This is how their troops resist in the darkest point of the Donbass front

The town of Chasiv Yar has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. It wasn’t a known place before the war, and now it’s completely bombed. But the army Zelensky She continues to fight there – even clandestinely – to stop Russian attempts to advance towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

This is the main objective of Poutine: complete the capture of Donbass. It has been this way since 2014, when they annexed Crimea and started a war – full of excuses – in Donetsk and Lugansk, and it remains this way ten years later. But now it’s even more urgent, if possible, given the possibility that the new president-elect of the United States, Donald Trumpforce him to sit at a negotiating table as soon as he takes office.

This is why this place is so important, even if access to the combat position is extremely complicated: the driver is guided by a night vision device, to avoid holes left by artillery impacts, and a co-pilot assists him by looking through it. thermal vision goggles.

The journey takes forever. “In this position we will be more or less safe, but getting in and out of the city is the most critical part right now,” the commander continues to explain. “That’s why we work 24 hours a day, and when we put one team in place, we remove the other,” he explains.

Cities erased from the map

When the vehicle finally stops and the doors open, the sight is devastating. There’s nothing left. In any direction you shine the little red flashlight – which is the only thing the military allows you to use – all you see is rubble, and a soundtrack of cannon fire banging around welcomes us.

Chasiv Yar was a regular meeting point for journalists covering the Battle of Bakhmut, until its fall in May 2023. It was the last town to report from, when the shelling in Bakhmut was so intense that we could not We were not allowed to pass. But today there is simply no more city.

Walls with huge holes, made with tank guns; scattered remains of roofs, bombed and twisted iron fences and broken glass that crunches under your boots with every step you take. And the worst is what we don’t see: “There can be mines anywhere”warns Anna, the other half of the unit I’m with.

Anna and Commander Yaroslav are married and have three children. But when the invasion began, they decided that they had to fight for their country, precisely so that their three children could grow up there freely. They are now part of a military intelligence team from the 120th Reconnaissance Regiment, which operates attack drones less than a kilometer from Russian lines in the bowels of Chassiv Yar.

They cannot reveal the number of teams that, like them, occupy positions within the city. But they are all linked by radio and, in addition to hitting Russian targets from the air, they help the artillery of the different brigades locate enemy positions.

The drone war

During these 1,000 days of invasion, the war changed dramatically tactically. And the driving force for change was the use of unmanned vehicles in combat. Drones – which until autumn 2022 did not play a very important role in Ukraine – are now essential in any military operation.

From the appearance of the first flying observation vehicles – which only carried out reconnaissance missions from the air – to the massive use of attack drones – of all sizes and capable of carrying up to 50 kilos of ‘explosives’ – it’s been barely two years.

Currently, In places like Chasiv Yar, the war is fought entirely with these unmanned vehicles. And this makes it impossible to walk in the open without risking a grenade being thrown at you from the air, or an artillery projectile guided by an observation drone which may be two kilometers from you.

Almost impossible to detect but absolutely deadly, drones are already causing the majority of victims on the Ukrainian combat fronts. Even more than artillery. And to make them work, more and more specialized teams are needed, like those of Yaroslav and Anna.

From the point where the car left us to the underground position of the 120th Reconnaissance Regiment where they work, there are several hundred meters that we cover running and in absolute silence, to be able to hear the buzzing in case an enemy drone is approaching.

Arriving there, Yaroslav begins connecting cables and screens without missing a beat, while Anna assembles the different parts of a DJI Matrice drone – worth around 5,000 euros. Some parts were made with a 3D printer, such as the anchors to place the explosives. Everything is “tuned” to suit your combat needs.

Risking your life eighty times a day

The DJI Matrice – tuned – can carry an explosive charge of between 600 grams and two kilos. Some of the projectiles they use are also custom made, but they must be placed by hand each time the drone is launched. The problem is that to plant the explosive and get the drone off the ground, you have to go to the surface and risk being targeted.

During a 24-hour day, pilots complete approximately 40 flights. They must therefore uncover themselves 80 times to put the drone in the air and recover it when it returns. The commander explains the details as they prepare for the first flight, but a fighter jet interrupts the conversation with a deafening roar.

“Is the plane Russian?” » “Yes, but don’t worry, I’ll attack it with my Matrix,” he replies with humor. At that moment, it makes you smile, but it is impossible not to think of the psychological pressure that Ukrainians – soldiers and civilians – are under after 1,000 days of invasion.

However, in the bowels of Chasiv Yar, activity is frenetic and there is no time for too much thinking. Two other fighter-bombers fly over us in a short time, and the artillery duel does not stop for a single minute.

When we return to the underground position, many voices can be heard speaking at the same time on the radio. But the most surprising thing is to see the war “in real time” through the screens. The Ukrainians and Russians are separated by a water channel, but the Kremlin’s assault groups constantly cross it.

“They send them in small groups, of four or five people, knowing that we will kill them immediately with the explosives that we throw from the drones. These are suicide missions, but Russian commanders don’t care. This is why they have so many human losses,” recognizes Commander Yaroslav, throwing one of his grenades at an enemy soldier with a joystick.

“As Russia is also trying to advance along the Prokrovsk front, this part is a little quieter. I assure you that until mid-August, it was hell,” he adds. If the definition of “calm” is this, I cannot imagine hell.

Until victory

The 24 hours spent in the bowels of Chasiv Yar are coming to an end and Anna announces by radio that we are ready for the rotation. You leave as you entered: in a vehicle without lights, in the middle of the night, and aided by night vision devices.

But while the transport is on its way, a Russian tank unit attacks the sector we are in. “They sweep it away”comments Yaroslav as the impacts begin to get closer and closer to us.

The extraction is postponed “whatever is necessary, so they can’t get us out”, and we sit in silence – with our bulletproof vests, helmets and backpacks, ready to run as soon as possible. let the opportunity present itself.

I ask Anna if she would not like to remove her three children from this war, which is also intensifying behind the combat front, where massive bombings against cities and civilian infrastructure are becoming more and more intense. Maybe you could spend some time in another European country. She smiles. He will continue to fight for Ukraine “until victory”. Because there are only two options: win or disappear.