Focus
Ukrainian artillerymen on the defensive in the east of the country
Audio 03:32
Ukrainian gunners in the Velyka Novosilka region, March 2023. © RFI/Julien Boileau
Text by: Vincent Souriau |
Julien Boileau
3 mins
It has become a war of attrition, a conflict that develops over time.
Just over a year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia has found its strategy: day after day to harass the outnumbered and under-equipped Ukrainian forces.
The frustrated Ukrainian gunners are confronted with an enemy they never meet.
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From our special envoys on the southern Donbass front
,
We walk between oaks and pines, somewhere in the Velyka Novosilka region.
The officer who accompanies us is called Ivan, a former librarian, mobilized in the army in May 2022. Since the beginning of winter, he has been playing cat and mouse against Russian artillery.
“
They know we're around here, that's for sure.
But they don't have our exact position.
»
We are 100 meters from the Ukrainian guns when one of his men arrives in a 4x4: a Russian drone is lurking nearby.
“
From this forest, we are 6 or 7 kilometers from the front line.
It's very simple for a drone to fly back and forth.
And it's hard to see them with conventional anti-aircraft systems.
If you have a radar it's fine, but with the naked eye… It's quite problematic.
".
► Also to listen
:
War in Ukraine: tipping point?
Russian drones, key pieces of war
“
We had a Russian artillery strike here a fortnight ago.
They registered the position of our neighbours, another brigade not far from here, which uses Western batteries.
They saw them with the drone, they managed to find the correct coordinates.
And the next day, there was a strike that went very close
.
The gunners have cobbled together an underground shelter: ten steps, a few benches, a wood stove.
Not much to do in this blind room, and a lot of wasted time.
“
Sometimes the men can stay here from morning till night.
That's what I always tell them,” smiles Ivan.
“The war in Ukraine is a war between artillery and drones.
Everyone is looking for each other to shoot each other
”.
Ukrainian fighters defend their positions
That's it, the "bird" has flown away.
Return to the surface: Ivan takes us to the edge of the forest.
Camouflaged between the trees, covered with branches and foliage, his machine is there.
Model 2S3 Akatsya, an old Soviet howitzer, of which only the barrel protrudes in the open air.
In the distance, we hear the salvoes of GRAD rockets fired by the Russians.
But when will he, Ivan, shoot?
“
Impossible to say
,” replies the second lieutenant.
We wait and we just carry out orders
”.
“
We have no idea of our targets or their distance.
Only headquarters or drone operators can know what we're aiming for.
We're all frustrated, but we understand that it's our job, it's our job to wait because you never know when the infantry that's far ahead will need... (He
cuts off...
) Ah… Looks like the brigade next door is starting to work, it looks like a response to the Russian strike.
Our buddies have more ammo.
And they shoot further than us.
»
Long sigh.
Ivan and his men go back to chopping wood and going around in circles.
They haven't fired a shell for 48 hours.
► To read also:
War in Ukraine: in Chassiv Yar, Alina wants to keep her spirits up despite the advance of the Russians
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