informator.lg.ua had a conversation with the military, who at the beginning of the warfare in Luhansk headed Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group (SRG), leading subversive activities and mining intelligence data in the rear of the separatists. About evolvement of events in Luhansk in the first months of war, mercenaries, death of Russian ‘journalists’ near village Metallist and many other read in the frank narrative of the commander of task group of the battalion “Aydar” with the call sign “Uzbek”.

Quiet pool

The situation began to be supercharged on March. Kyiv was keeping silence but nobody was “provocated”. They only claimed mobilization. I applied into recruitment office. They look at me as on a dork. The answer was short: “We don’t have any order about mobilization”.  They waited that Russia “joked” and entered troops as in Crimea. We wouldn’t even cry, 15 kilometers the most short way to the border.

The rumors about 1500 members of the Right Sector, coming to Luhansk on the buses, were spread in the city. But they have been coming for two months. Talks about them already appeared in Luhansk in the middle of the February. I imagined the column of 40-50 buses, the second month circling in the Region and couldn’t find the way to Luhansk.

We visited the cossacks’ mob near monument to Shevchenko, communicated with them, at that time by words. Those, with whom I spoke, were, as it appears, not from Ukraine. They didn’t know what was happening in the Region, as the surnames of the leaders of the Region. Hard times began on April. General Petrulevich surrounded SSU. All of this happened in front of my eyes, we were standing in 20 meters from the enter. 300-400 people not more gathered on the carriageway near the building. There were Russian flags. Nearly 20 paratroopers were near the enter, in principle, they didn’t strongly resist. One of them whether through negligence, or fright with full ammunition fell down from the porch and injured neck. Three from the crowd climbed under the roof above the enter to building, broke the window and permeated in the accommodation. After a few minutes they opened the front door from the inside. And it is strictly secured object! A year later I talked with the officer of Luhansk SSU, he told that general gave an order to everyone to gather paraphernalia and leave the building, stuff like this.  

Some time “Road Police” pretended that they didn’t pass the cars to SSU. “Pretended” because usual, common cars were stopped, but separatist’s with the materials for barricades, food, people passed on the area without limits. Later, this “personnel” left out to. Every morning in front of SSU began from the Russian anthem, every day there sounded cries “Putin, help us!”

Buildings of the Regional Administration and Regional Prosecutor followed the SSU. Kyiv didn’t “provocate”, but Naumenko was appointed new head of the Regional Police. He had communicated about something with Bolotov and then he locked in the building of the Regional Internal Affairs Dept. and after that he ran away in Svatovo, left all personnel to fend for themselves. The building of Internal Affairs Dept. was captured by separatists only from the second time, after all staff has left it.

People with weapon and in camouflage appeared in city minibuses. The talks about referendum appeared.

The Beginning

May began from the shooting. The Regional Gathering Point and there also all the recruitment offices. All this district organizations were gathered in one place four months before by a strange coincidence. Armed people in camouflage surrounded the territory of the Regional Gathering Point on May 3 and demanded from militaries, located inside, to leave the territory. Soldiers refused. Nutz from such a “rudeness” separatists rushed to the assault. The fight began. The result was predictable in general. Separatists had unlimited allowance of ammunition and ours had only on 15 minutes of fighting. After the failure assault by mount-riot “Zarya”, the negotiations began once again, they offered to ours to leave the territory one more time. It’s hard to make war without allowance of ammunition.

It was the last drop for me. I’ve found the acquaintances, they connected with Kyiv. the number of the telephone of the commander, forming in our region volunteer battalion, was given from there. We gathered the group of the confederates in five persons, only one form us had no fighting experience.

“Spaniard” went to the place of formation, met with the commander, discussed the possibility and got positive answer. At that time the active preparing to referendum was in full swing. Armed groups (it seemed that they were afraid to get in the face) were visiting schools, colleges, places where polls located and reporting to the directors, that referendum will take place on May 11 in their lodgements. And for those, who questioned the legitimacy of this process, they imposed a weighty argument in the form of an inverted gate. Funny papers, ‘bulletins’ printed on copiers.

We went out by shuttle bus in the Region on May 10 to the place appointed by Kombat. When we got to the border of Starobelsk district and saw our block-post with time-worn infantry fighting vehicle and armoured personnel carrier, somehow relieved at heart, that meant that all was already not lost and sold. We were met and sent to the home base. We armed next morning. The question about using us as the SRG directly in Luhansk, has been already discussed before our arriving ,that’s why we were accepted at the moment into the group of special purpose. Five days of fight trainings and we went to Luhansk with weapon and ammunition allowance.

In the underground

After a few days of arrival, thanking to the personal contacts, we could intrude Greek in the authority of “LPR”. It was folly from our and his side, but there were no other opportunity to get the information from the first-hand. He got certificate and skip and we made the same for ourselves. That was great! Separatists produced them on the colourful printer. It wasn’t a problem to make them in time of modern technologies. It gave us an opportunity to pervade everywhere without any problems.

Right now, I want to upset latent separatists, who believe in fairy tales about sabotage and reconnaissance groups of AFU, shelled Luhansk from moving mortars inside of the city. There weren’t such groups. But we often watched mortars on the trucks, secured by separatist’s patrols, which shot from different points of the city. And this mines targeted not for AFU, because maximum range of 82-mm mortar is three kilometers away. After we destroyed one of such points, Colorados (separatists, wearing St. George Ribbon) couldn’t keep calm for a long time and began to put two patrol lines.

Nearly end of May, when I took my car from parking, the watchman told me about recent accident. The group of separatists came on the parking in the evening, they asked about cars with European numbers. The guard of course asked about such an interest. They explained: “According to their information, two female snipers have arrived to the city, they were mercenaries from volunteer battalions. One is Pole, other Baltic. They came on their own cars. So, they were looking for them at the parkings”. I laughed all day. But, with such a humour, covering this version, they have seized a lot of cars. In front of my eyes, separatists clipped “Land Cruiser” near gas station on Yakira block, dropped out the owner, and piled on this car. The driver of the automobile has been recovering 5 minutes after that.

It became understood in the middle of May that Russia drives for the full military equipment and weapon in Ukraine. Somewhere about that times I saw first time new military Russian truck “Ural” on Sovetskaya street. I was impressed by this car. Later, on July, ours seized from separatists a couple of these trucks. Thanking to Greek, we knew about coming to the border and entering our territory the columns of tanks and other armoured vehicle and reported about it in the HQ. But, maybe General Staff considered that it’s a provocation to destroy them on the enter to Ukraine. They brought such a big number of machinery on May and the beginning of June, that it was enough to arm a few mechanized battalions.  

They studied conspiracy very fast. Our life was at stake. Separatists made no bones about somebody who got into the cellar. People were crippled and killed in the building of SSU. Nobody will never know how many people died there. We received the information in the middle of May, that nearly 100 litres of sulfuric acid were brought into the “hut”. Why they use it, I think, there is no need to explain. At the end of the May bandits stormed a military unit of paratroopers, about destiny of those boys they were so worried already in February. One soldier died in assault. There is one interesting moment, “Berkut”, stood with this guys in one ranks in Kyiv, secured the approaches to the unit to prevent somebody to assault it. By the way it’s not the only one “feat” of inglorious “commandos”. When separatists captured “Privatbank” on Cheluskintsev street and it was not only invasion in bank also they took hostages of bank workers for ten days. “Berkut” heroically secured separatists in this “noble” case.

I communicated with the “superwarriors”, borrowed the community of East Ukrainian University. It turned that a lot of them are Russians. They were recruited at the place of residence through the military registration like volunteers. They were promised 120-150 thousand of roubles with “fight money” at that moment.

All May we were looking the bases of “militants” around Luhansk, we detected places of dislocation of machinery. Three bases of separatists were destroyed by artillery and aviation already on June.

When bloodthirsty separatists tried to capture unit of border guards on Mirny block at the beginning of the summer, our nerves have not sustained. Violating all the rules of conspiracy we decided to help to border guys. We made “friendly” fire, which mowed their ranks a little bit. They raged for a few days.

Unknown plane shot with missiles on the Regional Administration on June 2, when separatists assaulted the unit and our aviation tried to help to border guards. If there were air-ground missiles the result would be more essential. It is seen on the video from surveillance cameras. A few questions appeared. First: judging from posted radio communications of the pilot, he speaks about green roof, such roof was on the border guards unit, which was stormed by separatists, The Regional Administration has red roof. Second: Greek told that Russians periodically fly in with the fight aviation on our territory. Third: occasionally at this time Gizay appeared there. It is strange, because a week before he finally quarreled with Bolotov and went out from the leadership. Ostensibly he wasn’t agreed with such a policy, which was held by separatist authority. And at that day and at that time he was called in the administration. Maybe, “revolution” needed a martyr, so Gizay became it.

“Greek” reported about receiving by “LPR” representatives the portable anti-aircraft missile complexes from Russia. I personally went to transmit this information together with combat in the HQ of the sector. They asked about the possibility of coming of freighters into the airport of Luhansk. I explained maybe 15 minutes that this couldn’t be done, showed from where they can strike on the setting for landing aircrafts. It looked like they understood everything, reported to the top. But “top”, maybe, had another thoughts, so they sent planes and guys died.

Ours liberated Schastie, the battles near Metallist began. We came to separatists on 17th in the rear in the block-post near Metallist. A few days before it Doc from our group voluntarily helped separatists to dig trenches exactly there.

So we were clear informed about places of location of machinery, secrets and of course trenches.

Artillery hit in a target precisely and we helped by all means with corrections, grenades, barrel launchers. A little bit later I knew that at this time Russian journalists died there. And we watched and could not understand what dorks with camera were rushing on the highway. Then “Bullet” (Nadya Savchenko) was blamed in their death. Idiots! How she could correct fire from Stukalova ravine if landings block all observing there and also the height difference. The correction of fire was possible only from compression station or somewhere near where we located. The harvest was glorious. We counted nearly 60 coffins near the Regional Administration that day.

At the same days we watched how trucks with ammunition and armed people came on the advance from the office of the Communist Party on Artema street in Luhansk.

Of course, the main goal was the reconnaissance and help to ours to enter in the city. Separatists didn’t have enough of people and we reported about it. But General Staff didn’t give command to assault the city. Except this, unclear maneuvers began. So-called “militants” were strengthening defense line near the monument to prince Ihor. Firing points were poured with concrete, fortifications were built by all rules of the military engineering (it’s interesting where did they take specialists?). We permanently reported about it.

We got first losses in the beginning of July. “Bely” (White) died. It was accident and violation of secrecy.

We got an order to leave the city on July 8. I asked for a few days to finish all cases. During our not long two months saboteur activity we personally managed to reduce ranks of separatists on 50 men and burnt 2 units of armed vehicle, not counting such a number which was destroyed by aviation and artillery.

Exit was planned on July 12. But during the execution of a combat mission Greek died on July 11. We went out with heavy heart. The rest of the group entered Schastie on July 13. Then there were a lot of fightings, new victories and losses, but it is the other story.

The commander of task group of the battalion “Aydar” with the call sign “Uzbek”.

Translated by Denis Bizkitov