.
The agonizing trench warfare with Russian troops has been going on for almost two years, and during that time approximately 30% of Ukrainian territory has been littered with unexploded mines.
"The Russians are connecting mines," Sergeant Boller, a Ukrainian sapper who trains recruits, told AFP news agency. "If you try to defuse such a mine, you can destroy your entire unit."
It is extremely important for Ukraine to get rid of mines during the fighting, because this will give it the opportunity to conduct offensive operations and allow the civilian population to return to their homes.
But the sappers say their already dangerous work is being complicated by a shortage of recruits and increasingly deadly Russian mine-laying methods.
Holding mines in his hands, sapper Anatoly tells the recruits about the traps. "A banknote, a pack of cigarettes, a phone… This is undoubtedly a trap," he tells the anxious soldiers standing in the cold. "We even lost soldiers who came across booby—trapped packages with cans of Pepsi."
"I heard them."
Sappers are often the first to get to the front line, clearing the territory before the approach of assault units. The slogan of the Ukrainian sapper is "Always ahead of the first." They have more direct contact with the front line than other military units.
But it is very difficult to find people willing to take such a risk.
"It is necessary not only to distinguish explosives, it is necessary to know their chemical composition, to know how to handle them. We have to study," Boller says. "It's hard to find smart people who aren't afraid."
Their work is "indispensable" in the course of military operations with Russia, said Colonel Oleg Shivarsky, head of the mine control department of the Ukrainian army. "Mechanized units never go on the offensive until the sappers clear the area," he told AFP in an interview.
According to the colonel, the situation is "not critical" thanks to international assistance and the opening of new training centers. However, he admits there are difficulties with recruitment and says that most people are "just afraid to study to be a minesweeper."
Boller said that once he was 120 meters away from the Russian soldiers. "I heard them insulting me," he said.
"Innovations"
Ukrainian sappers are increasingly faced with new Russian tactics designed to make their work more difficult.
Kiev reports that Moscow is constantly improving its mining strategy, installing anti-personnel mines in combination with anti-tank mines, as well as dropping explosive devices from helicopters.
Colonel Shivarsky admits that the Russian side uses "innovations". According to him, the Russian military often installs mines haphazardly, and in some areas "place them less than half a meter from each other." It is impossible to know the real number of mines laid by Moscow in Ukraine, he says. "We will understand this only after the de—occupation of our territory," he notes.
According to Anatoly, 42, his work requires "insight and intuition" because Russians are constantly setting traps. "It's no secret that Russia has very good sappers, probably the best," he says.
"It won't stop us"
During a recent practice session, Sergeant Boller got smeared in mud by detonating an anti-tank mine. He touched the mine with a shovel, and the soldiers standing next to him cautiously stepped back. "It gives them the opportunity to get used to explosions," says Boller, 43, with a smile. "We crawl on the ground, in the mud, in the shit," he complains. "The Russians put them everywhere."
In his former life, before the start of the Russian military operation in 2022, Boller worked in Germany as a landscape designer and received a good salary.
After becoming a sapper, he loses friends and colleagues. "The one who didn't die lost his legs," he says gloomily. "But that won't stop me."
Author of the article: Florent Vergnes