Ukrainian soldiers who escaped from the front told about the Russian miracle weapon that stopped the counterattack – report by András Földes – 2024-03-06 18:05:44

“One night we had to go from our trench to another. We didn’t know that we were spotted by a drone. The Russians have been working with drones equipped with thermal cameras for quite some time, so they have seen us. Especially since we ran and warmed up. In such cases, they measure from a distance. Even from 200 meters away. The drone threw a grenade at us, and shrapnel went into my legs and arms. We hid and guessed how to get out,” Andrej, in his 40s, said with an accent like someone recalling a distant movie experience, not how he survived a drone attack on the Ukrainian front two days earlier. Also in its hottest section, at Avgyijivka.

The city was surrendered by the Ukrainians just two days before our conversation, at the very end of February, after several months of brutal siege. I traveled with him and a dozen lucky survivors on a medical flight converted from a tour bus to get from the hospital near the front to the safe areas at depth. The dirty, wrinkled faces stared wordlessly in front of them. There were those who bandaged their heads and held their arms to protect them from shaking. No one spoke, only when I started asking them why Avgyijivka, which had been protected and fortified since 2014, had to be abandoned.

From the dryly presented stories, it was not only revealed what the situation was like on the nearby front, but also emerged after a while: how the much-anticipated Ukrainian counter-attack could be stifled, and how the Russians could turn the tide of the war. An eerie picture emerged in front of me of the current state of the war in Ukraine.

Most of the wounded soldiers saw the situation with their own eyes days before.

Tired soldiers are traveling towards the hospital.

András Földes

The Russians also shot the ambulances

“My comrade was not injured. We were able to hide and contact our commander on the radio – Andrej continued the story of his escape. He turned to the other wounded, something finally distracting them from their wounds. “My unit sent out drones to see if the area was safe and if they could rescue us. I’m a field surgeon (camp surgeon), so while we waited, I treated my wounds. The Russians weren’t shelling that area, so they sent out a battlefield ambulance and I got a position where I could go on my own two feet. I was lucky. They are not always able to send help for the injured. The commander must consider whether it is worth risking an entire ambulance just to save a single person.”

Aren’t ambulances protected at the front? I asked, to which the answer was the same wave as when I interviewed a battlefield doctor in the battlefield bunker:

“The Russians have no humanity. I remember when three people from our platoon were wounded by a grenade thrown from a drone. The condition of the soldiers was serious, so an ambulance with some doctors was sent for them. When the Russians saw the ambulance coming, they sent out more drones to hunt down the paramedics as well. They had to turn back.”