Ukrainian soldiers' confidence is a mark of how profoundly the tide of this war has changed
Telegraph, 07 Oct 2022
The most important is the camouflage. When properly wrapped up in foliage, the muzzles of their howitzers look like fungi. Then there are the messages to be written on shells. On Thursday, it was “for Zaporizhia”, where Russian missiles had wreaked carnage in the morning.
A battery commander scribbles calculations on a pad of paper and barks the customary countdown to fire: “Three hundred - thirty - three!”
The howitzers bark yellow flames. There is a pause of a few minutes while whoever called in the strike assesses damage, then another salvo.
In the interim, a cacophony of automatic fire erupts on the other side of the wood: a Russian drone has been spotted. Rather than taking cover, the gunners ignore it.
Their confidence is a mark of how profoundly the tide of this war has changed.
Back in May, these artillery men from Ukraine’s 14th mechanised brigade were struggling to hold back Russia's relentless offensive in Donbas, trying to answer an enemy firing five or seven times more shells than they could.
But last month, they took part in the offensive that liberated the Kharkiv region. Now they have crossed the strategic Oskil river and are firing in support of an imminent battle to liberate neighbouring Luhansk oblast. Now, it is the Russians struggling to respond.
The target of this strike was “a group of Russian infantry. A bunch of faggots, to use the technical term,” said Denis, the officer commanding, who asks his surname and rank to be withheld.
But Denis, a career artillery man with more than two decades of service, mixes his disdain for the enemy with a grudging professional respect of his Russian opposite numbers.
“If I was giving them marks out of five, they’d get a four plus,” he said of the enemy artillerists. “They’re working on their own kit and we are getting to grips with different modern things.”
This battery, like most of the Ukrainian army, has yet to benefit from high-profile Western deliveries. Their guns are still self-propelled 122 mm SAU’s - Soviet built weapons which the men wrly declare were “born in 1970.” Denis does not hide his desire for modern replacements.
The Russian artillery set the tone for the first half of the war, battering cities like Mariupol into submission and blasting a path through Donbas for Vladimir Putin’s tanks and infantry.
But the balance of power on the battlefield has changed decisively.
Read the full article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/10/07/tide-war-has-shifted-russians-far-less-brave/
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#Ukraine #Russia #Kharkiv
A battery commander scribbles calculations on a pad of paper and barks the customary countdown to fire: “Three hundred - thirty - three!”
The howitzers bark yellow flames. There is a pause of a few minutes while whoever called in the strike assesses damage, then another salvo.
In the interim, a cacophony of automatic fire erupts on the other side of the wood: a Russian drone has been spotted. Rather than taking cover, the gunners ignore it.
Their confidence is a mark of how profoundly the tide of this war has changed.
Back in May, these artillery men from Ukraine’s 14th mechanised brigade were struggling to hold back Russia's relentless offensive in Donbas, trying to answer an enemy firing five or seven times more shells than they could.
But last month, they took part in the offensive that liberated the Kharkiv region. Now they have crossed the strategic Oskil river and are firing in support of an imminent battle to liberate neighbouring Luhansk oblast. Now, it is the Russians struggling to respond.
The target of this strike was “a group of Russian infantry. A bunch of faggots, to use the technical term,” said Denis, the officer commanding, who asks his surname and rank to be withheld.
But Denis, a career artillery man with more than two decades of service, mixes his disdain for the enemy with a grudging professional respect of his Russian opposite numbers.
“If I was giving them marks out of five, they’d get a four plus,” he said of the enemy artillerists. “They’re working on their own kit and we are getting to grips with different modern things.”
This battery, like most of the Ukrainian army, has yet to benefit from high-profile Western deliveries. Their guns are still self-propelled 122 mm SAU’s - Soviet built weapons which the men wrly declare were “born in 1970.” Denis does not hide his desire for modern replacements.
The Russian artillery set the tone for the first half of the war, battering cities like Mariupol into submission and blasting a path through Donbas for Vladimir Putin’s tanks and infantry.
But the balance of power on the battlefield has changed decisively.
Read the full article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/10/07/tide-war-has-shifted-russians-far-less-brave/
Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start your free trial now:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/customer/subscribe/digitalsub/3for1/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_pvid_conversion-subscription_editorial-iniative_03-22_EGW-13_organic_youtube
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Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.
#Ukraine #Russia #Kharkiv
