How enthusiasts from territorial defence forces repulsed the attack of Russian troops near the capital without losses
90% of defenders of the Kyiv region have no combat experience
On March 30, an armoured convoy of about ten units of Russian equipment tried to break through the village of Dmytrivka to the Zhytomyr highway, in order to move from there to Kyiv. Soldiers of the 114th Territorial Defence Brigade of the Kyiv region had to resist the enemy. Almost all territorial defenders of the Kyiv region were locals, enthusiasts without any combat experience. However, despite the fact that the enemy's forces were twice as large, Ukrainian daredevils managed to successfully repel the attack, and capture enemy equipment as well as Russian soldiers. None of the Ukrainian fighters was killed. Secrets of the success of the territorial defenders were revealed in Mind's exclusive material.
Surprise
A territorial defender with the codename Yama (Ukr.: Яма, lit. Pit – trans.) recalls the evening of March 29. Together with his commander and four other comrades he arrived in the small Myla village, completely destroyed by Russian artillery, which was divided into two halves by the strategically important Zhytomyr highway. It was about five kilometres from there to Kyiv.
“Standing a hundred metres from the Zhytomyr highway, we were watching the Russian tanks driving along it,” says Yama. “We could not attack them, because we had nowhere to retreat. The only thing that we could do was to observe the equipment, reporting its coordinates to our tankers, so that they could fire on them. We carefully crossed the Zhytomyr highway, moved forward, entered Myla village, and explored the area. And then returned to our positions. The highway was a kind of dividing line: Ukrainian forces were concentrated to the south of it, and Russian forces to the north.”
At the time of the battle, Dmytrivka was almost empty: the local administration managed to organise the evacuation of civilians. Before entering their positions in the village, the territorial defenders conducted a reconnaissance to find out where the civilians were. They talked to people, warned them about the danger and recommended hiding in bomb shelters, in order to avoid civilian casualties during the fighting.
At some point, the fighters were ordered to go further north – to Dmytrivka. It was necessary to take positions at the intersection of Travneva, Dachna and Shlyakhova streets, which led to the Zhytomyr highway. The whole company with two tanks went there. There were no Russians in the village at that time: the defenders found only abandoned shot-marked cars with the letter “Z” on them and a Russian uniform.
At the intersection of Travneva and Shlyakhova streets, two tanks and two infantry fighting vehicles were destroyed as a result of 21 shots fired from the RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher; one tank was seized. The enemy's manpower was destroyed by gunfire. The rest of the column was defeated by the artillery of the Armed Forces outside the village. Now the engineering troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are dismantling the destroyed equipment for spare parts.
“80-calibre mortars started firing on us, then it was changed to 120-calibre ones,” says the 20-year-old former student with the codename Zmiy (Ukr.: Змій, lit. Serpent – trans.). “And in an hour tanks joined mortars. After the tanks fired mortars and vice versa. It seems that they were just trying not to be bored. So to speak, we changed the music so that we would not get used to the same one.”
However, all the fighters survived during the shelling. Territorial defenders developed and disguised their positions so skillfully that at night the drones could not detect them from a bird's eye view. Therefore, in the morning, howitzers fired at residential buildings 200 metres to the left of the Ukrainian military hideouts.
When the houses were on fire, the Russians entered Dmytrivka with the full conviction that the territorial defenders and tanks had been destroyed or broken, demoralised, and had not been an obstacle to their movement. Therefore, when the firing started out of the smoke, it was a complete surprise for them. Under the smoke screen, the main tank was fired upon: its turret was jammed, and it ceased to be combat-capable.
Then there was an attempt of landing the enemy IFV sabotage groups – but they were undermined by Ukrainian defenders with hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers. In addition, another tank was destroyed. Three undefeated Russian tanks tried to bypass the brave Ukrainians through Olimpiiska Street – there was a place where they could turn around. But even there, the Russians were met with fire by another group of Ukrainian fighters. The occupiers rushed further – towards the cemetery and stopped there to regroup.
Meanwhile, grenadiers came to the aid of infantry and tankers. All together they went on a reconnaissance along the streets of Dmytrivka to finish off the occupiers who had escaped from the burnt equipment.
“Our fellow brought the weapons charges for our trio and we knocked out two IFVs,” adds the fighter with the codename Drakon (Ukr.: Дракон, lit. Dragon – trans.). “While we were inspecting the streets, a Russian tank was firing at us. It was standing at the intersection of Gagarin and Olimpiiska streets. Our tankers destroyed it in a firefight. And, using the smoke from the burnt tank, they had to depart through the cemetery under heavy fire. They returned to their company. The guys handed over the coordinates to our artillery, which later destroyed several more units of enemy equipment. Only a few surviving occupiers escaped. That installation of the battle lost by the Russians is still there.”
Analysing the battle in Dmytrivka, the territorial defenders say that the Russian troops did not have any combat tactics. There was only one general strategy: to surround the Ukrainian defenders, that's why the occupiers entered the village from two different sides.
“They hoped we would be distracted by the first attack from the front,” said platoon commander with a codename Cook. “And another one of their units bypassed us from the rear. But they did not take into account the fact that we know this area well, we know where they can come from, and we were ready for that. That's why the result turned out to be appropriate – we, together with the tankers, successfully repulsed the attack.”
Family values
Three destroyed enemy IFVs, two tanks: one destroyed and one knocked out are the handiwork of a twenty-year-old future software engineer with the codename Zmiy. He led the battle in Dmytrivka together with his father (codename Drakon), who worked as a veterinarian before the war.
Drakon has four children. Zmiy is the eldest son. They went to war secretly from the family. According to their legend, from February 24, they first lived in the basement in Lisova Bucha and then began to “volunteer”, “because, actually, it was so. We were really volunteers in our own way, we helped people.” Therefore, the family learned about the deeds of “volunteers” through the media.
On the first day, those 12 men were the beginning of the formation of the fourth company. Then the staffing of the Bilohorodka community began.
“In the evening we left Irpin,” says Zmiy. “It was at that very time when the Russians began shelling Hostomel. We came to our base to the sound of shelling, there we received weapons at night: rifles (the model of 1979) and hand grenades. It was then, at four o'clock in the morning, that the surrounding territorial communities began to equip themselves: they handed over weapons and ammunition to the territorial defenders. And the guys from those communities went right into the battle.”
“We had a hand grenade launcher (the model of 1979),” adds Drakon. “It was a Soviet weapon. But no problem, we fought with it. When there was a battle in Dmytrivka, we were reinforced with Kalashnikov machine guns and RPD hand-held machine guns (the model of 1936), which our fighter Senia eliminated the enemy forces with and did not allow them to enter our rear.”
The father says that his son was there, so he was sure that the two of them would be able to do what they had planned to do.
“We shared our impressions after the fight,” recalls Drakon. “When they got out of the red zone, took off their armour and washed off the soot, they looked at each other with joy since they were alive. This is both a fate and a well-placed force by the command unit. Analysing the parity of the Russian forces and our ones, their weapons and our weapons, we realised that there was very little chance to defeat the enemy. But the defences were spread so competently that everything turned out as it should.”
The last time Zmiy and Drakon saw their family was at Easter. Then they spent the afternoon together: “We really enjoyed the time we were spending together and did not talk about fighting. We just wanted to savour every single moment.”
Transformers
The platoon commander Cook leads us to an old underground castle deep in an eight-story building. These black tunnels are easy to get lost in, they stretch to the river Irpin. We follow the white markers. There are many rooms: for rest and for storing weapons. There are loopholes where one can fire at the enemy.
These walls are historical: when Soviet troops surrendered Kyiv during World War II, some buildings were destroyed and bricked up. But even now the premises can be used as a bomb shelter. Cook is glad that he did not have to fight there during the Russian-Ukrainian war: the occupiers did not come there.
Cook is one of the few fighters in the territorial defence who had combat experience before February 24. So it is not surprising that he was the initiator of the creation of territorial defence Bilohorodka. Prior to the fighting, they identified sabotage groups.
“In the early days, we were given machine guns and grenade launchers,” Cook recalls. “There were several Javelins, RPGs, and one anti-tank missile. But it is not enough just to give weapons – we need to know how to use them! But 90% of our people have never held a machine gun in their hands. Therefore, at first it was difficult to manage such fighters. But it happened, as the saying goes: chaos happens before the first mortar attack. And then people start disciplining.”
A young man with the codename “Yama” used to work as a manager before the war. He came to the territorial defence on just enthusiasm. He believes that in any case, a military speciality is a useful thing and not a burden: “The occupiers decided to take Ukraine in three days. No dice!”
Cook also introduces a fighter with the codename Elektryk (Ukr.: Електрик, lit. Electrician – trans.) since before the war he used to work in this speciality. The young man says that for the first time in his life he saw a funnel from an artillery shell near the Zhytomyr highway: “I served in the internal troops. We fired only from machine guns and grenade launchers. We had nothing more.”
And the territorial defender Kapa, who used to do the electrical fitting work, became a machine gunner: “At first, we were inspecting and patrolling the village. And then I went to the territorial defence to get weapons. I spent a month training. It was quite difficult. We were trained really hard to get from civilian life into the army. Then we became a close-knit team, everyone supported each other. We took the hints from each other easily. And l, you know, in battle it is like the first 5 minutes you are scared, but then you gradually begin to understand where the shell flies from, based on its sound. And under the rush of adrenaline, you start working.”
There are older fighters as well. For example, the former car mechanic with the codename Solo. He is almost 50. He speaks without heroism, in a calm, quiet voice: “I went to the territorial defence because I didn't have a choice. After rethinking some things, I realised that if I don't go, and someone else doesn't go… then who will protect us? Who will do that better than us?"
The last time Solo held a Kalashnikov rifle was at school: his hands remembered how to assemble and disassemble it. And during the war, he mastered RPG: “I am far from military affairs, I have to learn everything as fast as I can. We are constantly training. Experienced people with combat experience in other types of weapons come to us. Tactics and behaviour on the battlefield are new skills for me. I never thought I would have to learn how to capture buildings.”
The lads jokingly call the territorial defence a school of life: “The war taught me that trenches should be dug deep. No time for laziness here. Because when we were struck for the first time, the trench wasn't deep enough, and I took a great risk. The trench protects against mine fragments. In addition, if I'm lying in a trench, the enemy doesn't see me. But then I was lazy, counting on the folds of the terrain that could shield me, but when the mines began to strike, I realised that these deepenings were not enough. But I no longer had a shovel at hand. So I had to dig with my hands. And I dug every minute whenever it was a break between mortar shelling. And the deeper I dug, the more comfortable and safe I felt. And so as a result I dug a trench to my knees, it was sad to leave it!”
Kit and paramedic without a medical decree
About the head of logistic support with the codename “Cat” (Ukr.: Кіт, lit. Cat – trans.) the territorial defenders say with special warmth: “Shells are striking, bullets are whistling, but no problem for him. As if nothing is happening he delivers us soup, in order for us not to be hungry.”
67-year-old Kit is a retiree, he's a citizen of Kyiv. He used to work as a researcher and engineer for his whole life, but even before the full-scale invasion, he felt that war was inevitable. On the first day of hostilities, he went to the Bilohorodka village council, where he was enlisted in the territorial defence, despite his wife being against that. There he was a sergeant in the battalion's logistics department, so he was in charge of food supplies.
Kit carried food to the position in a car that was not registered as a vehicle of the Armed Forces, he did not even wear a bulletproof vest – because it was too heavy for him. He jokes: “I am small and thin, I quickly fall to the ground in case of shelling and then I become hardly visible. And for one who is thicker, it is more difficult to hide in such a way.” When the fighting began, it was Kit who reminded the soldiers of the rear.
“I hugged them every day, I was happy to meet them, I was happy to see them all alive,” he says. “I tried to fulfil their personal requests, I brought things from their homes, some asked about laces, batteries. People are happy to be taken care of. They are glad to know that there is a connection with the great land, and they are ready to protect it. You ask why I went to the defence at my age… And if no one took my place, what would happen? The boys would be hungry!”
“Two things are important for a soldier at the front: not to be hungry (and ideally to be full) and for their socks to be dry,” agrees Commander Cook. “Because if your feet are wet and you galled them – then you are no longer a fighter. The whole picture consists of such little puzzles. Territorial defence is, in fact, your neighbour who is not indifferent and went to defend both his and your home. Many people who live in neighbouring houses are fighting together.”
Although the 42-year-old owner of the Bravus online store comes from a military family, he has never served in the army or held any weapons. He was not taken as a driver in the territorial defence, because such specialists are a dime a dozen. But there were not enough people in the company to help the wounded soldiers on the battlefield.
“They asked me if I wanted to be a paramedic? And I answered that I didn't mind, but I didn't know how to work in this speciality,” recalls the day of joining the territorial defence the defender with a codename Bravus. “They said they would teach me. And indeed, we had instructors who taught us how to provide first aid. That's how I mastered nuts and bolts from scratch.”
Later these basic things helped Bravus rescue three fellows who received shrapnel wounds during the mortar shelling. The paramedic was lucky himself: one of the mine wreckages hit his medical backpack, which in fact saved his back from injury.
“I didn't have any fear then. I was thinking only about how to save my comrades,” says the doc. “It was unusual for me to see shots in the abdomen and chest. I didn't know how to deal with bullet wounds. But the knowledge I gained during the training helped me to orient myself, and I did everything right.”
“When entering the safe zone, we came under mortar fire. A mine exploded in front of us and hit my shoulder blade,” says the defender with a codename Kut (Ukr.: Кут, lit. Corner – trans.). “We moved to the yellow zone, where our doctor provided first aid and treated the wound. Now we are friends. We lived in the same city but didn't know each other before the war. A platoon was formed on March 28, and I was wounded on March 30. At that time, I knew that Bravus didn't have a medical degree. But he was not afraid. He was doing really well. While we were escaping from the shelling, he didn't leave me even for a moment.”
“It was night, we all went in file, I kept calling him,” adds Bravus. “Because he could easily lose his consciousness. And he was constantly moving away from me. The second wounded man was also walking alone. His arm was aching, we thought it was a bruise. And only after we came to a safe place, we realised that he had not one but two shrapnel wounds. He was walking and enduring all the way. It was adrenaline.”
In the company, paramedic Bravus has the reputation of a saviour. His comrades remember how he saved from starvation the old lady, who was left alone in a nursing home in Dmytrivka.
“While clearing the area, we entered the yard and saw the old lady, who was trying to light a fire, but nothing worked,” says Bravus. “And in her hands, she had a pot of water and oatmeal. She said, “Boy, I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten for four days.” We took her into the house and gave her all the dry rations we had. And thanks to them, she survived.”
Later, the territorial defender visited the old lady several more times when he was passing by, leaving her each time his dry rations. And then he heard that two rockets struck that house. Only part of the premises survived, but all the windows were broken.
“I came and saw that all the doors were wide open,” Bravus continues. “I knew where she usually slept. I came and saw her lying on the couch. I asked her how she was. She said: “Alive”. There were no surviving windows, and it was frosty outside. I told her she couldn't stay there. I called the commander, and we decided to take her to the ASC. Then charged her phone, and found the numbers of her two sons in the phone book. Fortunately, I managed to call one of them, he was on the left bank of Kyiv. We said: “We found your mother. Can you pick her up?” He cried and thanked us. It turned out that the woman was from Donetsk. She fled from there and had to flee again.”
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