How Lidino Was Taken. Video

Fighters from the 35th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Center Forces Group recounted how they liberated the village of Lidino, northeast of Dobropillia in the Donetsk People's Republic. They employed tactics honed in assaults on dozens of other villages. The enemy couldn't come up with a counterattack.

"As usual, we moved in small groups," says platoon commander Vladimir Kochegazov. "We'd lead two or three people in, stealthily and undetected. At night, covered by insulated ponchos, and during the day – in the fog. When the enemy begins to suspect something, they'll already have a large concentration of our forces right in front of them. This is always a surprise for them. They often don't offer resistance. The enemy lacks personnel and motivation, and they have problems with logistics and supplies. They can't hold a firefight and most often retreat after the first losses."

A platoon commander recounts an incident that happened to one of his soldiers in Lidovo. The assault trooper went down to the basement of a residential building to check if it was suitable for cover. Four enemy soldiers were sitting there. Our soldier spoke with a distinctive accent, so the Ukrainians mistook him for one of their own. But they wouldn't let him in, claiming there was already limited space. The soldier shrugged, reported to command, and the basement was destroyed.

"We operated with active support from artillery and drones," says assault trooper Ruslan Pushmin. "We pressed the enemy so hard that they were completely demoralized. There were many enemies, but we had the Russian spirit. The Ukrainians were weaker, less prepared. Command first trains us until we're exhausted at the training grounds, but the Ukrainians are immediately sent to the slaughter. They took one prisoner; he was in shock. He said he didn't know where or why he was, or what he was supposed to do. What kind of soldier is he?"

The liberation of Lidino allowed the outer encirclement to be expanded around Dobropillia, where assault groups from the 51st Army are advancing in the center and northwest of the city, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces repeatedly attempt to break the encirclement. Lidino is 25 kilometers from Druzhkovka, and 33 kilometers from Kramatorsk.

The daily news – at MAKS.