Published: Less than 10 min ago
Russian troops are making progress in the battle for Bachmut.
Now Ukrainian soldier Andriy reveals their tactics – how recruited prisoners step straight into the rain of bullets to gain 30 meters at a time.
– It’s like in a zombie movie, he says to CNN.
The battle for Bachmut in eastern Ukraine appears to be entering its final stages.
Since last summer, soldiers from the private army Wagner Group have been trying to capture the city, and in recent weeks regular Russian forces have also joined the fighting. They have better weapons, better training and receive better support from the air, says reconnaissance soldier Dmytro Podvorchanskyj in an interview with the BBC.
– It is very difficult for us now. We notice that Russia is learning day by day and changing its strategy. We have to learn even faster, he says.
Report: “Increasingly isolated”
According to the New York Times the Russians have slowly surrounded Bachmut from three sides and now only one major road remains as a supply route and possible escape route for the Ukrainians.
British Ministry of Defence stated on Sunday in his daily status report that the city is “increasingly isolated”. At the same time, leading Ukrainian representatives have spoken openly about the pressure of the situation in recent days.
– The invader deploys more and more of his forces to break down our defenses. It is very difficult now in Bachmut, Vuhledar, Lyman and in other places, President Zelenskyy said on Saturday evening.
The soldier: “They didn’t stop coming”
The Battle of Bachmut has been described as a meat grinder war where hundreds of Russian soldiers are killed every day.
Now a Ukrainian soldier at the front gives a more detailed insight into the brutal tactics of the Wagner Group. His name is Andriy and he hides his face with a balaclava when CNN meets him in a bunker dug out of the frozen ground.
Only the candles keep the darkness away as the soldier recounts an almost endless battle against what he calls “a river” of Wagner soldiers.
– We fought for ten hours in a row. It wasn’t in waves, it was continuous. They didn’t stop coming, he says.
Andriy recalls how their Kalashnikov rifles got so hot from the constant firing that they had to be replaced on a rolling schedule.
– About 20 soldiers on our side and about 200 on theirs.
“They take 30 meters at a time”
The Wagner group’s stormtroopers have primarily been made up of newly recruited prisoners. They are uneducated, poorly equipped and driven, writes CNN, by the promise of escaping prison by surviving six months on the battlefield.
For many, that dream dies instantly.
– They form a group of maybe ten soldiers, take 30 meters of terrain and start digging to maintain their position. Then another group comes and takes another 30 meters. That’s how they try to move forward, step by step, while losing lots of people, says Andriy.
In the second phase, the Wagner group then sends in more experienced soldiers, often from the sides, to surprise the Ukrainians.
But what has scared Andriy the most is the first wave of prisoners.
– Our machine gunner almost went crazy shooting at them. He said: “I know I shot him, but he doesn’t fall”. Then after a while he collapses, maybe because he’s bleeding.
Compared to zombies
Andriy compares the battles to scenes from a zombie movie.
– They step on the bodies of their dead friends. They are very, very likely to take drugs before they attack.
CNN points out that his claim that the soldiers are drugged is unconfirmed.
According to lieutenant colonel Joakim Paasikivi, teacher of military strategy at the Norwegian Defense Academy, it is not possible to know if this is true.
– But it is not incredible. Large parts of other wars have been fought on central stimulants, he says to DN.