Even while leading troops in a fierce week-long battle for a Russian position, Colonel Viktor Sikoza received disturbing news: The Russians were using this time to build up another fortification behind it.
“They are still building defenses,” said Colonel Sikoza. “They keep doing it” even as Ukraine is advancing, albeit slowly, in a dangerous counter-offensive in the south of the country.
Soldiers of Colonel Sikoza, commander of the 36th Marine Brigade, spearheaded the Ukrainian offensive and have advanced some eight kilometers forming a bulge in the Russian line in southern Ukraine.
Colonel Sikoza is just a commander, but his account matches Ukrainian reports about strictly entrenched position of Russia. For the past week, Colonel Sikoza has overseen an assault on a forest partially surrounded by low-lying, swampy terrain. Russian forces dug and mined the only ground around that was solid enough to support armored vehicles. The attack must take place on land, he said.
He said the infantry entered the forest and fought at close range. “We are marines – we are belligerent,” he said. He said a company of Russian soldiers, about 80 men, had been dug into tree trenches. Colonel Sikoza described how a decisive turning point occurred when his troops captured two bunkers and a trench at the edge of the forest, somewhat cutting off the Russians’ ability to resupply and forcing them to withdraw.
His troops were highly motivated to take positions, and with them were Russian prisoners: During the first month of the war, the 36th Marine Brigade was besieged at Mariupol and beyond. 1,000 marines were taken prisoner by the Russians. Colonel Sikoza said of the detained Russians: “We want to exchange them for ours.
Colonel Sikoza’s march south was also a personal adventure. He escaped from the Crimean Peninsula when Russia occupied it in 2014. If the counteroffensive was successful, it could put Ukrainian artillery within range to threaten the peninsula’s isthmus, cutting off Ukraine’s supply lines. Russia.
But it was painfully slow. President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged that the counter-offensive is not moving as quickly as some allies had hoped, and US officials say Ukraine is losing Western-supplied armored vehicles in minefields.
“For over a year, the enemy has consolidated here,” Colonel Sikoza said in an interview at a picnic table under the shade of a walnut tree in the courtyard of his command post near the front. Every minute or so, the explosions of the incoming and outgoing firecrackers resounded.
Regarding Ukraine’s move forward, he conceded: “It won’t happen at the pace we expect.”
Colonel Sikoza said that, in the face of Ukraine’s swelling at this point, the Russians had completed the third line of defense. They added concrete tank barriers of what the Ukrainians call dragon teeth. And they deployed more troops.
There is little he can do about it, he said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have enough precision weapons to hit targets at long range” behind Russia’s front lines. Additional defense systems will slow Ukraine down even more, he said.
However, Colonel Sikoza’s troops achieved some success.
Lieutenant Yevhen, a soldier who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, said he shot down a Russian attack helicopter with Javelin anti-tank guided missiles, a rare feat with primary weapons. for attack purposes. ground targets.
Ukrainian officers said that although the brigade operated mostly old Soviet artillery systems, they were able to attack a Russian barracks far behind the front lines. A group of Russian soldiers posted a video on social media complaining about poor living conditions and what they see as unreasonable orders from their commander.
Lieutenant Denys Ryabynko, who commanded a unit of Grad rocket artillery, was less concerned with the complaint than with the distinctive brick building in the background. The Ukrainians were able to locate it in a village behind Russian lines and hit it with a barrage of missiles, he said.
Yurii Shyvala contribution report.
