This Donbass city is at the heart of the most violent clash in recent months between Russians and Ukrainians. Both armies lose their best men, often very young. This is particularly the case of the first mechanized battalion, called “The wolves of Da Vinci”.
Dawn barely breaks five kilometers west of the front line. The Ukrainian soldier we meet calls himself Commander “Lion”. He is part of the first Ukrainian mechanized battalion, “Da Vinci’s Wolves”. He has still slept very little. “Just a little, between two and four in the morning.”
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The adrenaline goes down. The soldier’s hands are shaking. He lights a cigarette and recounts his night in the suburbs of Bakhmout. “I was there an hour ago. The conditions were difficult. It rained all night. There was mud everywhere. The front line moves regularly. We find ourselves in positions that are not good prepared”says this man with a weathered face, visibly exhausted.
“Bombs and shells explode all the time. And when that stops, the Russian infantry goes on the attack.”
The commander “Lion” of the first mechanized battalionat franceinfo
“During the salvoes of shells, our guys are in the trenches and prayhe describes. When we spot an attack, we shoot them as accurately as possible. Not just because we are limited in ammunition. I don’t know what hell is like, but it’s very difficult and we’re holding on.”
“The dead are many”
“Lion” admits he can’t “communicate on the number of dead, but there are many”. Many are very young, as was the leader of the “Wolves of Da Vinci” battalion, Dmytro Kotsiubailo, a 27-year-old volunteer, alias “Da Vinci” himself. Last Friday, thousands of Ukrainians paid tribute to him in Maidan Square, kyiv.
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Commander “Lion” fought alongside him. Three days before, he saw him die on a road pounded by Russian artillery. “He fell while taking one of the units to positionshe says. There were cluster bombs with a delayed explosion system.”
“He received a shrapnel and the artery was cut.”
Commander “Lion”at franceinfo
“The road from the trench closest to the front line to the first reasonably safe shelter is very long.explains the fighter. And it is constantly under enemy artillery fire.” But the Battle of Bakhmouth is not over. The General Staff ordered its troops to resist. So Commander Lion, like a good soldier, puts an end to the interview. And then, like every day, he goes back to the front.
Early morning meeting with a “Wolf of Da Vinci”, on the front in Bakhmout in Ukraine – report by Thibault Lefèvre with Éric Audra
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