Ukraine is now advancing south of Bakhmut along a salient about four miles deep, pushing Russian forces back.Īnd, as its counteroffensive to reclaim territory captured by Russia gets under way, Ukrainian forces are fighting in ever greater numbers along an east-west front between Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia.If there was a movement of Rock/Metal at that time in the Dominican Republic I was not aware of. The video captures his voice crackling over the radio, “spot on, perfect.” Another video shows him take aim then pull his face from the weapon as he lets rip, sending high explosive supersonic bullets, thicker than a man’s thumb, into clusters of the enemy’s forces.Ī drone operator two kilometers back from Bakhmut, is watching where the bullets strike and calling in adjustments to his aim. In May, he was in a dugout overlooking a junction of trees close to Bakhmut. Smoke rises from buildings in this aerial view of Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Shooting from an underground hide with a range, he claimed, of two kilometers (a little over a mile), this weapon is almost silent, Brabus says. It’s a modified 12.7 Soviet-era heavy machine gun that a local armorer has fitted with a fat, bulging suppressor (silencer). He’s more animated when discussing the weapon that sits behind him, like another enormous pet, in the cafe where we meet. “How many Russians did you kill that night?” we ask. We did the reconnaissance, we got the intel, we prepared the operation,” he said. “We are a diversionary reconnaissance group. Its prey was the Russian paratroop leadership. His unit’s task, though, wasn’t to help entrenched troops fighting in the “meat grinder” of the Bakhmut front, he said. We eliminated, or rather I eliminated, paratroopers from the left flank,” Brabus explains in the clinical language characteristic of military reports. “On the left were their (the Russians) dugouts and trenches from where they could see our positions. The red cross slides right, leaps again, another crumple. The cross leaps with the recoil of the rifle, and the little ghost crumbles to the ground. The red cross-hairs of his thermal sight settle on one of the figures. One can imagine these Russian soldiers scanning the darkness, searching for threats, their nerves screeching at every crunch of snow and crack of twig underfoot. Somehow one can see the white figures are bent double, crouching perhaps. The videos are silent, but more eerie for it. These are video recordings from his thermal sniper sight while Brabus was at work. Trees show up silver-black, while living creatures, such as men, appear as intense and moving white dots. “They got it back from us all guns blazing,” he said, his eyes kindled with pleasure at the memory of the Ukrainian fire. Illustrating the story with video footage recorded at the time, he explained that his group was immediately caught up in a ferocious firefight with incoming Russian paratroopers new to this front. 'Our offensive does not end here': CNN visits fluid front lines as Kyiv vows to drive out Russian forces Ukrainian soldiers from the 68th Jaeger Brigade listen to a radio, awaiting news from the frontline. So, the role of small groups was important and grew fast,” said Brabus’ boss from inside a camouflage balaclava. Because Kyiv region, Chernihiv region, Sumy region are forested areas. “At the beginning of the war there was a big role for small groups who could fight covertly against the Russians. Former soldiers with specialist skills, they coalesced around an ex-officer from the Ukrainian forces in the first days of Russia’s invasion last year. Other groups run by Ukrainian intelligence include the Russian Volunteer Force and Freedom for Russia Legion, formed of Russian citizens fighting to rid their homelands of President Vladimir Putin, which are currently carrying out raids inside Russia from Ukraine.īut Brabus and his group are entirely homegrown. They operate in the crepuscular landscapes in the war against Russian occupation on and beyond the front lines. They’re part of a shadowy tapestry of units falling under various Ukrainian intelligence organizations. “Come,” Brabus grunted as he was towed back into a roadside building for our clandestine meeting with some of his special operations team. Which was fitting, given that his owner’s call sign is Brabus – after the German firm specializing in bulking out luxury vehicles with engineering testosterone. The creature’s muffled grunts could be felt as much as heard – like the growls of a souped-up truck. His forearms bulged with the effort of holding onto the straining leash of a slobbering dog.
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