Yuri Kobzar15:09, 05/19/24

Small aircraft play a big role in the battle for Kharkov, and they are truly effective.

To repel the Russian invasion in the northern part of the Kharkov region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces urgently deployed additional reserves . Among others, the Peaky Blinders special unit of the National Guard, which specializes in unmanned aircraft, was sent to protect the second largest city in Ukraine. A correspondent for the British The Times spent a day on the front line with Ukrainian fighters and spoke about what he saw.

There is a direct road to Kharkov through the village of Liptsy. It is this area, along with other units, that the Peaky Blinders protect. The village has already been destroyed by Russian artillery and bombs; there is not a single surviving house left in it.

“Flying” the village in pickup trucks, the Peaky Blinders arrive at a hidden position from where they will conduct their battle with the invaders. The main weapon of this special forces unit is drones. Reconnaissance, kamikaze, with drops.

As soon as they arrived at the position, the drone pilots heard the crackle of machine guns nearby. Quickly raising drones into the sky, the Peaky Blinders found the battlefield: three Ukrainian soldiers, kneeling in the grass, fought with a platoon of Russian soldiers. The drone pilots immediately rushed to the aid of their own.

“The first grenade they threw lightly wounded one Russian and sent others scurrying for cover, thwarting their assault on Ukrainian infantry positions. It’s the start of an all-day game of hide-and-seek where the stakes are life and death. Laconic commands are shouted before each drone launch. Misses they curse, hits are celebrated with fist blows, high fives and compliments,” writes The Times correspondent.

One Russian soldier tries to escape, throwing first his backpack and then his helmet as he runs. The Kozyrkov drones pursue him for more than a kilometer to the ravine, where the occupier gets tired and tries to hide in a grove where other Russians are already sitting. The Ukrainians bomb them until no one there can move.

“Another man was spotted outdoors by an FPV drone, which tore his head clean off. There is no sympathy for the soldiers who invaded their land, only hatred,” writes The Times.

The elimination of each invader is recorded on video and then turned into marketing content for volunteer fundraising for new drones. Videos from the battlefield are transmitted via Starlink satellite communications to the command center and posted on the team’s Telegram channel in near real time.

“Just now a Russian assault group of 20 people tried to get closer to Kharkov. Our infantry met them there and a firefight began. Now they are lying there in the field and dying. The infantry is wonderful! They fired back! They held the line well! But mostly Russian the assault group was destroyed precisely by drones,” says another video for the Telegram channel.

According to the calculations of a British correspondent, the Peaky Blinders killed or seriously wounded about 40 Russian soldiers during one combat outing. However, more Russians continue to arrive, crawling forward past their dead comrades. Ukraine still holds Liptsy, but the battle for Kharkov is just beginning, The Times notes.

(c)UNIAN 2024