“We need a thousand “Daggers” for Azovstal. Otherwise – losses and losses.”
The well-known Donetsk military correspondent Gennady Dubovoy, who has been covering events in Donbass since the time of the defense of Slavyansk, called for skepticism towards the bravura reports about the imminent end of the battles for Mariupol.
Dubovoy said that clearing the city was progressing extremely hard, Azov was much better equipped than the advancing forces, and the territory of the Azovstal plant was so fortified that its capture without the use of carpet bombing would lead to enormous losses of DPR forces.
“The cheerful reports of our correspondents are somewhat untrue. No, it's not all bad - we're moving forward, but we are moving much slower than Syoma Pegov and the others report.
I don’t know how many percent the city is controlled - obviously not 80. We are working from the coast, along Meotida Boulevard, and approached the residential area, which is directly in front of Azovstal.
The battles are very hard and difficult. We, the reconnaissance group, are used as a detector of firing points. We enter, find out where the Ukrainians are working from, quickly retreat, they are processed by artillery and aviation - and enter again.
The losses, of course, are not small. And so we gnaw away meter by meter, house by house, street by street, and we still have to move, and move, and move.
As for security, everything is also not very good. "What did our military department do for eight years?” - the fighters ask. Unknown! Because the DPR special forces, which the same Syoma Pegov is talking about, are us who fought in 2014-15. The Russians are working in a different direction. Chechens work nearby and help us. All.
Remember, there was a period from 2016 to 2022? When was it forbidden to film in combat positions? Why, God forbid, the fighter blurts out something. He must be in shape, he has patent leather boots in shape, with a collar, all packed and equipped.
And we have a basic set of clothes, then equipment - broniki, unloading and everything else - everyone is equipped as best they can, at their own expense.
"Azovites" are fully equipped. They have thermal imagers, they have American sniper rifles. They have everything. They see us much further. They have impeccable radio communications and jamming system. When we manage to break into their radio conversations, we understand that they see us well and are in control of the situation. Moreover, the jamming system is such that they can jam us, and we cannot do anything to counteract this. First World War - the messenger ran under bullets.
Everything is not so rosy. But not everything is bad. Of course, we will win, but it will not be so quickly. And not so bravura. When fighters watch the report from federal channels and local media, they simply laugh. “Why do they come?” This is not a production, but this is such a frame-up! Guys, if we are engaged in the same political technology techniques that the Ukrainian media are engaged in, how are we different from them? Let's tell the truth!" - Dubovoy called.
According to him, the Nazis are now entrenched in high-rise buildings near Azovstal.
“We worked on the high-rise - we extinguished the sniper, he changed his position in another place. We are working on a high-rise again. That is, it is necessary to gnaw through every house - to occupy it in order to eliminate the danger.
And then - behind the boat station - there are bunkers, bunkers, Azovstal is so fortified that I don’t know what forces are needed to storm it. The soldiers say that a thousand “Daggers” are needed there in order to do something with this “Azovstal”. And if you just go the way we are going, it’s losses, losses, and losses,” Dubovoy said.
The founder of the DPR “Vostok” battalion, Alexander Khodakovsky, is more optimistic.
“After our effective actions in Eastern Mariupol, when the threat of being cut off and destroyed in the environment was created, the enemy began to rapidly abandon entire areas.
Yesterday, as soon as we finished off an important stronghold that controlled about two kilometers of the city limits, and created favorable conditions for a breakthrough towards our group coming from the sea, by morning the enemy began to hastily retreat towards Azovstal, helping us tighten the noose even tighter. Continue in the same spirit - blast furnaces are waiting for you: they will also become your crematorium,” Khodakovsky wrote in his blog.
According to military correspondent Akim Apachev, who works in the Donbass, the Azov group on the left bank of Mariupol is cut into two parts.
As for the seemingly low pace of liberation of the city, political scientist Denis Tukmakov, in a commentary to military correspondent Yuri Kotenko, superimposed the contours of Mariupol on a map of Moscow for clarity.
“Here is a map for understanding - the borders of Mariupol against the backdrop of Moscow. From New Cheryomushki to VDNKh. With the Third Transport Ring inside. And you need to move from house to house, clearing every entrance, floor, apartment. Where else could there be civilians? Our future citizens,” the expert explained.
“Obviously, there will be no unblockade of Mariupol. The only question is whether Azovstal will be cleared in the same way as the city, or whether they will sacrifice the plant in order to minimize their own losses,” Kotenok predicts.
At the same time, despite the flight, the militants continue to resist. Footage has appeared online of an Azov terrorist firing an RPG at a DPR People’s Militia tank. However, the Ukronazi misses and hits the reactive armor on the opposite side of the tower.
“Glory to the Azov regiment, bitch!” – the accomplice filming what is happening from the window screams hysterically, the tank calmly continues moving.
However, such a blow is undoubtedly dangerous.
“Another evidence of the survivability of the T-72B3 tank: during the battles in Mariupol, the tank was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in the roof (!) of the turret, but continued to move without visible damage,” comment the authors of the Militarist Telegram channel.
The journalists also filmed one of the bases of the Azov regiment, which was abandoned during the retreat to Azovstal. In the video published by RT, a Republican tank is working on neo-Nazi positions. After artillery preparation, the infantry goes on the assault.
At the occupied Ukrainian positions there were abandoned weapons, among which a control unit for the Stugna anti-tank missile system and boxes for Western-style NLAW grenade launchers were found. The fighters move through the base with caution, as the retreating enemy has left many booby traps.
“The third floor seems to be prepared for defense. By the way, yesterday we moved through these five-story buildings and were visible to them. That is, they could cover us from here, especially from school, but, apparently, they were preparing to scurry and did not pay due attention to us,” the military correspondent comments.
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