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| Asami Terajima/The Kyiv Independent |
Just a few dozen kilometers from Bakhmut, Ukrainian infantry train to ready themselves for brutal days ahead.
Nearly 20 soldiers from a platoon with the 80th Air Assault Brigade gathered at an undisclosed location in the eastern Donetsk Oblast on their day off to fire some shots.
They had just returned from a two-day shift on the Bakhmut front, the epicenter of the war in Ukraine, where bloody trench warfare had raged for many months.
"We practice regularly to avoid losing our combat skills and continue improving them," 27-year-old platoon commander Vladyslav said as he observed his soldiers shooting at cardboard targets in late February. "And then starting tomorrow, we'll go back (to the front line) and perform combat tasks again."
“The situation is not easy anywhere, but we are holding on, and we are ready for any scenario of this war,” he added.
The lieutenant said that the focus of the training that day was tactical movement and shooting.
Vladyslav said five hours isn't enough time to learn a new skill, but it's nevertheless important for the soldiers to work as a team, even on their days off.
His platoon consists of soldiers with varying levels of experience and ages, Vladyslav said, so maintaining a cohesive team, where each person can rely on the other, is crucial.
"The first and the most important thing to gain from this training is cohesion," Vladyslav said.
Over the past weeks, Russia has intensified its offensive on Bakhmut and nearly encircled the apocalyptic-looking city where 70,000 residents once lived. The Russians are conducting "constant assaults" on the Ukrainian holdouts in the city from "all sides," according to Vladyslav. --->READ MORE HERE
The Russian military is unsuccessfully trying to break through the defences of Ukrainian fighters on the Kupiansk and Lyman fronts; positional battles are ongoing in Bakhmut.
Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 18:00 on 17 March
Details: The Ukrainian Air Force carried out six strikes on clusters of Russian manpower and military equipment.
During the day, Russian forces carried out 19 airstrikes, as well as deployed multiple-launch rocket systems to strike 26 times.
There were no significant changes on the Volyn, Polissia, Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna fronts.
During the day, Russian forces shelled the areas of Starykove, Volfyne and Solianyky in Sumy Oblast, as well as Strilecha, Hlyboke, Starytsia, Vovchansk, Kolodiazne, Krasne Pershe, Kutkivka, Dvorichna, Zapadne and Ternova in Kharkiv Oblast.
On the Kupiansk and Lyman fronts, Russian forces unsuccessfully tried to break through the defence of Ukrainian troops. A number of settlements along the contact line were attacked using artillery, namely Vesele, Hrianykivka, Vilshana, Krokhmalne, Berestove, Dibrova and Andriivka in Kharkiv Oblast and Novoiehorivka, Nevske and Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast. The occupiers unsuccessfully tried to advance near Hrianykivka, Verkhnokamianske and Spirne. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:
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