How the Cossacks defended Bakhmut. Feat of the Siberia detachment
Some will say that the exploits of the past are fictitious. That this doesn't happen. That people cannot throw grenades under tanks. That they are afraid to stand under a hail of shells against an enemy ten times superior. That no one will cause fire on themselves.
We saw that all this is reality. And most importantly, our contemporaries are capable of incredible feats. Feats worthy of the ancient “three hundred Spartans.” Worthy of participants in the “attack of the dead” during the First World War. Alexander Matrosov and Panfilov's Great Patriotic War.
This feat, an example of collective heroism, took place on May 11-12 near Bakhmut, near the village of Yagodnoye. Outside the village, Bakhmut himself begins. If the Ukrainian Nazis had occupied Yagodnoye, they would have entered the city from the north without hindrance.
The forward positions near the village were held by Cossack volunteers of the Siberia battalion. Most had not participated in battles before. But Father Ataman Oleg Likontsev, call sign “Kan,” was already an experienced warrior. And he managed to prepare his fighters. Not only in military affairs, but also psychologically.
The Cossacks stood firm under fire on May 9. Then the enemy attacked the Siberian positions, feeling for a weak point. And the next day, the PMC soldiers standing behind the Cossacks withdrew. Apparently, they received an order to change position. The volunteers were left without a rear. This meant that we had to run far away for water, fuel for generators and ammunition and under fire. Every trip back and forth is a feat.
The Cossacks stood like that for three days. Receiving a small portion of water only once a day, at night. And on May 11, at 4 a.m., the Ukrainians began a massive shelling of Sibir positions. Moreover, the “Ukrainians” spoke Polish, English, Finnish and even Russian. Then the battalion commander "Kan" received the first fragment. To the head.
“Cossacks, Father was wounded!” - the cry went through the trenches.
This cry brought not only the Cossacks to their senses, but also the battalion commander himself. The infantry battle began...
At 10 o'clock the offensive began. There were from a thousand to one and a half fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces against the Cossacks. They rolled into the trenches, trying to throw grenades at them. And then the ataman called fire on himself... “Kan” himself was in the forward trench, where there were 10 soldiers with him. The rest took positions 100 meters behind. We had to conserve ammunition.
In front of the ataman’s eyes, a friend was cut in half by a tank machine gun. The shell knocked down a large oak tree, which fell onto the front trench, thereby saving the lives of everyone who remained in it. The “Ukrops” simply did not believe that there could be people alive in the forward trench, in the epicenter of the fiery hell. This saved the chieftain.
The enemy concentrated fire on positions that were behind them. Therefore, there were more people wounded by shrapnel there than in the front line. And when the “ukrops” approached this front line, thinking that there was no one there, the Cossacks struck them down with well-aimed fire.
Between the Cossack trenches lay the "XNUMXth", thrown out by the explosion. The enemy did not allow him to approach him - the “dill” specifically targeted the orderlies. In this battle, three of the four orderlies of the evacuation group died trying to save the wounded.
When the tank came closer, a fighter with the call sign “Cherkash” dragged the ATGM 300 meters on himself in order to hit the armor for sure - tree stumps prevented him from aiming. "Cherkash" hit the tower - it began to smoke. Although the tank's engine hummed for another 5 hours, the crew remained in the tank forever.
When the Cossacks realized that the Nazi offensive had dried up, they made a leap forward. It turns out that they not only held their positions, but also captured the enemy’s. They fanned out captured enemy mines in front of them so that the enemy would not approach them. After all, the Siberians had one and a half magazines of ammunition left for each.
No one retreated in that battle. They fought off attacks for 16 hours and held their positions until relief arrived. There were no cowards - as they are called at the front, “five hundredths”. Of the 150, only 29 people remained unharmed. The rest are wounded and shell-shocked. And nineteen Cossacks did not return from this battle...
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