“My first thought is this: there is no room for conversation in this war. The Russians can only be stopped by force,” said MP Witold Zembaczyński, a participant in the humanitarian expedition to Bakhmut, the front line of the war in Ukraine, in an interview with Ryszard Rudnik.
You came back safe and sound, I respect your courage. You went to the hottest place on Earth right now.
Yes, it was hell. What I saw was beyond my wildest imagination. There, in Bakhmut, which is constantly under fire, you can hear, see and smell the war.
Can you really smell it? What is the smell of war?
This war, based on artillery and mortars, is filled with a specific consistency of air. When you are about 15 kilometres from ground zero, you first hear the sound of deep bass, as if you were in the middle of a thunderstorm. This, of course, has an impact on you, but you don’t smell anything yet except this acoustic wave. Somewhere from Kramatorsk in the direction of Bakhmut, you can see a lunar landscape as if after a catastrophe, covered with the remains of trees, but none of them actually have crowns. There are no birds, in fact, all living nature has already moved out of there. When it comes to animals, only a small number of dogs wandering around, at the mercy of humans, can endure the constant rumble. When you approach ground zero, you enter the wall of an overwhelming stench, you breathe air mixed with gun powder, sulphur, phosphorus.
This is what the hell of war smells like.
Exactly, and the pressure of explosions pushes your chest in. For the same reason, the convoy in which you are travelling has the windows ajar to equalise the pressure in the cabin. So they can withstand the blast of an explosion and so that the glass won’t hurt you.
In Bakhmut there are no trees, no birds, and yet people remain. Why?
By their own choice, most probably because they had nowhere else to go, out of a sense that they did not want to leave home. Or simply because at some point they don’t care anymore. These are extraordinary sights, amid the constant rumbling of missiles, people cut down trees in parks, in squares, to have something to warm themselves with. They also arrange food for their pets. This view I will always remember: we were unloading aid in Bakhmut at the warehouse point. We are covered from the Russian positions by a tank that is constantly firing in their direction. The Ukrainians use tanks as artillery because they don’t have enough cannons. And at the same time, 150 metres from us, an old man comes out with a labrador on a leash, because the dog has to ‘go’. The tank is firing non-stop, but the dog raises its hind paw and pees as if nothing ever happened. A little further away a girl sneaks by the building with some sort of canteen. There were other surreal sights, when in the midst of a pile of rubble, in the middle of seemingly nothing, some crew was trying to fix a hanging cable. These are images completely inconsistent with this scenario of war. We unpack the cars when the drones arrive. We hear the command: hide! Soldiers are firing at the drones with everything they have. Because they may be reconnaissance drones, but most likely they are those with 3D-printed handles, dropping explosives. When it hits, it’s over.
There must be some sort of a survival code in this hell.
There are two main rules: move only along the walls of buildings and never stop in the open. Never park a vehicle between buildings, always think of something to cover you. If the Russians are shooting from the left, go so that the building shields you from their fire. If you have to go through an open area – do it quickly and never in a group, always dispersed. And in ground zero, the use of mobile phones is completely banned. If the Russians locate the phone signal, they will immediately shoot at that place.
And the tanks that take the place of cannons, are these already from the West?
No, it is mainly Russian equipment, abandoned as they retreated in panic. I saw this sign on the wreck: “For Saltivka, bitches.” It is a district of Kharkiv, where the heaviest battles took place. When I spoke to Captain Lutsenko, thanks to whom we were able to enter ground zero at all, because the army does not allow any civilians there, he said: “What is ten or twelve tanks, when we need at least five hundred here.” We saw a battalion of destroyed Ukrainian tanks that was several kilometres long.
The name Lutsenko sounds familiar…
Yuriy Lutsenko is a hero of the Orange Revolution, former political prisoner of the Yanukovych regime, former Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and former Interior Minister. It is a man who doesn’t have to be there. And yet he is and he’s fighting. This war equals people. When asked what kind of weapons they needed there, he answered with two words: artillery and drones. He was straightforward: “My advantage over the Russians is that we have British Sterlings, great 9 mm submachine guns. But the Russians are arming themselves too, recently the Wagner Group was given equipment to fight drones.”
And what does a day in Bakhmut look like today?
At dawn, a massive assault on the eastern part of the city, still defended by the Ukrainians, begins. They attack using conscripts, inexperienced soldiers, mainly prisoners. This is literally cannon fodder, hundreds of them die every day. And so it continues until the evening. At night, over their dead bodies, the Wagner Group begin the slaughter of Ukrainians. These are professional assault troopers with modern weapons, thermal imaging, night vision, advanced communication systems. And all this is spiced with a constant exchange of artillery fire. We were in Bakhmut during the day, for a few hours. We heard the sound of shelling non-stop, such a characteristic boom-boom. First comes the sound of the gunpowder gases that exit the barrel, then there’s the sound of the impact of the projectile on the target. And there’s also the whistle of bullets flying overhead.
Russians claim Bakhmut is surrounded
The fact that we were there means that things are not quite as they say. Indeed, there is only one route of Ukrainian supplies to the city, from the side of Kostiantynivka. This road we travelled on is like a sieve, constantly shelled by the Russians and then repaired, because it is the only way to supply the defenders of Bakhmut. Tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, Hummers, military quads are constantly moving towards the city, and damaged equipment is being towed in the other direction for repair. It has to be said that the Ukrainians have all possible military equipment there. I was in Bakhmut at the command point of the drone unit called the Birds of Magyar. They say that they kill 40 Russians a day using drones alone.
We all have an image of war taken from the movies, but you’ve seen the war with your own eyes.
It is completely different, there is no heroism as we imagine it. Ukrainian soldiers have a saying that “you can’t hear the bullet that’s coming for you.” I mean, they console themselves with the fact that death is instantaneous. Meanwhile, the truth is completely different. The worst are the wounds from mortar shells, they cause terrible lacerations. In general, in order to go with our mission, we had to undergo training in tactical medicine. How to use a bandage, how to use an Israeli bandage, how to dress gunshot wounds, how to evacuate the wounded, how to react when you are wounded before help arrives. You need to know how to stop the blood. If you don’t stop your own bleeding in six seconds, you won’t make it. You just need to know how to do it. Medics were with us, they risked the most.
Why?
Because the Wagner Group knows that killing a medic takes the lives of a few more people that they could help. That is why they are the main target on the front line. The Wagner Group has a simple tactic: they wound the soldier, wait for help to come and then open fire.
And how were you received by the soldiers on the front line?
At every turn we were met with kindness and gratitude beyond description, they were a little surprised that we had reached ground zero.
What did you bring to Bakhmut?
Our goal was to supply the Birds of Magyar drone operator unit. 13 drones went to Bakhmut, each worth about 10 thousand zlotys. On site, the Ukrainians use 3D printers to add special handles to them, so that the equipment we deliver can carry explosives. We also supplied the soldiers with 30 ballistic-certified front bulletproof vests, night and thermal imaging devices, military equipment, Kalashnikov magazines, speedloaders and uniforms. We brought eight pallets of gifts from Opole itself, and there were people from all over Poland with us. Here I have to thank the Opole branch of the Polish Red Cross and the volunteers from the aid point in Turawa Park. Everything is really useful to soldiers there – for example sleeping bags, because in the trenches there are now sitting in the mud and sleeping bags in such circumstances are virtually single-use. They were very grateful for the boxes with nutrition drinks, needed for the soldiers’ recovery, but also for Snickers bars, mashed potatoes, various cans of food, drinks. And we brought a lot of medical supplies: catheters, IVs, bandages, medicines. Generators are also needed, mainly large diesel ones. The main organiser of the mission was the Open Dialogue Foundation and we went there as part of the Opposition for Ukraine campaign.
Was it worth it?
It was, but I still need to process what I saw there. My first thought is this: there is no room for conversation in this war. The Russians can only be stopped by force. The Ukrainians can do it, but at a great cost. It is no longer the army of 2014, these are soldiers trained in battle. They are supported by the whole country. Ukrainians cannot be left alone, because they are also fighting for our peace, for the peace of the whole Europe. Anyone who doesn’t realise that is making a huge mistake.
Interview by Ryszard Rudnik
On Monday, January 23, the Russians interrupted the last route of Ukrainian supplies to Bakhmut from the side of Kostiantynivka. Ukrainian soldiers in the city are now fighting cut off. The commander of the Birds of Magyar informed MP Zembaczyński that one of the thirteen drones delivered by the Poles had already been shot down by the Wagner Group. This means that the machines are already engaged in combat.
Was it worth it?
It was, but I still need to process what I saw there. My first thought is this: there is no room for conversation in this war. The Russians can only be stopped by force. The Ukrainians can do it, but at a great cost. It is no longer the army of 2014, these are soldiers trained in battle. They are supported by the whole country. Ukrainians cannot be left alone, because they are also fighting for our peace, for the peace of the whole Europe. Anyone who doesn’t realise that is making a huge mistake.
Interview by Ryszard Rudnik
On Monday, January 23, the Russians interrupted the last route of Ukrainian supplies to Bakhmut from the side of Kostiantynivka. Ukrainian soldiers in the city are now fighting cut off. The commander of the Birds of Magyar informed MP Zembaczyński that one of the thirteen drones delivered by the Poles had already been shot down by the Wagner Group. This means that the machines are already engaged in combat.
Source: zawszepomorze.pl