In Ukraine, waiting and excitement before the decisive battle for Donbass

Gor Firsov, 35, originally from Donetsk, a city annexed by Russia, was a member of the Ukrainian Parliament until 2022. From now on, he is a paramedic fighter in the 109^e territorial defense brigade, a formation which this winter withstood the shock of the battle of Avdiivka, a city completely destroyed and then lost by Ukraine, places where Egor walked as a teenager.

At the end of the battle, Egor Firsov’s unit hardly fired any artillery shells, because it had run out of them. Since then, the young reformist politician turned soldier and his comrades have now annihilated dozens of Russian tanks…

Gor Firsov, 35, originally from Donetsk, a city annexed by Russia, was a member of the Ukrainian Parliament until 2022. From now on, he is a paramedic fighter in the 109^e territorial defense brigade, a formation which this winter withstood the shock of the battle of Avdiivka, a city completely destroyed and then lost by Ukraine, places where Egor walked as a teenager.

At the end of the battle, Egor Firsov’s unit hardly fired any artillery shells, because it had run out of them. Since then, the young reformist politician turned soldier and his comrades are now annihilating dozens of Russian tanks with simple FPV drones purchased on the Internet by activists and loaded with explosives.

“We do the impossible”

“For us, aid from the United States is the only positive news this year,” says Egor. It gives hope, and hope gives strength. But it’s all just a question of time. How long can we last before help arrives? The main priority is people. If we had an abundance of soldiers, the war would be very different and the front would move in a different direction. Above all, we are expecting a lot of ammunition, a million drones, a million shells. We are still waiting for these deliveries, and we are doing everything possible and even impossible to keep Donbass. » From now on, for Egor and so many others, the days are numbered and the winds are contrary.

According to numerous testimonies, practically no material aid has reached the Ukrainian brigades since the vote, on April 20 by the Congress in Washington, of an aid package of 61 billion dollars. We have mentioned stocks already ready, somewhere in the east of Poland. However, if the truck traffic jams on the roads in western Ukraine reveal the beginnings of logistics, there is nothing to indicate that the start of this aid has reached its destination. So the Kremlin anticipated the arrival of this aid to Ukraine by launching in Chassiv Yar, a city already very destroyed, the beginnings of a major offensive aimed ultimately at retaking this summer the “dungeons” of Donbass still controlled by kyiv .

On the maps, the objective seems clear: seize Tchassiv Yar, a town at a relative altitude, to transform these heights into launching pads for artillery and waves of infantry towards Pokrovsk, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the last population centers from Ukrainian Donbass. On the front, the situation is deteriorating sharply. In recent days, the Russian army has managed to invade a 15-kilometer-long salient around the small town of Otcheretyne, an area emptied of its inhabitants for months. In several places, Ukrainian brigades, due to lack of ammunition, abandoned their positions and retreated further back.

Chemical Weapons

“The situation is extremely difficult,” concedes Egor Chernov, another MP, deputy of the Defense committee of Parliament, who spends his time traveling around the front. “The tactics of the Russians have changed, they begin to use chemical weapons on all parts of the front, dropping poison charges on our armored forts and, after the toxic fumes forced our guys out of their shelters, the enemy try to kill them with artillery and drones. Without ammunition and without a significant replenishment of troops, we may not hold the front. »

Several experts in kyiv are sounding the alarm. “The Russians are on the offensive. This marks the start of a major attack in May, foreshadowing a difficult summer. We are moving further back as the front moves,” says Maria Berlinska, renowned military officer and director of the Air Intelligence Support Center. “The month of May could be very complicated for the Ukrainian armed forces, because, for the Russians, it may be the last month where they will be able to use the lack of parity in the artillery, and, above all, in the air defense systems, and perhaps also in aviation,” adds Mykhailo Samus, specialist in military strategy.

In kyiv, concern is growing, but also anger, in the face of Western apathy. “I know that in France you keep discussing whether or not it’s a good idea to send your soldiers to Ukraine… But that’s not what we’re asking you, damn it! We just want enough weapons! » explodes Yaroslav, 22, a history student at Mohyla University. “The question for us today is how many of us will die, and if the country will survive behind. For you, Europeans, the question is whether you will have had the courage to make the right choices to prevent a tragedy. »