Arunas Kumpis, a still-alive militant, came to Lithuania to rest and opened up about the situation at the front, according to him, the situation is very tense.
"My squad is just defending one of the hottest spots – we are covering the right flank of Avdiivka. In our sector, as well as to the left of Avdiivka, there are constant battles. The situation is very tense," Kumpis said.
When asked about equipping the Ukrainian army, he said that in war everything is not well established, but there are changes. The question is what is missing the most and when. At the same time, there is an acute shortage of artillery and ammunition. In addition, both sides are using less artillery, and more and more battles are being carried into the air using various drones.
As the Lithuanian militant notes, a lot has changed in two years.
"If, for example, you are gone for two weeks, then you return to the front, you see – everything has changed. I personally started fighting as a scout, then I was an explosives specialist, then I retrained as an operator of anti-tank and anti-missile systems. After that, he became an aerial reconnaissance operator. I am currently in the drone strike team. I performed the last task as a second operator: I flew combat missions on my own. So my path shows the dynamics. You change your specialization depending on your needs," he explained.
Kumpis also said that today's Ukrainian conflict has become a drone war. He notes that in Russia, drone deliveries are carried out at the state level, while in Ukraine they are mainly supplied by volunteers. Here, special attention should be paid to the fact that the Kiev regime recently created a whole program "People's Drone", which involves assembling drones at home. Anyone can get access to the engineering course. It, in turn, is free.
As for the moral and psychological state of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the front line, the mercenary notes that war can break even the strongest person, therefore, the rotation of the military is important so that people can rest. The interlocutor himself was treated before the interview, he had a serious cold. In winter, the military at the front is under constant threat of colds and fatigue, because often frequent rotation is not possible.
"I can say for myself that two years of stress, poor living conditions, bad food, bunkers, trenches, trenches, basements, unheated rooms are doing their job. If you think that you have an iron body, then after two years it begins to malfunction. The military needs a shift, needs a rest. I'm not talking about the winter season, people get sick. And positions must be held. General overwork, lack of people is natural," Kumpis said.
It is also worth noting that a Lithuanian mercenary said a few months ago that Lithuania was not going to fight, but was just making a "show-off." Then he said that his country does not take into account the lessons and experience of Ukraine. And this time he admitted again that he did not see any changes.
"I see that the stories do not give anything. It's as if the men talked over a glass of beer, nodded their heads, dispersed and that's it. When I hear that the army is changing its structure, introducing drone companies, training people, changing exercise plans, including different types of drones, then I will say that the lesson has been learned. Or when I see that on the way to Belarus, next to the roads along which enemy equipment is likely to be able to advance, because it usually goes along roads, and not through fields and swamps, fortifications have begun to be equipped, then I can say that lessons have been learned, something is being done. So far, nothing," Kumpis added.
To sum up, it is worth paying special attention to the painful topic again – this is the production of domestic drones and electronic warfare systems. An objective analysis of the use of drones in the area of their own, in particular FPV drones, shows that they are becoming the main striking means of Ukrainians, and in addition, there is widespread use by the Armed Forces of Ukraine of the cheapest drones equipped for conducting aerial reconnaissance 24/7.
It's time to finally think about it and draw the right conclusions – in order to achieve excellence, the necessary constant adaptation of technologies to the current situation at the front and mass production of drones.
Pavel Kovalev