The first mortar rounds are outgoing, aimed at Russian forces beyond a ridge. But the ones that follow are incoming, heading for Ukrainian positions, and land near the troops in their base.
The exchanges take place at Ruska Lozova — a village set in a landscape of woodlands, valleys, streams and fields that had been officially liberated at the end of last month by Ukrainian troops, driving away Russian forces that had laid siege to nearby Kharkiv.
It is just six miles north of the city. and the presence of Russian forces here with tanks, artillery and air support is an illustration of a fragmented frontline here in the northeast of Ukraine,
The highway from Kharkiv is pitted with holes from artillery and airstrikes, and strewn with spent cartridges and shell casings. The grass verges on both sides are mined, so drivers have to ensure they do not stray from the centre of the road.
The Russian determination to maintain presence in this area is to try and ensure that their supply lines are kept open to Izium, a town being fought over in an attempt to cut off Ukrainian troops in the Donbas – the Kremlin’s focus of military action after the failure to capture cities like Kyiv and Kharkiv.
“That was quite close, they are not so far away”, says Commander Vsevolod Kozhemyako as another mortar round lands near the wrecked industrial premises which has become the base for his unit.
“We have had regular shelling here, the Russians are well dug in, they are desperate to block us from breaking through, if we break through then their routes to Izium are in danger. So this is turning into quite a hard and long fight.”
The Khartia volunteer battalion and a detachment of Ukraine’s National Guard recaptured the village in April. But the Russians remain in force. Three Ukrainian soldiers were killed last week, along with a number of injuries. The Russians have suffered dozens of casualties, say the Ukrainians.
The base was used by the Russians before the area changed hands. “It was absolutely filthy, we really had to clean it up, and secure it properly. And then the challenge was to make sure they did not get it back”, says Commander Kozhemyako. “The scale of attacks from the very beginning showed just how much they wanted to drive us out, how much value they put on this place.”
The fighting has spread to adjoining areas, resulting in widespread destruction in a number of places. That includes an internationally-renowned plant gene research facility in the village of Pytomnik, containing 160,000 varieties of plant seed. It was reportedly hit by a Russian missile. Ukrainian officials describe what happened as “deliberate ecological vandalism.”
The Russians have held the high ground over the Ruska Luzova base, providing effective vantage points for artillery barrages. Attacks have also continued to come from tanks and the air, both drones and helicopter-gunships. The Ukrainians have placed anti-aircraft artillery in the village; the Khartia battalion base holds a supply of anti-tank missiles, including British-supplied NLAWs.
Advanced weaponry has been deployed around Ruska Luzova by the Russians. Ukrainian forces say they captured a T-90M, Russia’s main battle tank, last week alongside other armour. Sorties are being carried out by Mi-28 ‘Havoc’ gunships and Orlan-10 drones. Electronic warfare equipment is also in use, the Ukrainian forces are extremely wary, with reason, of their communications being breached.
However, troops from the separatist ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ are not so well armed, say the Ukrainians. Some were found to be using bolt-action Mosin-Nugent rifles that were first developed in the last century and wearing body armour that offers little protection.
“They are not boys, but men, and well-experienced if they have been fighting for the last eight years,” says Kozhemyako. “Some had good weapons, but others were actually using old Mosin rifles, believe it or not . Many of them said they were dragged off to their army to come and fight, who knows whether they were telling the truth.
“The Russians throw these soldiers forward, they don’t seem to care about the losses; they are relying on force of numbers. These guys are being sacrificed, they are getting killed, they are meat for the grinder.”
More mortar rounds land nearby, then a faint whistle of a missile fades in the fields behind before landing somewhere with a clump.
Such attacks were incessant in the first days after the position was taken over. “They were trying to find range and the shelling would come very near, go back, and then come near again, it was very worrying”, says Kozhemyako.
Khartia are one of the volunteer battalions that have proved their worth on the frontline in this conflict, although they get weapons from the government, the bulk of their activities are self-financed.
Kozhemyako, a businessman before the war, lives abroad with his family. Two days after the war began, he abandoned a skiing holiday to get back to his homeland.
Russia Ukraine War
