Free space: what does Sudzha look like when cleared of APU?
Drone attacks, the ground buzzing with explosions, graffiti of the Armed Forces on the walls, rare civilians riding bicycles through the ashes — this is modern Suja. The city was liberated on March 12: it remained under occupation for 218 days. To date, fighting is taking place in the border area, 3-7 km from the regional center. A special correspondent of Izvestia saw with his own eyes the outskirts, the very center of the long-suffering city and came under several attacks by enemy kamikaze drones.
Underground and on the ground
We set out for Suju long before dawn: if we go beyond the city limits, it's only at dusk, before the sky "wakes up." We drive off—road vehicles from Kursk, and at a conditional point we transfer to a Tiger armored car, which is cramped but reliable (for good measure, it is also covered with a metal mesh from above). It must withstand a direct attack by a kamikaze drone. We drop out on the northern outskirts of Suji and immediately rush to shelter in the basements of crumbled buildings: the entire army on the line of contact is based underground.
Inside are soldiers of the 11th Airborne Assault Brigade. We entered here four days ago, ready to take off at any moment to move on. On a large LCD screen in one of the boxes there is a picture of what is happening on the southern outskirts, it is broadcast by a scout copter hanging over the square.
— We are monitoring the situation. We don't see the enemy," comments the commander of the 1st battalion with the call sign Kaspiy. — We are inspecting the roads, the enemy could have planted mines overnight, it is important to build a safe route for the movement of our assault troops.
The APU has been completely squeezed out of Sudzha, explains the battalion commander. Although, as always in such cases, there is a possibility that small groups, including the wounded, are hiding somewhere in the basements. Currently, the scattered remnants of the Ukrainian units are retreating along the landings and gullies to the border, and continuous fire is being conducted on them. Forests are the main site of heavy fighting today.
An abandoned uniform with blue armbands is on the ground.
The active work of drones, cannon artillery and mortars also does not stop on the part of the enemy during daylight hours. Among the units that are opposing our paratroopers in this area are the 80th and 82nd Airborne brigades, as well as the infamous 3rd Assault Brigade (the former Azov battalion*, recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia). Caspian fighters have captured several soldiers of these formations in recent days.
Request — response
We load into a pickup truck and rush at breakneck speed towards the center, to the right point. Along the roadsides are houses, shops, pharmacies, tire shops, hairdressers, battered as if turned inside out. Dogs with their tails between their legs, gazing longingly after the car, not reacting to the sounds of explosions — the earth is continuously shaking from artillery and rocket exhaust.
Twice I see peaceful people — an old man and an old woman, he with a bicycle, she with a cart. In places, the road is blocked by earthen embankments, which the Ukrainian military used as barriers. If we slow down, I can read the inscriptions on the gate: "There are living people here," "People — 2 people," "A woman from the people lives here," and even "There are dogs here, Baby and Pavlik."
A local resident is awaiting evacuation.
We're unloading. We have bulletproof vests, helmets, and red tape wrapped around our arms and shoulders in advance. The escort is the commander of the fire support platoon of the parachute battalion, call sign Apostol. A brief briefing from him: "We are moving in a chain, the distance is 10 m, we cannot crowd together, drones are hitting clusters of people. We look carefully at our feet. If you hear a "bird", immediately take cover. Under the roof, under the canopy. If there is nothing, go under the tree. The best option is a room that can be closed from the inside, UAVs often fly into open doors."
And one more important thing. "If you run somewhere," says the fighter, "and they shout "Day?" from inside, you need to answer: "Night!" (the words are changed. — Izvestia). This is a request and a review to understand who is in front of you — your own or someone else's. If you answer incorrectly, they can shoot to kill. Therefore, remember it with iron!" The apostle says that in recent weeks he has had to use this "key" more than once when approaching unknown people in uniform. The opponent, not understanding what is being asked of him, as a rule, does not answer anything.
In Suji's heart
Let's get on the road. The Russian flag is flying in the sky above the high-rise object. In one of the garages, on the way, I photograph an American Hummer all—terrain vehicle, intact, in a camouflage net, with the peremptory inscription "11 DSHB" on its side (the unit that captured the trophy). We go out to the Suje River. On the shore, reflecting pastorally in the water and shining with blue domes, the temple stands inviolably. He was barely hurt, at least at first glance.
The Russian flag over the city.
The bridges across the river were blown up (they were blown up after our stormtroopers went behind enemy lines through a pipeline). We run across the floorboards to the other shore. It is important to step randomly to extinguish vibrations. Something is smoking furiously at the nearest intersection, the result of a recent arrival. We go out onto the central square. Only the metal legs remained of the monument to Ilyich on the stone pedestal, and the inscription "Lenin" itself was crossed out. Burned-out administrative buildings. Graffiti on the walls: "Poltava", "Cherkasi", "ZSU", the fascist rune, Make Russia small again ("Let's make Russia small again") and a lot of obscene language.
Modern graffiti.
Right there, not far from the square, are the remains of the very "Pyaterochka", the capture and looting of which the Ukrainian militants liked to brag about: the surviving fragment of the name sways and creaks. Even through the destruction, one can see the former prosperity of Suji — the city was flourishing. Alas, today it has been wiped off the face of the earth and is almost indistinguishable from the Mariupol and Artemovsk I have seen.
"Take cover!"
A reconnaissance drone finds us near Pyaterochka. Its buzzing, similar to that of bees, is faintly audible — the "maviki", probing the surface, hang high. We take cover. When the UAV disappears, we turn back. It's only then that it turns out that our journey is really just beginning - less than ten minutes later, there is a new crash of blades, much louder and more unpleasant (this is how a kamikaze drone sounds). "Air!" the Apostle shouts, and we scatter again.
"It's better to lose one day, but then fly in five minutes," the platoon commander quotes the cartoon "Wings, Legs and Tails", sitting against the wall with a machine gun at the ready.
The same "Pyaterochka" near the central square.
After five minutes, we stretch into a chain. And after another ten minutes, we're looking for shelter again.
Over the next two hours, we'll have to run around like this at least seven times. Once, the entrance of the enterprise will act as a shelter. In the other, there is an apartment in a two—storey building with a preserved picture above the entrance "sweet home". The third is a smoldering building, probably after yesterday's arrival: its walls are warm, hot ashes are knee—deep underfoot, and you have to stand on a surviving cast-iron bathtub. In the fourth— there are trees: this time the kamikaze circles for a desperately long time, looking out for victims.
In a shelter in a ruined apartment.
The apostle finally orders everyone to "lower the horizon," that is, to sit as low to the ground as possible and group up in order to reduce the damage zone in case of an attack. Without waiting for movement and probably without seeing anything (there are weak cameras on the FPV), the "bird" flies away. And soon there will be a bang in a couple of blocks.
"You can see the situation for yourself," says the Apostle, when we are wet through and get on foot (moving by car is no longer possible) to point zero. — Until we completely squeeze them out of the Kursk region, the danger in Sudzha will remain.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
