Ukrainian soldiers say the US Bradley armored vehicle played a key role in the offensive to retake the strategic village of Rabotino last week.
T0408 used to be a deserted country road running through sprawling fields in the Zaporizhzhia region, southern Ukraine, leading from Orikhiv, through the village of Rabotino to Tokmak.
Now, soldiers of Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade have renamed it "the way to hell" and what they experienced here "is like the end of the world" with "the sky is always gray and the machine dense unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Russian artillery, fortified trenches, continuous aerial bombardment and mine-laden fields made an attempt to advance south almost impossible.
Ukrainian soldier codenamed Karatsupa, commander of the Bradley armored team of the 47th Mechanized Brigade. Photo: CNN
However, this is exactly what three Ukrainian soldiers codenamed Karatsupa, Pan and Taba are trying to do. They steered U.S.-aided Bradley armored vehicles straight down the path they believed would lead to victory for Ukraine.
Every day, under relentless fire from the enemy, they drove armored vehicles continuously to bring new groups of soldiers into the battlefield to replace troops. They only have 30 seconds to perform the entire rotation of troops on the battlefield.
“I have served in the military since 2014 and have never encountered such minefields anywhere. Mines are everywhere, left and right," Karatsupa said. “Lots of trenches and fortifications. All are arranged over an area tens of kilometers wide. They even launched mines into the area we just controlled. If it weren't for the Russian minefield, we would be in Tokmak by now."
The village of Rabotino is of strategic importance to Ukraine's three-month counter-offensive. The capture of it by Ukrainian forces puts the Russian army at a great disadvantage, soldiers of the 47th Brigade said.
The village continues to be ravaged day and night, not only by artillery and aerial bombardment, but most intensely by UAVs.
The location of the road T0408 runs through the village of Rabotino that Ukraine has just recaptured. Image: InfoUkraine
"The sky is black because of them," Pan said. “Surveillance UAVs, attack drones, some Ukrainian, some Russian. The worst thing is that the suicide drone will track you down and take you down.”
After a month of fighting, the village they recaptured at the end of August in a state of nothingness still caught the Ukrainian soldiers by surprise. They discovered some civilians still lurking in the basements.
After Ukrainian soldiers asked people to pack up, they rushed into Bradley's car amid relentless fire. A woman brought her cat, and a man asked if he could take the car he had saved up his life to buy by driving it between two Bradleys.
"Items like that mean a lot to them," Pan said. But after the Ukrainian soldier explained the risks were too great, the man agreed to leave the car behind when the evacuation began. Russian artillery fire also fell immediately, Karatsupa said.
Passing the enemy fire zone to a nearby forest, the Ukrainian army began to move people, mostly elderly, out of the Bradley. Most of them were tired, hungry and dirty after a long time underground to avoid bombs and bullets.
Like so many other villages and towns in the Zaporizhzhia region, Rabotino has suffered since the beginning of the conflict in February last year, as it is beyond the reach of any efforts to help. Ukrainian side.
Without the Bradley armor, Ukrainian soldiers said they would not be able to reach the village of Rabotino, let alone rescue people. They are proud to the reporters from CNN watch some of the frontal attacks that the car takes but survive and praise them repeatedly.
Ukrainian soldiers sit on M2 Bradley armored vehicles in the photo released on July 19. Image: Telegram/Hanna Maliar
Karatsupa says the Bradley's only downside is the distinctive whistle-like sound that can be heard from miles away.
This sound could frighten Russian soldiers and reassure Ukrainian infantry on the front lines, telling them that fire support was coming. But it is also a signal for Russian forces to know where to aim their fire.
On the modern battlefield, no weapon is impregnable, no matter how powerful. The Bradley was no exception and the 47th Brigade lost many of these vehicles during the counterattack, especially in the early stages.
In the battle on June 8 alone near the Malaya village of Tokmachka, 6 Bradley armored vehicles of the 6th Brigade were destroyed, the remaining three were damaged after being entangled in a dense minefield, while armed helicopters and artillery. Russia also poured bullets into the formation. The brigade had to withdraw to the city of Orekhov on the back line to stabilize its forces before joining the assault on the village of Rabotino.
Karatsupa, Pan and Taba now carry not only pride in what they have achieved but also sadness in what they have lost.
Several of the comrades who took part in the operation to capture the village of Rabotino last week with them were killed when the Bradley car was hit by direct fire. This was a reminder that no matter how important Rabotino's interests were to the counter-offensive, there were still many thorns ahead, and the deeper the Ukrainian forces advanced, the greater the losses.
Vu Hoang (Follow CNN)
