The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
In the Pokrovsk direction, under the cover of fog, the Russians attempted to conduct a large-scale mechanized assault they had prepared in advance.
However, about a hundred enemy assault troops on two dozen vehicles were completely defeated by the “Spartan” brigade fighters together with operators of the 414th Separate Brigade of Unmanned Systems “Ptakhy Madiara”.
Details were provided in an exclusive comment to ArmyInform by Colonel Vladyslav Sayenko, deputy commander of the 3rd Operational Brigade named after Colonel Petro Bolbochan “Spartan” of the National Guard of Ukraine.
“The enemy tried to take advantage of weather conditions — there was fog. They used motorcycles, quad bikes, and light vehicles. These were UAZ ‘loaves’ with cut-off tops, modified ‘Niva’ cars.
The enemy attempted in the morning fog to use the number of personnel and vehicles to break into the settlement within our brigade’s area of responsibility.
However, the enemy was detected in advance — forward observation posts reported hearing the movement of equipment. This was crucial, as extremely dense fog made effective aerial reconnaissance impossible.
After receiving information about the movement of vehicles, we started launching our drones — heavy bombers — and began inflicting fire damage”, — he said.
The repelled enemy assault has become the largest since the brigade has been operating in this direction.
“Throughout the time we’ve been carrying out tasks here, there has been no assault of this scale. This number of enemy personnel could be used over a day or longer, but for the Russians to deploy such numbers of personnel and vehicles simultaneously within a single assault episode — that has not happened before”, — the officer said.
It is clear that the enemy prepared the assault in advance and waited for favorable weather conditions.
“The enemy was ready, because all personnel were in winter camouflage suits, and even the equipment was painted white. So it was a prepared assault”, — the serviceman emphasized.
But the Defense Forces were ready to repel the attack.
“Engineering barriers worked — they slowed and stopped the enemy’s movement. Once we began inflicting fire damage, the enemy abandoned their equipment, scattered, and tried to move on foot.
We used heavy bomber drones, FPV kamikaze drones, and eliminated both enemy infantry and their equipment. These were exclusively motorcycles and light vehicles; there was no heavy armored equipment”, — Sayenko noted.
The officer stressed that under current conditions, a fast, maneuverable quad bike with 2–3 enemy soldiers is more dangerous than an armored personnel carrier.
“Armored vehicles today are not as frightening as a quad bike carrying two or three Russian soldiers who can drive between positions, cross a field, and — if not detected in time — can get into our rear.
This is more dangerous than an APC carrying ten enemy fighters, which is much easier to detect and hit”, — he said.
During the repelled assault, not only were about 80 occupiers destroyed, but two enemy assault troops were also captured.
“These two did not resist much. A grenade was thrown toward them, and they were offered to surrender — and they agreed. They are representatives of a specific contingent — former convicts, socially unstable people.
Such enemy soldiers typically have poor education. One may have completed seven grades, the other nine. And they go to war to earn money and resolve their everyday problems”, — Sayenko said.
