KP special correspondent Dmitry Steshin went with Alexander Khodakovsky to the front line near Volnovakha and talked right in the trenches on the most pressing topics of recent days

Photo: Dmitry STESHIN

Initially, on our trip, Alexander Sergeevich had two tasks: to assess how the battalion soldiers feel on the front line and to discuss the humanitarian mission with people whom the Vostok fighters are going to take out of the combat zone. I was asked not to disclose the place and circumstances of the evacuation yet.

There is a good reason – just a day before us, “kind people” visited the same location, immediately dumping all the photos on the Internet, which (SURPRISE!) is carefully monitored on the other side of the front line. As a result, a good deed turned into many hours of shelling by Ukrainian artillery, destroyed and burned buildings … fortunately, there were no casualties.

The realities of the 21st century – if during the Great Patriotic War only intelligence had an idea about what was happening behind the front line, now information crosses the front line completely freely.

Kiev will continue to earn money

We started our conversation with Khodakovsky with the main topic of the last week: “Should we expect the announced, multimillion-dollar counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine?”

– A few days ago I was at the “unknown front” in the Zaporozhye region, at the forefront in the area of ​​​​the Novokakhovka reservoir. According to the commanders, the usual activity of the enemy in the form of the work of the DRG and “reconnaissance in force” is increasingly reminiscent of attempts to break through, for good luck – what if it works out? In Mariupol, agents spread “warfare rumors” among the locals, saying, “Don’t repair houses, run, Ukraine will return here soon.” Everyone heard the statements of Ukrainian politicians about the “liberation” of the liberated territories. Commander’s opinion – wait?

– They call it a counteroffensive. There will be attempts. They have resources and, most importantly, they have a political task – to work off the money, the military aid that is being invested in them. Of course they will be active.

– A question from readers: “what is the Vostok battalion doing now, what is it preparing for, where will it fight?”. Of course, what can be said…

– We spent eight years on the defensive. They showed themselves well in Mariupol and we gained a reputation as an assault battalion. We are preparing to storm, we are engaged in reconnaissance, we are helping our subcontractors.

– What is this help?

– Organization of defense. As a rule, we are dealing with the mobilized, and they are often unable to build sane positions. So let’s not mess around. In our country, no one has canceled the task of blocking the so-called “Donetsk grouping” of the enemy. We, unlike the Ukrainians, are in no hurry to disclose the direction of our main attack.

NATO training ground

Everyone is watching the progress of the allied forces. Ours are rejoicing, the enemies are trying to cheer up, calling the abandoned cities “unnecessary and subsidized”. But in general, it is clear that in the summer campaign there are still no swift forced marches for tens of kilometers and “wide coverage from the flanks”:

– How do you assess the advance of the neighbors from Lisichansk to Seversk?

– It’s hard going. And it will be hard to go. Still, we are not dealing with the Papuans, but with the army, which inherited everything from the USSR – both school and weapons. These are the people who fought with us in Afghanistan, the great-grandchildren of those who defeated Germany. We are fighting a fairly skilled adversary. The difference in armament is insignificant, the same artillery systems … plus, NATO weapons are now in abundance in Ukraine.

– What would you note from Western weapons? For example, on the Javelins, they prayed a lot for them, and then somehow they all got lost.

– The Hymers, first of all. This is a weapon that was originally designed as a counterbalance to Soviet multiple launch rocket systems. We relied on the mass application, the Americans – on the effectiveness, point defeat of targets. We have encountered on our soil not just samples of NATO weapons, but the very approach and tactics.

– What does it mean?

– They provoke us to some actions and thus reveal our firing points. At the same time, their artillery reconnaissance and instant reaction work effectively. Now we are fighting this, we are overcoming it. These are the main reasons for our slow progress. But we’re pushing and pushing, anyway.

Breaking ridges and fatigue

This question, I heard in the trenches and not only dozens of times. The fighters asked, their relatives asked. The taste of Victory was already felt in him, but there was also an understanding – how far it is from it:

– Some fighters are ready to go to the borders of the republics, then they want to return home: “we are teachers, engineers, miners, we are not military.” They can be understood. There are people, and there are many of them, who are ready to go to Kyiv and beyond. How will it be in the end?

Alexander Sergeevich takes a pause before answering…

– While we were working with high-precision weapons from a distance, it was one story, the first stage. Then the fighting began. War is not easy and it affects the mood of the people. But we understand that until we finish what we started, no one will stop. Even if there are some pauses, “tactical truces”. They may well be. But until there is a logical conclusion, no one will be dismissed or demobilized. There is no task to liberate the Republics up to the administrative borders. The task is to break the back of the enemy. And if we do not fulfill it now, the enemy will still reorganize after some time. And all our tactical achievements, the liberation of the Republics, will be meaningless. Of course, it is difficult for people to accept this, but it is necessary. Yesterday they were teachers, tomorrow they will become professional soldiers. The training ends.

– I talked with the mobilized fighters, under the city. They sincerely do not understand – why not let them go home on a visit? Thirty minutes drive home. It seems that people are tired. Five months in the trenches and the fighter thinks only about survival, he no longer shows any initiative. I didn’t notice it, books have been written about it.

– I think the problem is subjective. I have a close relative who was one of the first to volunteer and fight somewhere near Kherson. From the very first days, its commander organized communication with families. So that the family does not get lost in conjecture, “what’s wrong with him? Is he lying somewhere in the morgue and waiting for identification? It was immediately clear how the tension in my family subsided. Everything depends on the commanders in the field, the authorities cannot impose a model of behavior on them. It is possible to rotate people and let them go on leave. Here we are now at the forefront, but here, specifically, there is a period of calm. You can let people go, of course, then it is difficult to return to combat work. But, if we understand that the battles will be protracted and people will spend in the trenches, maybe even a year. And people have families, they are not berserkers. It is impossible to exploit fighters, the human resource is not unlimited. In Vostok, even at the height of the fighting, we found an opportunity to let a fighter go home for at least one day. I’m talking about those units who are fighting on the borders of the DPR. And you can’t be guided in this matter by the thought “we’ll let you go home now, but he won’t return.” Here, in the forest, nothing prevents a person from throwing a machine gun and running away, but he is at war. I think if you ask this question to the chief of staff of the army, he will be very surprised: “But what, this issue has not been resolved in your field?”.

Supply and self-service

Even in the pictures you can see how the armies of the Republics have changed. If someone walks in an iron helmet like grandfather’s SSH-40, then this is shocking or a tribute to grandfathers. Or all together:

– It seemed to me that the streams of military humanitarian aid turned into streams in the spring. And many “holes” were closed with the help of our kind people. This is true?

– Here we are now in a real combat position. Soldiers are sitting behind you, including those mobilized. The first question I asked them was “what is the need?”. You heard them say “it’s all right” I see how the appearance of the mobilized units has changed over these months. If at first they had Mosin rifles, now it is clear that the guys are acquiring the necessary equipment. That is, the civil support system works. Now we were with you in a problematic place and met humanitarian workers there from Chelyabinsk itself. That is, all regions of Russia are already involved. As for Vostok, thanks to humanitarian aid, we have updated tires on all our vehicles, from trucks to medical ones.

Motivation Formula

There is a strong opinion that they don’t talk about politics in the trenches. They say:

– Should we wait for some political decision in autumn? Is not it too early?

– My point of view is that referendums should be held everywhere. It is clear – Donbass, when entering the borders, it is necessary to hold a referendum on joining Russia. And we will be happy if the results of this referendum in Russia are considered and a decision is made. It is more difficult with the territories of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, which we now control. But, I think that people will finally believe in us … so that they understand that we will never leave. So that they don’t feel like just bearers of Russian passports, but understand that they already live in Russia.

Here we talked about the motivation of the fighters in the trenches. And they, often, with difficulty can formulate for themselves the goals and objectives of the war. Goals should be simplified and specific. If we take these lands for ourselves. If we return to ourselves the territories that, for completely unfair reasons, were torn away from Russia … from the Russian land, which our ancestors collected for centuries. And they shed blood.

– This reason clearly outperforms denazification…

– And demilitarization. This land on which we stand, these wastelands have always been. Such a far distance from Kyiv. And the Russian people mastered them. Russia, Moscow expelled Turks and Tatars from here. And now, these lands, due to some political overtures, have come under the control of not just a neighboring state, but forces hostile to us. These enemies look like us, often have Russian surnames, but they fight for the enemy. Therefore, you need to pick up and return.

Vostok battalion commander Oleksandr Khodakovsky answered a question about the expected Ukrainian offensive
KP.RU special correspondent Dmitry Steshin asked the most burning questions about the special operation in Ukraine to the commander of the Vostok battalion Alexander Khodakovsky. So will there be a Ukrainian offensive? And what political decisions to expect this fall – see in an exclusive interview from the scene

During the interrogation, the nationalist gave out information about the positions of enemy artillery batteries, which were subsequently destroyed ( details )

Rocket attack on Vinnytsia inflicted on the nationalist accommodation point

A rocket attack on Vinnytsia was carried out at the center for the accommodation of nationalists in the House of Officers, Simonyan reports with reference to the Russian Ministry of Defense ( details )

Shoigu ordered to exclude Kyiv’s strikes on peaceful cities

The Russian military must step up actions in all areas of the special operation to protect Donbass in order to exclude the possibility for Ukrainian troops to strike at civilians. Such an order on Saturday, July 16, was given by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. This was reported by the press service of the defense department.

He also inspected the Russian groups “South” and “Center”, which carry out the tasks of the special operation, and heard reports from Army General Sergei Surovikin, Colonel General Alexander Lapin and other military leaders on the current situation and enemy actions.

“The head of the Russian military department gave the necessary instructions to further increase the actions of groups in all operational areas in order to exclude the possibility of the Kiev regime to launch massive rocket and artillery strikes on civilian infrastructure and residents of settlements in Donbass and other regions,” the message says .

In addition, in pursuance of the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Shoigu presented the Gold Star of the Hero of the Russian Federation medals to Colonel General Alexander Lapin and Major General Esedulla Abachev for their courage and heroism.

This is the second such inspection by the Minister of Defense. For the first time, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced Shoigu’s visit to the troops participating in the special operation on June 26.

Then Shoigu paid special attention to the organization of comprehensive support for hostilities, as well as the creation of all the necessary living conditions for Russian military personnel at temporary deployment points.

On February 24, Russia announced the start of a special operation to protect Donbass. The operation began against the backdrop of the situation in the Donbass that worsened in mid-February. The authorities of the DPR and LPR reported increased shelling by Ukrainian troops, announced the evacuation of civilians in the Russian Federation and asked for recognition of independence. On February 21, Putin signed a corresponding decree.