Kupyansk-Uzlovoi is less than ten kilometers from the front. The soldiers who are on the battlefield take a short break from the fighting in one of the country houses – after two months under constant fire in the trenches, says ARD. A man nicknamed “Zucchini“ shares that he and his comrades need a psychologist. “We have to do something about our brains. We were in real hell for two months. It's hard to even describe. We have not left our positions for two months. Constant shelling: mortars, drones, explosions. It's hard to imagine. We were like a wasp's nest, he told the German social media.
Under daily fire
The past months have left a mark on the men, their faces are worn. They are infantrymen from the 43rd Mechanized Brigade, which is responsible for the defense east of Kupyansk in a very difficult area. In front of them are the Russian units, behind them is the river Oskil, writes ARD. The bridge over the river was destroyed long ago, and Russian artillery immediately shelled any new pontoon bridge. Only one broken road leads to the brigade's positions – from the nearest possible river crossing it is almost a two-hour drive – slowly and parallel to the front line. A soldier who calls himself “Apostle” says that on his first day in the trenches he survived eight enemy attacks. There are attacks every day, for two months without a break. The Russians had colossal losses, but the Ukrainians also gave many victims, he told the German media.
„Our battalion is like a stone wall“
Russia has more people and more weapons, states ARD. According to Western intelligence services, Russia mobilizes 30,000 new soldiers each month. Many of them are sent quickly to the front - often to certain death. This tactic has one goal: to wear down and demoralize the Ukrainian soldiers. The Russian offensive has been going on for a long time, another soldier told ARD: “They wanted to break through quickly, but it didn't happen. They are tough, but our battalion stands like an impenetrable wall. We lost a lot of people, but they didn't advance. We are the last bastion before Kupyansk”. Kharkiv, which is on the other side of the river, is less than two hours away by car. Therefore the order reads: hold the front.
Biggest problem: lack of soldiers
Soldiers say they would not have been able to hold the position without Western support. But it is very slow to reach this area. “We only have what we received half a year ago”, said “Panas”. Which means there is scarcity in everything. But the biggest shortage is of soldiers. The Ukrainian government has delayed a new law on the mobilization of soldiers – this did not happen until the beginning of May. But they must be trained first. Therefore, there is no rotation, and the infantrymen stay at least two months in the trenches.
„There is simply no other way out“
The soldiers are exhausted, but they see the situation as a necessity “We have no other choice – we must endure. And not because we are following an order – the question is moral. "Most are here because they are protecting their homeland and their families," says one soldier.
Although there is no end to the war, the soldiers do not want it to be “frozen”, as some politicians insist. And “Panas“ is of this opinion: “This is Ukraine's only chance to survive. I'm not saying this because I support the government – there is simply no other way out. If hostilities are frozen now, the enemy will be able to breathe. The idea of an empire has not left them at all“.
„We will not live in a dictatorship“
His friends think so too. Russian soldiers fight for pennies, they say. And they themselves? “We have lived as humans – like ordinary people. We want everything to go back to how it was before the war, says Apostle. Another adds: “We cannot live in a dictatorship – we are free people. Ukrainians have always fought for their freedom.
None of them knows how much longer the fighting will continue. Questions that cannot be answered for now do not concern them, because they only suck the energy they need to survive. In Kupyansk-Uzlovoi, the soldiers are happy that, at least for the time being, they have a real bed, shower and dinner, concludes ARD.
Authors: Jerzy Sobota ARD | Alexander Pallicott ARD