“Russians need to walk for five days to reach their positions”. Burevii commander on what is happening in the Kupiansk sector

“They outnumber us ten to one”

What is the biggest problem in this area?

Guided aerial bombs, of course, are the most difficult. But for the infantrymen on the front line, it is FPVs. They are working here non-stop. We restored some shelter and then it was destroyed overnight, and this goes on around the clock. We have electronic warfare equipment, but the enemies are not standing still. They think about how to fly over these means, try new frequencies, that is, they are developing a lot in this direction.

I saw that they have already started using fiber-optic drones in this area. They have a completely different picture quality. The operator of such a drone can find the target better. I think this is a huge breakthrough. We have already started using such drones. Also, we need another electronic warfare system for this.

The enemy's ultimate goal is to reach the Oskil River. Through all their channels, they are saying that Russian troops should reach the river by the New Year. But I see that this is impossible to do by the New Year. They outnumber us ten to one in terms of personnel. In terms of technology, we are leveling the playing field with drones, detecting their hardware on the early approaches, 20 kilometers from the line of contact, and starting to shell them.

With infantry, it is more difficult. There are ravines, plantations, and the Russians are accumulating and passing through. They are probing where the weakest spots are, where they can only bring in hardware, where it will not pass. There are many rivers, such as the Pishchanka, that cannot be crossed by vehicles. You need to make crossings. The defense forces have known these places for a long time, and almost all the fire damage has been adjusted.

What is your situation with shells and drones? Do you have enough of them?

I think the National Guard and volunteer organizations have enough drones. I wouldn't say there is a shortage. Shells are another issue. There are problems with some caliber. The enemy has the opposite problem. We know that they have no problems with 125-mm shells for tanks, while we have a slightly different situation. The same goes for 120-mm mines.

It is difficult to work with mortars when you have 5 brands or 5 mines from different countries. The mines fly differently, and it is very difficult to get a good shot. When you work with the same mines from the same manufacturer, you already know how they fly and how to work with them, which must be taken into account.

As for the supply of Russians, I remember an interception where a gun commander reported that he had fired 10 shells at one firing position and 95 shells remained. This was only on one day, at one firing position, not at the battalion's depots, but at one position. So, we can see what resources they have there, the stocks of all this stuff.

Tell us about the captured Russians. What kind of people are they? What do they say?

In my experience, most of the Russian prisoners are convicts, while others are people who complain about loans, family problems, and that they need to earn money. Some talk about their problems, that they are forced to come here from the prison, but we understand perfectly well that they went on their own. Some went for money, some for ideology and propaganda, because it works much better for them than for us. And sometimes I wonder: how do they force them all to storm like that? They run one after another, and die, while those behind them step over and run on. And still they are trying to reach the end point.

They have soldiers ready to walk 20 kilometers to the position in this direction. They are dropped off in one village, and they walk for five days to the position. They forget what evacuation, medical aid, food, water are. Here they are walking along the road, collecting something, drinking water from rivers, but still going and fulfilling their tasks. It would be a little difficult to give the soldiers I know, for example, a task: “Go 20 kilometers, find something to eat and change your clothes somewhere in a settlement.”

There were some prisoners that we caught in houses. They were looking for warm clothes or something to eat.

What are the Russians' losses here?

In this area, they complain in interceptions that they suffer a lot of losses, but at the same time, they receive a lot of replenishment. They all say that it is difficult for them to reach their positions, that artillery and drones are shooting them. But there are those who make it, and then the unit commander tells them on the radio: “Go on, meet six more.” Three arrived, and six more are sent to them. Out of those six, two or three will arrive. This is their system of accumulation — they gather in these bushes and sit there, like homeless people in these pits.

They have more opportunities, they are changed. For us, it's a little harder to make some kind of replacement or rotation. We try our best, but it is very difficult to carry out a full rotation. I can't imagine how to take a battalion out of the area and put another battalion there. This is such a problem.

“The soldier of 2022 and the one of 2024 are two different soldiers”

What could improve the situation in the Kupiansk sector?

Training of the personnel on our side. Motivating them more to perform combat missions. I think this will improve the situation. There is a category of soldiers who, to put it mildly, are not very motivated to perform tasks because we have lost positions somewhere. People are afraid, they have not been properly trained. The soldier of 2022 and the one of 2024 are two different soldiers. Back then, people were ready to do their best to fulfill their tasks. Now, we have to force them to do their best in the tasks, and this difference has a very big impact.

Do you have to train the people who join you?

My entire battalion consists of mobilized people. Only 15% are contract soldiers. If we have free time, we conduct additional training and shooting for sure. We teach them to shoot from different positions, with movement, and add a little bit of physical activity so that they understand that shooting lying down and shooting while moving on the battlefield is different in terms of aiming, your hands are not in the right place, your breath is out of control.

We try to conduct classes with guys who have recently left their positions and can tell the newbies about the nuances of being in position, such as how to counter drones or drops.

Sometimes people don't understand what FPV or Mavic is and where it buzzes. They stand and look at it, and then an explosive falls down. An old warrior knows that when you hear this sound, you have to run and hide somewhere. We send two experienced fighters to the positions and 4-6 newbies who have recently arrived in the battalion. The newbies learn from the experienced ones how to behave in those realities.

The factor of the first battle plays a big role, because no matter how well you study, the first battle will show what person is like. I've seen people who did not perform well in the classroom, but after the first fight, when they effectively repelled an assault, they became some of the best fighters. And then there are those who performed well during training, but the first battle broke them and they can't get back to their positions. This is the main problem.

That is why we offer different positions. If a person is in the infantry and we see that they are morally unable to perform the task, we offer pilot training, a position of a driver, an IFV driver, an artilleryman or a mortar operator. We check who are good at digging. We also need such people, so that not only the infantry do everything, because we have everything entrusted to them: infantry fighting, infantry storming, infantry consolidating, infantry walking to positions, infantry carrying water.

“The problem is when a battalion suffers losses and is replenished on the spot”

In your opinion, how can we get out of the situation at the front now, if the Russians continue to press, gradually advancing, albeit with heavy losses?

First of all, we need to have some kind of replacement in the cohesion of regular units. A battalion should go in, not just one company from one unit and another from another. It is not how it should be: there is no interaction or coherence.

This is a problem when a battalion suffers losses and is replenished on the spot, as in my case. New people are brought to me, and I have to get to know them here on the battlefield. I would like to work with them before the fighting, to see if they can become a squad leader or a platoon sergeant. But I'm already getting to know them here, and I don't have enough time to understand their leadership skills and their level of training.

If I met them at the training ground, held classes, went somewhere with them, it would be much better. But the issue is that you can't find another unit to replace them. It is very difficult to find someone to replace the person.

Secondly, the age category and medical examination. This is a critical situation. The soldier is normal as a human being, you know? But I see that they cannot fulfill the task. You have them listed as a fighter, but I can't assign them to a task because they have a lot of chronic diseases. Where can I use them then?

It would be good if medical examinations were of higher quality and if age limits were set for the units performing tasks here, so that there were 40-45+. Those at checkpoints in Kyiv or Kharkiv may be older.

So you have people even older than 45?

There are also those who are 55. Sometimes, the new guys arrive, and there are two born in 80s, two born in 70s, and there are older men. He is a good specialist, but it is harder for him to fulfill the task than for a younger person.

I would somehow reform the work of the territorial recruitment centers. Because it seems to me that their task there is just to fulfil a plan and give me people. But it doesn't work that way, because I don't understand where some people can be put. We need to change the approach, to give people a choice of professions to choose from.

So the biggest problem is with people?

Yes, it is people, not the only one, but one of the main ones.

Do you feel a gap between civilians and the military when you come to Kyiv, for example?

The gap is big, it ends somewhere, like when you come to Kharkiv, for example, and a completely different life begins there. It is clear that many people do not understand what is really happening. Many people can't even imagine the conditions in which our soldiers are performing their missions and how hard it is for them here. This is the most important thing they do not know. The fact that they do not realize that there is a war going on is their problem. But I would like people to understand the conditions in which soldiers perform their missions, sit in a forest plantation for 30 days. Take a civilian from Kyiv and explain to him what it is like to sit in a hiding place in the woods for 30 days under constant assaults and shelling. The most important problem is that people do not know how hard and how heroic these guys are doing all these feats here.