The old controversial, integrated paramilitary militia, in 2014, within the National Guard, has retrenched in the steel complex of Azovstal. For the Russians, a victory against this force would constitute a powerful tool of propaganda.
by
Behind the fierce resistance of the city of Maroupol against the Russian invasion and the objective of Moscow to deprive Ukraine of all access to the sea of Azov, is hidden another issue, more secondary, which weighs Nevertheless strongly on a seat started on March 13th. According to several military sources, interviewed by Le Monde in Zaporijia, the Russian army and its allies, separatist soldiers of Donbass or Chechenes, would also be animated by a fierce willingness to fight with the Azov brigade, the Ukrainian force in first line to defend the city.
After fighting rue by street in Maroupol, the soldiers of this Azov brigade are today folded over the vast right-of-way of the Azovstal metallurgical site, located by the sea of this large port city and industrial. “They transformed the galleries of thick concrete tunnels that grind the entire enclave in fortress, explains Victor, a colonel of the Ukrainian army, who accepts to speak only under anonymity, This is where they rest, there they can move safely and there they can launch attacks on the troops that encircle them. “
According to his information, this last Ukrainian resistance pocket continues to undergo, day and night, heavy bombings. “The Russians use the SolintSepek, the high-end of the so-called Grad multiple rocket launchers, which are at the origin of most of the destructives of maroupol, they also use, ten to fifteen times a day, to the air strikes by means of missiles likely to perforate this underground network, and finally, the usual lot of mortars. “The Russian forces avoid the attack on the ground, not controlling an extended ground over several square kilometers, suspicious of an elusive defense entrenched in this Zone.
“more mobile than regular army”
“The Azov Regiment is at the heart of the resistance of maroupol, its numbers have been so inflated as it is now called Brigade,” details Colonel Victor, aged 53, and having started his military career under the Soviet era. “Organized in tactical groups, this force of more than three thousand men is more mobile than a regular army,” he continues. In 2014, under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior, the Azov Brigade is equipped for close combat. Even though they are dressed as soldiers, these forces are more like militarized police units, a French raid, than regular troops.
You have 51.86% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.