The original article, at the Wall Street Journal is a great read. It is both sad and gratifying to read the opening paragraph:
OZNESENSK, Ukraine—A Kalashnikov rifle slung over his shoulder, Voznesensk’s funeral director, Mykhailo Sokurenko, spent this Tuesday driving through fields and forests, picking up dead Russian soldiers and taking them to a freezer railway car piled with Russian bodies—the casualties of one of the most comprehensive routs President Vladimir Putin’s forces have suffered since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
The Russians rapid advance hoped to sever the line of communications, giving a gateway to attack Odessa from the back. Instead, in the two day battle, Ukraine's local volunteers and the professional military, eliminated the Russian battalion tactical group over two days.
Being in an overwhelming Russian speaking region did little to help Putin's army.
“Everyone is united against the common enemy,” said Voznesensk’s 32-year-old mayor, Yevheni Velichko, a former real-estate developer turned wartime commander, who, like other local officials, moves around with a gun. “We are defending our own land. We are at home.”
30 of 43 Russian combat vehicles, including tanks, destroyed as well as a Russian helicopter. Russian survivors retreated more than 40 miles, only to be pounded by other Ukrainian units. And the Ukrainians did it without a single tank...just using RPGs, Javelins, and artillery. At least 100 dead Russians.
The citizenry was amazing:
Mayor Velichko worked with local businessmen to dig up the shores of the Mertvovod river that cuts through town so armored personnel vehicles couldn’t ford it. He got other businessmen who owned a quarry and a construction company to block off most streets to channel the Russian column into areas that would be easier to hit with artillery.
Ahead of the Russian advance, military engineers blew up the bridge over the Mertvovod and a railroad bridge on the town’s edge. Waiting for the Russians in and around Voznesensk were Ukrainian regular army troops and members of the Territorial Defense force, which Ukraine established in January, recruiting and arming volunteers to help protect local communities. Local witnesses, officials and Ukrainian combat participants recounted what happened next.
The Russians started with missiles strikes, destroying the town swimming pool and hitting high rises. Russian troops were dropped by helicopter as a Russian armored column attacked, guided by a local woman collaborator. It advanced with 400 troops. Some apparently ransacked villager homes for valuables and food. (A woman who cooked for the troops for pay is so hated she can't live there anymore.).
Then as the Russians began setting up there 120mm mortars in a wheat field, Ukranian shelling began. Mr. Rudenko, owner of a gravel and sand trucking company was hidden in a grove, on a phone with Ukrainian artillery, sending coordinates with the Viber social messaging app. Others also phoned in the strikes.
Ukrainian regular troops and Territorial Defense forces then moved in hitting vehicles with Javelin missiles. Russian armor caught fire—including three of the five tanks in the wheat field—soldiers abandoned functioning vehicles and escaped on foot or sped off in the BTRs that still had fuel. They left crates of ammunition.
“
The Russians had orders to come in, seize, and await further instructions,” Mr. Dombrovsky said. “But they had no orders for what to do if they are defeated. That, they didn’t plan for.”
When villagers returned to their village days later, they found their homes ransacked.
“Blankets, cutlery, all gone. Lard, milk, cheese, also gone,” said Ms. Horchuk. “They didn’t take the potatoes because they didn’t have time to cook.”
The Russians were kind enough to leave 15 working or salvable combat vehicles including tanks.
Power came back on, so did utilities. ATMs were restocked, grocery store also stocked, and village cleaned up. Now the villagers say that when the Russians return, they will kill them with their own tanks and guns.
In the two-day battle of Voznesensk, local volunteers and the military repelled the invaders, who fled leaving behind armor and dead soldiers. ‘They had no orders for what to do if they are defeated.’
www.wsj.com
Ukrainians are some people.
