What happened at the bottom of the Debaltsevo cauldron
On the eve of the 4th anniversary of the completion of the Debaltsevo operation, a DPR soldier with the call sign “Shakespeare” shared his memories of those difficult days with a PolitNavigator correspondent.
P.N: How did you get to Debaltsevo?
"Shakespeare": I ended up in Debaltsevo with my unit. He started the war in Krasnogorovka as part of the Krasnogorovsky unit of the Vostok, then transferred to the First Slavic Battalion.
For Epiphany we were ordered to pack our things, and a few days later we moved to the area of the village of Kruglik, which at that time was almost destroyed. Our tankers fought heavy battles with the Ukrainian Armed Forces there. We spent the night in this village, and the next day, in two groups, carrying all the weapons and ammunition, we moved through the deep snow towards Mius. This is how the Debaltsevo operation began for me.
P.N: And how did the operation itself develop?
"Shakespeare": When they talk about the Debaltseve operation, they first of all remember the undoubtedly heroic assault on Debaltsevo itself, but everyone forgets that the operation is called a “cauldron,” and each cauldron, in addition to its neck, also has a bottom. In this case, at the very bottom there was the “Chernukhinsky Cross” in the area of Mius, Redkodub and the village of Nikishino. It was in these three settlements that three companies of our battalion, together with other units, fought throughout the Debaltsevo operation.
At the time when Debaltsevo was being liberated here, 14-15 km from Debaltsevo, the ukrofashists offered serious resistance. We must give them credit, they fought to the last, but they also fought well.
P.N: What do you remember most about this operation?
"Shakespeare": The “Chernukhinsky Cross” is formed by two roads: Krasny Luch - Debaltsevo and Chernukhino - Nikishino. We were told that we would storm the checkpoint, and after three weeks of continuous fighting we learned that it was an entire fortified area, and we forced the Ukrainians to leave it.
Before the last assault, which was the heaviest, reconnaissance launched a drone, and then our brigade commander told the company commander that the dill have a little less equipment than you have people. Then we realized that we were fighting against all laws of military tactics. The Ukrainian Armed Forces defended themselves quite competently, they were dug in well and chose the terrain well, and we were just learning.
I remember how happy we were when we learned that our tank guys had taken Nikishino. We were very surprised when we found out that ours took and then gave up Redkob, it was a shock for us, and then this famous blow to the Ukrainian troops who entered there. It turned out that it was a cunning operation.
At our position “Chernukhinsky Cross” the Ukrainians were the last to finish their resistance. When we went there, the whole ground was strewn with shrapnel, and bullets were falling at our feet; somewhere literally a kilometer and a half away from us there was still shooting.
Then I received an order to gather a group and go towards Debaltseve, the so-called cleansing. The city itself had been free for several days, but no one knew what was happening inside the “cauldron.”
I led the group in the footsteps of the Ukrainians who had left at night. There was a bridge about one and a half kilometers from our positions. Immediately beyond the bridge I saw a trampled area near the side of the road. Apparently, there were 10-12 people waiting for the transport to pick them up, but it didn’t arrive, and in the middle of the night, tired and hungry, they moved towards Debaltseve. And so, when they ask me whether this was an organized retreat, I will tell you that the tracks show very clearly how people behave.
It’s one thing when a person walks cheerfully - the tracks are even and deep, and it’s a completely different thing when he’s tired - his legs begin to drag and the tracks become shorter. And then they start losing excess weight. First BC, there were VOGs lying around (a grenade launcher shell - Ed.), then zincs with cartridges began to come across, then they threw away things, leaving only food and grenades for themselves.
Then we didn’t reach Debaltsevo a little, it was starting to get dark, and in order not to accidentally fall under “friendly” fire from our own people in that confusion, we decided to spend the night near the road in a field on abandoned Ukrainian positions. Twenty-eight degrees below zero, I’ll tell you, that’s something... We sat near the fire, huddled closely together, the soles of our boots were burning, and our backs were freezing, and we let several people in turn into the center of the circle closer to the fire so that they could get warm.
In the morning we set out in an organized manner towards Debaltsevo; it was already known that the road was clear, and we walked these few kilometers with some kind of joyful inspiration. There was a feeling of victory, and, to be honest, it was unique.
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