Russian forces will advance into the heart of Ukraine if they manage to capture the frontline town of Chasiv Yar and the wider Donbas region, a Ukrainian governor has warned.
Vadym Filashkin, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, told Sky News that his country’s soldiers would not allow this to happen and would do “everything possible and impossible” to push for the Russian The invaders returned.
But he said Vladimir Putin’s troops were trying to break through. Ukraine defensive lines, with between 1,500 and 2,500 artillery rounds and airstrikes fired into the region daily.
Ukraine was last: ‘Undeclared Russian military intelligence officer’ expelled from UK
Vadym Filashkin
When asked what the danger would be for Ukraine and the world if the entire Donbas fell under Russian control, Filashkin said: “The enemy will continue forward. If, God forbid, this happens, the enemy will advance further into the central territory of our country.
“We will not allow this and will do everything possible – and impossible – to contain the enemy here in the Donetsk region and restore the borders to those of 1991.”
He was referring to when Ukraine gained its independence from the then Soviet Union.
The governor said some 2,500 civilians in his region alone had been killed and nearly 5,000 wounded since Russia launched its large-scale invasion in February 2022.
“Words probably haven’t been invented yet to describe all the anger we feel,” he added.
Filashkin was speaking near a giant Ukrainian flag flying over a park in the city of Kramatorsk, the area’s main administrative center and a vital military stronghold.
Kramatorsk – along with other eastern cities such as Konstantinivka and Slavyansk – would be at risk of much heavier bombing if Russian forces captured Chasiv Yar. The city’s hilltop vantage point would put a larger area within reach of Russian artillery.
Read more:
Russia intensifies attacks on energy facilities in Ukraine
The Victory Day parade in Russia can be summed up as pain, pride and propaganda
Much of the city is in ruins.
kyiv had claimed Moscow wanted to capture Chasiv Yar ahead of Russia’s annual May 9 Victory Day celebrations to commemorate Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II.
But Ukrainian forces are still in control, although much of the city is in ruins and all but a few hundred residents have long since been evacuated.
Hidden among a line of flowering trees a few kilometers from the edge of Chasiv Yar, a small Ukrainian drone team observed smoke from Russian airstrikes rising over the city on Wednesday.
The unit’s commander, who gave his callsign as “Steve,” said Russian attacks had intensified every week for the past three or four months as Moscow tried to take advantage of a delay in resupplying Western weapons to Ukrainian positions.
The unit commander, callsign “Steve.”
‘As brutal as you can imagine’
When asked what the situation was like for the Ukrainian defending forces, he said: “It’s very intense. It’s very brutal. Yes. As brutal as you can imagine. And even more so.”
Speaking in almost fluent English with an American accent, he said Ukraine needed many more precision-guided weapons from its Western partners.
“That would change the war completely, because we know where (the Russians) are. Exactly. We just need a weapon to destroy them. That’s all,” he added.
The team assembled the reconnaissance drone.
Drone unit pursues Russian mortar team
Suddenly, his team receives a call to send their reconnaissance drone, called Leleke, which means “stork” in Ukrainian, to search for a Russian mortar team inside Russian-controlled territory east of Chasiv Yar.
The plane, which looks like a large gray model airplane, is launched by hand from a giant rubber catapult in a field.
It flies at an altitude of about 1,000 meters and has a range of about 20 miles, so it can penetrate deep behind enemy lines, as long as it is not interrupted by jamming devices.
Once in the air, Steve and two colleagues sit in a mobile cockpit, with one person piloting the drone and the other two scanning a live camera for signs of enemy forces.
“Our main task is to give information. So we fly behind the Russians’ backs. We see what they are doing there. Are they gathering forces? The meeting? Where do they have artillery? Howitzers?” the drone commander said.
“We detect them, we pass the information to higher command and they find the means to demolish them.”
The team quickly identifies what they believe to be the position of the mortar, along with ammunition and two Russian soldiers (they relay the information to their headquarters) before guiding the drone back to land.
The drone lands in a field.
“You’re trying to spot someone hiding,” Steve said. “It’s like child’s play, you know? But with guns, everything is serious here.”