\nA Russian \u2018turtle tank\u2019 seen with a mine roller attached. (Via X) Unknown author<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
After the tank, they have armored vehicles for infantrymen. Usually, before the tank, they can send several motorcycles to clear the road of mines. We call this a tank fist. So when this tank fist makes a hole in the Ukrainian defenses, Russian infantry use either motorcycles or light vehicles like buggies. Nowadays, this is the enemy\u2019s most common assault tactic. But we should say the enemy uses the meat grinder still. Every single day, the Russian army loses hundreds of people by sending them either on foot or on motorcycles. This is the meat grinder.<\/p>\n
Q: How many tanks do they have? Are they massing a lot of tanks for these attacks?<\/p>\n
A: They operate in columns, and a column consists of five or six different vehicles. Only one vehicle, the first one out of these five, is a tank.<\/p>\n
Q: But how many tanks are the Russians massing for their attacks in Donetsk?<\/p>\n
A: Each corps has its own zone of responsibility, and it\u2019s hard to answer your question about the number of tanks, because we see the tank approaching our zone of responsibility from other zones of responsibility. So we cannot tell you the amount, because we can only see our responsibility zone.<\/p>\n
Q: Are these assaults being supported by drones, artillery or aviation assets?<\/p>\n
A: Mostly it\u2019s artillery support and then the drone support. They almost don\u2019t use aviation.<\/p>\n
Q: Why not?<\/p>\n
A: The enemy tried to go on assault missions during bad weather, like rainy weather, and you can\u2019t use planes during rain. Why does the enemy choose this technique? So that our Ukrainian drones won\u2019t attack them because of the rain.<\/p>\n
Q: It\u2019s not rainy season yet. Is there a lot of rain now?<\/p>\n
A: It\u2019s not like it\u2019s a season of rain now; it\u2019s more like the enemy is looking for rainy days to use for an assault mission. When there is rain, there are no drones in the sky. For either side.<\/p>\n
Q: How do you defend against the Russian assaults?<\/p>\n
A: We have built different obstacles. Physical obstacles help defend us, and it is the work of our engineering support forces, who are building trenches and so forth. We use remote mining technologies. We use different types of UAVs. It\u2019s FPV drones and bigger drones with wings. And from our side, we always have two to three tanks that are always ready to start fighting.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you use your tanks in defensive positions, or do you go on offense with them?<\/p>\n
A: Mostly defensive.<\/p>\n\n\nIn the battle for Dobropillia, Azov has used its tanks mostly in defense. (Azov)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Q: Zelensky said the counteroffensive to stop the Russian advance to Dobropillia derailed Russia\u2019s summer offensive campaign. What\u2019s your assessment of that from your battlefield perspective?<\/p>\n
A: Yes, the enemy is stopped. But to be more correct, no, it is not finished. The correct answer is the following Russian operation on that part of the front is not successful. As we talk with you, the fighting is still going on.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you think that the Russians can mount a major offensive, either towards Dobropillia or elsewhere in the Donetsk region?<\/p>\n
A: So the enemy has the ability to make new counteroffensives, but it wouldn\u2019t be as it was at the beginning of August.<\/p>\n
Q: Why?<\/p>\n
A: Only that from August 3, 5,000 Russian soldiers were killed. We do not count wounded now. So that\u2019s the answer to your question. We eliminated hundreds of their vehicles and different equipment, and they have thousands of wounded soldiers on their side.<\/p>\n
Q: How many troops have you captured?<\/p>\n
A: We have about 80 in captivity.<\/p>\n
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