3rd Special Purpose Regiment. Guards Infantry Regiments
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Separately, it is worth talking about the use of units special purpose Armed Forces of Ukraine during a punitive operation against the people's republics. The fact is that in the Ukrainian segment of the Internet, the losses of both the Russian contingent in general and the MTR of the Russian Defense Ministry in particular are considered under a microscope. Any case of the death of our military causes rejoicing among the Svidomo part of Ukrainian society. To please the non-brothers, I would like to consider the use of Ukrainian special forces during the conflict using the example of the 3rd regiment of the GUR special forces.
The regiment was formed on the basis of the 10th separate brigade special purpose (10th ObrSpN) of the USSR Armed Forces, which was formed in October 1962 in the city of Stary Krym. After the collapse Soviet Union the brigade first became the 1st separate special forces regiment, and since September 2000 received modern name. In July 2003, the regiment was relocated to the city of Kirovograd.
It is worth noting that during the period of independence, combat training was given very little time. What is worth, for example, the fact that until 2012 there was not a single parachute in the regiment. Moreover, according to some reports, by the beginning of 2014, he actually had two detachments (battalions) instead of the three required by the state. In addition, there were detachments (battalions) of communications and support in the regiment. At the beginning of the so-called ATO, the regiment was commanded by Colonel Trepak. It is worth noting that the regiment was armed not only with Soviet models small arms, but also American-made sniper rifles Barrett M82A3.
However, even in this form, the regiment was much better prepared than the main part of the Ukrainian army. And that is why it began to be actively used in the flaring conflict in the Donbass, and not for its intended purpose, but to strengthen the assault units. As early as April 2014, the fighters of the unit were deployed to guard the Donetsk airport. Already on April 19, the regiment suffered its first irretrievable loss, the sentry shot a colleague by mistake.
The first battle in which the regiment took part was the assault on the DAP, carried out by the DPR militia on May 26, 2014. Snipers of the 3rd GUR regiment played an important role in repelling him.
In June 2014, the units of the regiment were transferred to Slovyansk, where they were engaged in tasks that were completely not intended for special forces of this level. In particular, their functions included escorting columns moving from the Kharkiv region to Slavyansk, as well as the physical protection of representatives of the Ukrainian command, who periodically traveled to the so-called ATO zone. In other matters, in the same period, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to use the fighters of the unit for their intended purpose. So the soldiers of the 3rd regiment tried to interrupt the communications of the emerging militia of the republics by organizing ambushes on supply routes. Operations of this kind brought the first combat losses to the regiment. On June 12, at least one fighter of the regiment was killed while trying to destroy the DPR militia column. In addition, the fighters of the unit often reinforced the SBU officers during special operations. So, on June 24, 2014, in a Mi-8 helicopter shot down by militias over a Slavic helicopter, along with three crew members and four SBU officers, two more soldiers of the regiment were killed.
Perhaps the biggest success of the regiment was the operation to capture and then hold the storage base military equipment and warehouses in Artemovsk. The soldiers of the special forces were transferred to the object by helicopters, managed to take control of the object and subsequently keep it. This operation was indeed a huge success for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since a large number of armored vehicles and weapons, falling into the hands of the militia, could significantly change the course of the conflict at that stage. However, here the negligence shown by the leadership of the emerging republic in relation to the retention of an object of this kind played into the hands of the Armed Forces of Ukraine rather.
After the militia left Slavyansk, the Armed Forces of Ukraine undertook a large-scale operation to cut off the republics from the border with Russia. The 3rd GUR Regiment took the most direct part in it. The main tasks of the unit at that time were reconnaissance in the interests of combined arms formations, as well as the adjustment of artillery and air strikes. Thus, the special forces units of the GUR actually performed the tasks that were supposed to be performed reconnaissance companies combined arms and airmobile formations, which were instead used as the core of the strike and assault formations. The consolidated unit of the 3rd GUR regiment was among the units that fell into the so-called Izvaria cauldron. July 2014 brought heavy losses to the regiment. So, on July 15, near Chervonopartisansk, the consolidated group was covered by mortar fire during the setting of a combat mission. 8 fighters died on the spot, including the deputy commander of the detachment, lieutenant colonel Kovalenko, about 40 more were wounded. In fact, a third of the personnel of the regiment's combined detachment in the sector was disabled by one raid. The Ukrainian media like to talk about Russian aggression, however, after being wounded in the Izvara cauldron, a soldier of the 3rd regiment Garkavenko was taken to Russian territory in Gukovo for medical assistance, where, despite the efforts of doctors, he died on August 21.
A black day for the regiment was July 29, 2014. The special forces group, which was engaged in the search for the pilot of the downed Ukrainian plane, was surrounded and destroyed by the DPR militia. During the battle, 12 fighters were killed, including the deputy commander of the 1st battalion of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Lysenko, another 5 fighters were captured.
Also, units of the regiment operated in the Saur-Mogila area, where on August 4, 2014, the deputy commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Senchev, was killed. In total, near Saur-Mogila, the unit lost at least three servicemen. The lack of trained units forced the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to storm a unit prepared to carry out sabotage and reconnaissance operations, which subsequently seriously bled military intelligence countries. During the fighting near Ilovaisk, at least 7 more soldiers of the regiment were killed.
In the fall of 2014, the regiment's units, along with the fighters of the airmobile brigades and 93 separate motorized brigade, again participated in the defense of the Donetsk airport. Moreover, the commander of the unit, Colonel Trepak, led the defense of the facility for more than 40 days, after which the unit was withdrawn as part of the rotation. During the fighting in September-October 2014, at least 6 servicemen of the unit were killed in the DAP.
After the end of the 2014 summer campaign, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine seriously changed the nature of the use special units. The tasks of reconnaissance in the front line were shifted to reconnaissance companies of combined arms formations. Special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate were used to conduct deep reconnaissance, as well as sabotage and terrorist actions on the territory of the republics. In the same period, NATO instructors began to intensively train the GUR special forces soldiers. 29 specialist trainers from 140 GUR training centers were sent for additional training to Estonia. The GUR units began to massively receive NATO-style equipment obtained as part of the supply of non-lethal weapons.
It is worth noting that the leadership of both the Ukrainian special services in general and the Main Intelligence Directorate in particular were not shy about the methods of conducting a sabotage and terrorist struggle against the republics. In the winter of 2014-15, everything was used, from mortar attacks on objects in the city of Donetsk by forces of sabotage groups moving in cars in order to blame the defenders of Donbass for what had happened, to forcing citizens of the republics to commit terrorist acts, by threatening physical violence against their relatives, living in the territories of the republics temporarily occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
During the battles near Debaltseve, the 3rd regiment again suffered losses. On February 16, 2015, an armored personnel carrier of the unit was blown up by a landmine, at least two people are known to have died. Another fighter of the regiment died during the fighting on June 3, 2015 for Maryinka. It is worth noting that the losses of the regiment during special operations are quite difficult to trace from Ukrainian sources due to the strict censorship of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in relation to the losses of their special forces.
In January 2016, the special operations forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were created, which were directly subordinate to the Ministry of Defense. 3rd Regiment, along with the 8th Special Forces Regiment GUR from Khmelnitsky and the 140th training center were transferred from the subordination of the GUR to the jurisdiction of the MTR. In addition, the 73rd maritime center special forces stationed in Ochakovo. The lessons learned from NATO instructors did not go unnoticed, and the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to pay special attention to psychological and information operations. To conduct such operations, 4 centers of information and psychological operations were created - the 16th in the village of Guyva, Zhytomyr region, the 72nd in the city of Brovary, Kyiv region, the 74th in Lvov and the 83rd in Odessa.
At the moment, units of the 3rd regiment of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine continue their sabotage and terrorist activities directed against the republics. Now it is quite difficult to assess the affiliation of a particular unit to a particular action. The Ukrainian side does its best to hide information about such actions. The state security bodies of the republics are in no hurry to share the results of operational-search activities. The recent detention of a sabotage group of the 8th regiment of the SOF of Ukraine in the LPR opens our eyes to a lot, but the activities of this unit in the Donbass deserve a separate article.
In general, during the fighting in the Donbass, according to clearly underestimated data from open Ukrainian sources, the 3rd Special Forces Regiment lost at least 50 people killed, which is quite a significant loss for the special forces.
Complain.... Uploaded in August 2014.
PR regiment from MO dill.
3 separate regiment special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Dill (military unit A-0680). Kirovograd.
Participated in peacekeeping operations.
Lost in the form of cargo 200:
13.04.2014. Donetsk airport
Andrusenko Dmitro Oleksandrovich- 1992, Poltava region, senior contract soldier of the military unit of special recognition (Kirovograd)). Awarded with the Order "For Men" III degree (posthumously).
12.06.2014. Border with Russia
Burko Evgen Volodymyrovich- 23 years old, Sergeant, intercessor of the commander of the rozvіduval'noi group of the 3rd special purpose regiment. Births of the legs with the Order "For Men" III degree (posthumously).
24.06.2014. Slavyansk, Karachun, helicopter MI-8
Volokhov Oleksiy Olegovich- 1992, Kirovograd. Soldier of the 3rd Special Purpose Regiment.
Awarded with the Order "For Men" III degree (posthumously) (Decree of the President dated April 19, 2014 No. 599/2014). Having vanished close to 17:00 near Slavyansky in the region of Mount Karachun near the downed MI-8 helicopter helicopter, which turned from the checkpoint with fakhivtsy, they installed equipment with a method of organizing monitoring space, fixing the facts of the disruption of the truce "I in the zone of the ATO
Kondakov Oleksandr Volodimirovich - 1992, Kirovograd, Senior soldier of the 3rd special purpose regiment Rewarded with the Order "For Men", III degree (posthumously) (Decree of the President dated April 19, 2014 No. 599/2014). There. Helicopter MI-8.
15.07.2014 Checkpoint Izvarino
8 - 200, more than 10 - 300
Kovalenko Yuriy Viktorovich- lieutenant colonel, 1977, Vinnitsa region. intercessor of the commander of the corral of the special appointment of the military unit B2336 of the 3rd special assignment regiment.
Aleksiev Mikola Vasilovich- Senior sergeant, intercessor of the commander of the rozvіdgrupi of the 3rd special purpose regiment. There.
Karavaisky Bohdan Igorovich(abo Karavayny) - Junior sergeant, commander of the special assignment group of the 3rd special assignment regiment ..
Maxim Vasilovich Benderov - 1990, Kirovograd region. Serving under the contract as a senior rozvіdnik in the Kirovohrad regiment of special forces .. Athlete. Black belt. Champion of the Viyskovo-sports bug fight (divided "combat bug fight"), champion of Ukraine hand-to-hand combat, winner of the Championship of Ukraine in pankration.
Maiseev Stanislav Anatoliyovych- 21 years old Kharkov region. Soldier, rozvіdnik-machine-gunner of the 3rd Special Regiment. Serving for a contract at the military unit A 0680 (Kirovograd).
Ryabiy Dmitro Volodimirovich- Soldier, machine gunner of the 3rd Special Regiment.
Verboviy Maxim Viktorovich- Soldier of the 3rd Special Purpose Regiment
21.07.2014. Marinovka Donetsk region .
Garkavenko Victor Oleksandrovych- 1985, Kirovograd region. Sergeant Major of the 3rd Special Purpose Regiment. He died in a hospital in the city of Gukovo, Rostov Region.
29.07.2014 snowy.
11 or 12 - 200.
.Lysenko Sergiy Ivanovich- 1977, Ivano-Frankivsk region, lieutenant colonel, intercessor of the commander of the 1st battalion of the 3rd special purpose regiment. The reconnaissance group was fired from an ambush.
Andreenko Kirilo Leonidovich- 1988, Chita. Captain, commander of the special assignment group of the 1st battalion of the 3rd special assignment regiment
Shershen Andriy Oleksiyovich- 1981, Kirovograd. Sergeant major, intercessor of the commander of the rozvіdgroup of the 1st battalion of the 3rd regiment of special assignment.
Buzulyak Anatoly Vitaliyovych- 1986, Sergeant, intercessor of the commander of the rozvіdgroup of the 1st battalion of the 3rd special purpose regiment.
Shimchik Yaroslav Volodymyrovich- 1992, Kirovograd. Soldier, radio operator of the radio group of the 1st battalion of the 3rd Special Regiment.
Globenko Oleksiy Ivanovych- 1988, Kirovograd. Head Sergeant of the Company of Special Appointment of the 3rd Special Appointment Regiment
04.08.2014.Saur-Tomb
Senchev Sergiy Oleksiyovich- lieutenant colonel, 1973, deputy commander of military unit A0680 educational work. We were not taken to Dnepropetrovsk.
Vyacheslav Khripun Wednesday, 11 February 2015, 15:33The battle on May 26, 2014 at the Donetsk airport marked the beginning of a multi-month saga, during which the Ukrainian army struggled to keep it, and the DPR militants to capture it. The events of that day have long become a myth for both opposing sides. If for the separatists it was a consequence of the chaos that reigned in their ranks, then for the Ukrainian army and society this battle is still one of those when the ATO forces acted in a coordinated manner and won almost without loss. What happened on a hot and bloody Monday on May 26 at the Donetsk airport, A "said the participant in the battle, the commander of the detachment of the 3rd Special Forces Regiment, holder of the Order "For Courage" III degree Yuri Saveliev.
- When did your unit arrive at the Donetsk airport, and what was its task?
We ended up at the airport at the end of April, when the airport was still functioning. Our task was to protect the airport from possible militant attacks. We were placed in the old terminal, the new terminal still continued to work. We didn't have any special conditions. There was not enough food and water, they slept without undressing, right on the floor, on the tiles. Although they used both “sleeping bags” and karemats, it was still quite cold. The mode of service cannot be called successful either: they stood at their posts for a day, rested for a day.
- Why was the new terminal not occupied by our units?
There were some negotiations going on between our command and the airport administration. As I understand it, the airport management directly forbade us to appear in the new terminal, they said that civilians were afraid of armed people. I think this was also due to the indecision of our command, which did not want to quarrel with the airport management, which, in turn, did not want a conflict with the separatists.
-What happened before the fight?
On May 25, I took up duty, at a post on the roof of the old terminal. From my position, I could observe what was happening in the new terminal and in the territory adjacent to it. At 3:00 a.m. on May 26, I was supposed to change, but I heard a report on the radio station that movement had been noticed on the roof of the new terminal. We saw that, indeed, some people began to appear on different floors of the terminal. But since it was night, it was impossible to determine exactly who was there.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the person who opened the door to the new terminal for the militants at night was an employee of the department of counterintelligence protection of the interests of the state in the field of economic security Oleksandr Golovura, allegedly familiar with the then commander of the Vostok battalion, Oleksandr Khodakovsky, of the SBU department in the Donetsk region. Now the case of the former SBU officer is in court.
-Were they militants?
Yes. When dawn broke, it became clear that the terminal was occupied by armed men. The militants were armed, as far as one could see, with machine guns and grenade launchers. They also had a mortar (according to the separatists, they did not have a mortar, but an AGS-17 heavy grenade launcher. – A"). There were such bearded guys with weapons among them (probably Chechens - ed.). Then to the terminal KamAZ trucks began to drive up, on which a new one arrived, enough large group militants. They began to drag weapons from cars to the terminal. It was obvious that they were preparing for battle. The total number of militants who occupied the new terminal visually amounted to at least 200 people. There were about ten militants on the very roof of the terminal.
Soldiers of the 3rd Separate Special Purpose Regiment (Kirovograd) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Photo: Max Smolyar/chigrvk.com
-What forces did the 3rd Special Forces Regiment have at the airport?
There were fewer of us - about 80 fighters located at different points of the airport. We were armed with small arms, grenade launchers. Two of our ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns were standing on the runway, when the battle began, they pulled up another one. There were no other units at the airport then. On the afternoon of May 26, our command, obviously realizing that our forces were not enough to hold the airport, sent reinforcements in helicopters to us.
-When the helicopters appeared over the airport, did the fight begin?
We received an order according to which, if the militants open fire on us or try to shoot down the helicopter, we must immediately open fire to kill. The battle at the airport just started with the fact that the militants from the roof of the new terminal tried to shoot down a helicopter with a landing force from a man-portable air defense system (MANPADS), which was landing at the airport. It happened around 13:00. As far as I remember, two Mi-24 combat helicopters and two Mi-8 transport helicopters with soldiers of the 8th Special Purpose Regiment flew to our aid. We saw that the militants took out MANPADS and made a launch, though unsuccessful, and opened fire on them. Our sniper first "shot" one militant with MANPADS, and then the second. Then the guys said that the helicopter was still damaged, but was able to land and land troops.
-How was the fight?
My unit fired on the roof to knock down the militants from there. From their positions, they could control all our movements. The task was completed. Helicopters with reinforcements landed successfully, but the militants did not really shoot at us from the roof of the terminal. They fired at our positions from the landing, which is located not far from the parking lot, near the airport. Then an order was received to hold out on the roof for another half an hour and go down, inside the terminal, since our aviation was supposed to “work out” at the new terminal, which it did.
Then we went to clear the terminal. It was fairly broken during the battle, the floors were littered with glass, water flowed from broken pipes, and there was blood in some places. We did not find the bodies of the militants there, although there was such a heavy smell. On the roof of the terminal, I personally saw pieces of meat torn from the body - the consequences of an air strike. The militants were able to take their dead with them. I saw an abandoned first-aid kit and a Russian-made flask. Near the car park, next to the terminal, we found two open sewer manholes. Apparently, when the aircraft struck, the militants, fleeing from shelling, hid in their wells. Nearby lay a radio station, binoculars, an AKS-74 assault rifle, an SVD sniper rifle, by the way, not even shot. They also found a fired MANPADS pipe. The active phase of the battle lasted for about two hours - from 13.00 to 15.00.
-Were there losses on our part?
As far as I remember, two people were slightly injured. The surviving separatists claim that they were fired not only from the old terminal, but also from the well-known control tower. They assure that allegedly there were mercenaries from some private military company.
No, the guys from our regiment occupied the tower. During the battle, the militants fired heavily at her, while ours did not particularly respond to them. Probably, it was simply inconvenient for the fighters to shoot from there. The very position there was not very good for defense. Nearby is a "green" through which the militants could quietly get close to the control tower. Already during the battle, we evacuated our fighters from there, as soon as we noticed that KamAZ with militants drove in their direction.
Separatists remember that most of militants died from "friendly fire" when one of the retreating KamAZ trucks came under fire from their own militants, who were not warned of the retreat and decided that it was Ukrainian troops trying to break into the city.
I heard that one KamAZ with militants shot our machine gunner near the airport when the militants were already running. From the back of the car, they continued to fire at our positions. Our machine gunner took a good position and fired a whole tape at KamAZ, after which the car turned over. Another KamAZ, as far as I remember, stood next to the airport. The militants stubbornly tried to get to him, but we drove them away with fire. Perhaps there were weapons. What happened to this KamAZ later, I don’t know.
- It turns out that before the battle and for some time after you were in a practically hostile environment?
No, in general. The militants attacked us only from the side of the city, the rear was covered by us, including with the help of "stretch marks" so that the militants could not approach us covertly. The territory of the airport and the area adjacent to it were viewed by us for four kilometers.
Soldiers of the 3rd Separate Special Purpose Regiment (Kirovograd) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Photo: Max Smolyar/chigrvk.com
It's hard to call it a fight. After the main events of May 26, for some time, small groups of militants, about two people each, appeared in the airport area. They drove up, fired a few shots and that was it. We did not go out to the city on May 26-27, we did not fight there. We positioned ourselves in front of the windows and doors of the new terminal, so that in the event of an attack we would not let the militants inside, and held the defense.
I note the poor training of a number of officers of the regiment. For example, the most senior officer who commanded us at the airport was in the position of deputy regiment commander. On May 26, this officer was confused, fell into a panic, then generally disappeared somewhere. Reappeared only after the battle. In reality, the battle was led by another officer. Two more officers in full gear, in body armor huddled in a panic in the hangar, removing themselves from the leadership of the units. Such commanders, neither for me nor for the soldiers, of course, can be authorities.
-What happened next?
We held the new terminal on our own for another three days. Then armored vehicles were brought to the airport, and two Il-76 transport planes were sent for us and sent to Dnepropetrovsk. We rested there for several days, after which we were transferred to the Izyum region, where the ATO grouping was stationed. On June 3, I was seriously wounded near the city of Krasny Lyman. There was a checkpoint there, we were given the task of finding out whether it was ours or not. The helicopter dropped us off in the forest, and we advanced to the checkpoint. Not far from him, they were ambushed, they began to shoot back. I received two wounds. The guys in their arms carried me 2 km to the helicopter. Already in the helicopter he lost consciousness, he came to his senses already in Kyiv, in the hospital. Since then, I have been taking treatment.
Vyacheslav KhripunFound an error - highlight and click Ctrl+Enter
The events of the first period of confrontation in the Donbass in the spring-summer of 2014, which can be rather conditionally called the "Russian spring", are still waiting for their researcher. So far, we can only note that since April 7, the civil conflict has escalated into armed clashes, during which the Donetsk and Luhansk police and the SBU played “giveaway” with the protesters, handing over tens and hundreds of machine guns and pistols.
The anti-terrorist operation, which began on April 14, initially focused on attempts to take control of the main strategic facilities of Donbass, primarily airports. In total, at the beginning of the war in the Donbass, there were five "air gates": in Donetsk, Mariupol, Lugansk, Severodonetsk and Kramatorsk.
Location map of objects in Donetsk airport.
By the end of March 2014, the military leadership decided to relocate the most trained units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the Donbass to protect and control strategically important facilities, in particular airports. According to American tactics, they were supposed to become a kind of springboard for the actions of mobile special forces and paratroopers in the initial period of the war. In addition, after the Crimean events, the direct intervention of the army of the "northern neighbor" was not ruled out. So, the DAP (and, in fact, the entire Donetsk direction) was "cut" into the area of responsibility of the 3rd special forces regiment.
The part itself usually counts its pedigree from the 10th separate special forces brigade Soviet army and only from July 2003 it began to be based in Kirovograd (now Kropyvnytskyi) and at the time of the outbreak of the conflict was one of the most trained units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In early April, the regiment was alerted. A fighter with the call sign “Hulk” recalled: “They took us out of the blue on April 7, 2014. We left, but we had no idea where. They knew that there was an order and it had to be carried out. Everything happened very quickly: we packed up, boarded the Ural and drove off in an unknown direction. We understood that we would guard some object, but when we saw the airport, we were surprised.”
There was something to be surprised at: under Euro 2012, a rather unimportant airport became a real beauty - a new runway and a terminal with a capacity of 3,100 passengers per hour were built.
Moments of combat at the airport.
His words are supplemented by the squad leader, holder of the Order For Courage, III degree, Yuri Savelyev: “Our task was to protect the airport from possible attacks by militants. We were placed in the old terminal, the new terminal still continued to work. We didn't have any special conditions. There was not enough food and water, they slept without undressing, right on the floor, on the tiles. Although we used both “sleeping bags” and sleeping pads, it was still quite cold. The mode of service cannot be called successful either: they stood at their posts for a day, rested for a day.
Interestingly, on April 9, it was planned to use special forces to provide force support for the assault on the regional state administration seized by “supporters of federalization”. They planned to transfer the unarmed group on civilian buses to the regional military registration and enlistment office, to arm them here. However, as was the case at first very often, there was a leak of information, and a crowd of civilians, with the active work of Russian saboteurs already abandoned in the city (who later complained on social networks that they had missed a great opportunity to finish off the special forces at once, who then drank a lot of blood) blocked the column. At that time, no one had weapons and, in general, the readiness to shoot at the crowd.
After that, a relatively calm life flowed at the airport: “At first everything was quiet, calm. And we have already begun to think that everything will work out peacefully, especially since the elections were approaching.”
The only extremely unpleasant and serious incident was the death junior sergeant Dmitry Andrusenko. On April 19, due to a fatal set of circumstances, he was shot dead by his comrade: he was on duty, heard some noise, decided that this was an intrusion into a protected area, and opened fire. This was the first loss of the 3rd regiment in the war that had not yet begun.
Some fighters generally thought that they were guarding the ballots for the presidential elections on May 25: “We generally guarded the ballots. The day before, a plane with ballots had flown in - it seems that 15 tons of them were brought in - they were unloaded and stacked in a hangar. On voting day, with the permission of our elders, cars were supposed to come to us, load and go to the polling stations. Several cars - I think three passenger cars - came and took some ballots. It was a small amount, some crumbs of what was.
We add that the DAP garrison at that time consisted of only 80 people: in addition to special forces, there were three ZU-23-2 crews attached from the 25th Dnepropetrovsk landing brigade. At the same time, the airport continued to function, receiving and sending flights.
Everything changed once after the elections - on the night of Monday, May 26, Donetsk militants decided to storm the airport.
Russian fighters: on Lenin Square in Donetsk (May 25, 2014) and directly at the airport (May 26, 2014)
At that time, the largest detachment was the so-called "Vostok Battalion", which was headed by the former commander of the Donetsk group "Alpha" of the SBU Alexander Khodakovsky. It was his formation that became the main striking force during the battle for the WAP on May 26.
His forces were clearly not enough, so he took command of a combined detachment of Russian "volunteers" numbering 120 people, who arrived in Donetsk from a training camp in the Rostov region on May 25.
According to Khodakovsky, the plan of the operation was very simple: using a personal acquaintance with the head of the airport security, also an SBU officer, to take control of the main terminal and then starve out the special forces. Apparently, the possibility of active resistance with unpredictable results in such a rather expensive object was out of the question.
Hulk continues: “The day began on May 26, we were calm. I was on duty on the roof of the old terminal and suddenly I saw some movement, and then a silhouette appeared on the roof of the new terminal. It was a sniper. Although it was about three o'clock in the morning, it gets light earlier in the Donbass, so these silhouettes could be seen. We reported about this, took up defensive positions and waited for the order "Fire!", But he did not come. The fight started later, spontaneously.”
“From three in the morning until one in the afternoon, discussions continued: they went on our frequency and psychologically processed. They said they would kill us.
Only one of our senior commanders communicated with them. He skillfully - and this is his great merit - wasted time. While this commander diverted the attention of the separatists, the other communicated with the headquarters and waited for the air force to coordinate.”
As a result, two Su-25s worked at the new terminal where the militants were located. But the enemy also had his own cover: a rocket was fired at the attack aircraft from a residential building near the airport, but the pilots managed to evade. The separatists actually covered themselves with civilians.
Thanks to clear coordination from the roof of the new terminal, the militants were literally swept away, although there were few casualties: according to some reports, the militants had two killed and several wounded.
After the fire strike, colleagues from the 8th regiment, the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs "Jaguar" came to the aid of the special forces: two transport Mi-8s under the cover of a pair of Mi-24s. According to eyewitnesses, almost immediately a MANPADS missile was fired at them from the side of the new terminal, and the helicopter was damaged, but was able to land and land troops. In response, the special forces opened sniper fire - according to them, both shooters of MANPADS were killed.
A stubborn battle ensued. “Despite the losses, the enemy did not lose his head, but accepted the battle. They opened fire from all barrels at us. At the same time, their units from the Polet Hotel acted very dangerously - they threw grenades at us from grenade launchers. The fire was dense - the foam in our shelters was shattered to shreds.
And then a critical moment arose: one after another, all four SVD snipers jammed. The reason is poor quality ammo. Armor-piercing incendiary guns were handed over to us in 1947, they jammed in the barrel. Under enemy fire, we began to knock them out of the trunks with ramrods and knives.
While the rifles did not work, they fired from grenade launchers. Sniper K., who fired the first shot, fired 13 shots, I then counted them in his position. We kept the roof of the new terminal under constant fire."
Moreover, it is worth noting that the militants hardly fired from the terminal, the main fire was from a nearby landing.
“At this moment, a soldier shouts to me:“ Something hisses! ”I look from our flank, from the hotel, on the roof there is an air conditioner, this is hissing from it. We are covered from there. From there, a VOG grenade flew in, which wounded one soldier from my detachment on the roof. The fragments pierced his arm and grazed his face. He became the only one of our wounded during the battle.
My other sniper, who worked in this sector, destroyed several militants there. We later found one corpse in greenery, he had a machine gun in his hands with a grenade in the grenade.”
However, without an assault on the terminal, there could be no talk of complete control, and our special forces, who received serious reinforcements, began to prepare for the assault - the cleansing. And here, for the first time in the war, the militants used a mean trick, which they would later use very often.
“They sent us a negotiator supposedly from the Red Cross: ‘Let me evacuate the wounded from the new terminal. An ambulance arrived under the terminal, and suddenly men in camouflage jump out of there and begin to unload boxes of ammunition! The machine gunner of the 95th brigade immediately turned this ambulance into a sieve.
Realizing that an assault was almost inevitable, the militants, squeezed in the terminal, apparently, with the help of harassing fire from the "green" and the active work of snipers (and there was an open space of four hundred meters between the terminals), were going to hold out until dark, and then leave.
“We were very disturbed by the enemy sniper, who very dangerously attacked us from the new terminal. He saw us well and beat us on any movement. We determined the firing sector - but we could not find the sniper for a long time. And so the sniper duel began. At the same time, our sniper of the 3rd regiment, Alexander P., decided to play the role of bait. He fires from the SVD in the enemy's firing sector, shows himself, leans out for a moment to provoke the enemy's shot, and immediately hides so that the enemy sniper does not get much time to aim. And a little to the side, a sniper from the 140th center took a good position - he had a Swiss Bruger-Tommet APR rifle. He tried to find the enemy. Sasha took crazy risks, shot after shot of the bullets hit him tightly, but he leaned out again and again. And lucky: the sniper of the 140th center found the enemy behind the blinds of the ventilation system of the new terminal and “worked”.
Soldiers of our special forces, 2014
Only after that our "specialists" were able to attack.
“Then we went to clear the terminal. It was fairly broken during the battle, the floors were littered with glass, water flowed from broken pipes, and there was blood in some places. We did not find the bodies of the militants there, although there was such a heavy smell. On the roof of the terminal, I personally saw pieces of meat torn from the body - the consequences of an air strike.
Thus, the active phase of the battle on May 26 lasted for about two hours - from 13.00 to 15.00. However, by that moment, armed groups from all over Donetsk began to gather to unblock the airport. Thus, militants of three formations (Boroday, Zdrilyuk and Pushilin), as well as the Kharkiv "Oplot" turned out to be in the area of the DAP. There was no coordination between them, which eventually led to numerous cases of "friendly fire". Adding to the chaos were snipers from the 3rd Regiment, who aimed their shots from the airport.
As a result, as a result of an unsuccessful evacuation, the militants shot down two of their own KamAZ trucks. According to the most conservative estimates, the DPR supporters lost more than 50 people killed (our losses were two lightly wounded).
The memoirs of one of the Russian militants who survived this “tactical retreat” have been preserved: “We jump out of the terminal, immediately we fall under fire. The first car receives a dagger salvo into the cockpit and loses speed, we go around them - the driver of the 200th [killed], the second tries to take control, turn, in front of me is an old terminal. I manage to plant two stores and a VOG in it. Behind, the wounded are yelling loudly - it seems that someone got it hard, but there is no time to even turn around. Out of the corner of my eye I see: the second KamAZ is gaining momentum. "Still alright. Let's get out."
One of the destroyed KamAZ militants.
We fly, working out all suspicious areas. The second car fell behind, lost sight of at the turn. Unexpectedly - a new fire raid. Since I am sitting facing backwards, I see the enemy last. I manage to work out 2 turns - the machine wedges. While I'm trying to throw out the misfire cartridge - a few more hits, the new wounded are screaming. The machine gun jerks sharply in his hands - a bullet in the pistol grip (as I later saw, I didn’t feel two more - in unloading and trouser leg). The handle, respectively, is in chips, only a crumpled fixing screw sticks out. While poking around with the barrel - a blow under the bottom of the car, and KamAZ gets up for 3 ... Two seconds of unsteady balance - hitting the curb with wheels - sky-earth-sky-earth ... I open my eyes on the grass. Like alive. I hear someone moan nearby. I raise my head and look around. Around a few motionless bodies, a dozen more are moving. Shout - "all-round defense!" I begin to check the pulse of those who are lying. I turn around - two Czechs and two of my fighters completed the command, the rest give a strekach around the corner of the nearest house.
Although it is believed that fighting at the airport ended on May 26, however, as the special forces recall, for two more days they cleared the vast territory of the DAP.
“On the second day, we occupied the terminal, from time to time terrorists ran out at us, hit us with small arms. We answered. And already on the third floor, the officer and I went to the second floor to equip a machine-gun point, since we needed a high point. They collected all the metal doors, cut down the loopholes. It so happened that this position overlooked the cemetery. There was also an old rotten container. Near it, I detected some movement. The grass swayed... A doubt crept in: something was wrong. Contacted - allowed to shoot. In response, they threw a smoke grenade so that I would not see what was happening in the cemetery. Well, I fired another hundred rounds into this smoke. I don't know if anyone stayed there or not."
"Kirovograd" special forces held the new terminal for another three days. Then armored vehicles began to be delivered to the airport, army units entered.
And the fighters were transferred in two “boards”, first to Dnepropetrovsk, and then to the Slavyansk region.
In general, it can be noted that as a result of the clash, our control over the airport was preserved.
As absolutely all the special forces who went through their baptism of fire on May 26 recalled, it was a serious experience. “After the first military experience, it already became clear who is who: who you can rely on, and who is not at all fit for war. It was such that people were huddled in a corner - that's all. Only now I can say that not everyone is suitable for the army. This is purely at the genetic level, the instinct of self-defense - either you attack or just defend yourself.