Beneath Cowl of the Evening
Ukrainian Special Forces working behind enemy traces have been smashing provide columns and hobbling the Russian offensive for 2 months now. Moreover, standard Ukrainian troops’ capacity to launch speedy counterattacks after Russians take offensive actions proves efficient in shopping for time for the nation to strengthen its forces and retake misplaced floor.
Against this, vital casualties have depleted Russia’s Spetsnaz Special Forces, whose experience would take appreciable time to interchange and rebuild. Within the early day of the warfare, President Putin despatched a whole bunch of helicopter-borne Spetsnaz troops to attempt to assault and seize a flippantly defended airfield outdoors of Kyiv.
What they didn’t do apparently was a last-minute recon of the goal simply earlier than the raid. Had they finished so, they’d have seen that Ukraine had obstructed the runway to forestall giant fixed-wing plane from touchdown and {that a} sizeable Ukrainian drive together with armored automobiles was positioned simply outdoors the airport ready for them.
The outcome was a debacle for Russian Particular Operations. Their Mi-8 assault helicopters have been on the best way to assault Hostomel airfield when a number of have been knocked out of the sky. As soon as the Russians made it to the bottom, they took heavy losses by way of efficient artillery fireplace and with the blocked runway have been unable to herald provides and reinforcements. When the Ukrainians counterattacked, the Spetnaz troops have been compelled to flee into the woods surrounding the airport to outlive.
Russia was surprised and took their first black eye of the warfare. It set the stage for issues to return.
Skilled by the Better of the Greatest
It’s no secret that Ukraine’s specialist troops have been extensively skilled over time by British and US Special Forces. For the reason that Russian invasion, they’ve extensively honed their abilities and have created havoc on the battlefield, particularly relating to taking out giant columns of susceptible Russian automobiles.
Mixed Arms Operation
Lt Col Yaroslav Honchar is a Ukrainian ex-soldier turned IT advertising guide turned present soldier. He returned to uniform in 2014 after the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014. The unit he instructions, Aerorozvidka, focuses on aerial surveillance, drone warfare, and cybersecurity. They’ve been concerned in quite a few profitable nighttime raids through the present battle with Russia. Their motto needs to be “Dying within the Darkish.” Be at liberty to make use of that, Colonel Honchar.
It was Honchar’s troops partnering with 30 Ukrainian Special Forces operators that took out the notorious 40km lengthy column of Russian vans that was making its manner slowly to the capital metropolis of Kyiv in late February. The showdown was traditional Davis vs. Goliath.
Beneath cowl of darkness, the operators on their quads have been capable of strategy the convoy from the entrance and behind the tree line on both facet of the highway. They have been nicely geared up with evening imaginative and prescient goggles, sniper rifles, and remotely detonated mines such because the Claymore. Actual-time aerial reconnaissance knowledge was fed to them by the Aerorozvidka drone operators. The drones have been geared up with thermal imaging cameras and have been additionally capable of drop small 1.5kg bombs on the right track exactly.
The mixed efforts of this small and nimble drive stopped a whole bunch of Russian automobiles useless of their tracks. Here’s what Colonel Honchar needed to say in regards to the operation:
“This one little unit within the evening destroyed two or three automobiles on the head of this convoy, and after that it was caught. They stayed there two extra nights, and [destroyed] many automobiles.”
It was a superb plan; the convoy was shortly crippled.
Colonel Honchar is kind of happy with their accomplishment. “The primary echelon of the Russian drive was caught with out warmth, with out oil, with out bombs, and with out gasoline. And all of it occurred due to the work of 30 folks,” he mentioned.
The Ukrainian Special Forces are certainly quiet professionals and are among the many best of the unsung heroes of this warfare.
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