By Inna Varenytsia
NEAR VOVCHANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukrainian soldiers operating a howitzer in the Kharkiv region near the Russian border are working around the clock to stop an incursion by Moscow’s forces, and they are finally getting the grenades to do it doing.
Ukraine’s defenders were hampered for months by a shortage of artillery shells and other weapons, while the US Congress withheld billions of dollars in military aid. As lawmakers in Washington argued, Russian forces extended their lead on the front lines and advanced on the Eastern Front.
With a $61 billion aid package belatedly approved by Congress last month, Ukraine’s gunners say crippling deficits are starting to ease.
Those in the northern districts of the Kharkiv region say the fighting is more intense than their previous engagement in Bakhmut, the eastern Ukrainian city that was captured by Russia last year and reduced to rubble by months of fighting.
“It’s 24/7, their infantry keeps coming, we keep fighting their attacks. At least we try. Whenever possible, we take them down,” said Pavlo, a gunner from Ukraine’s 92nd Separate Assault Brigade who pilots a howitzer.
“We were previously positioned in the Bakhmut area, now we have been transferred here. It is much ‘hotter’ here. We had no grenades there. At least here we have grenades, they have started delivering them. We have something to to work with, to fight.”
Russian troops crossed the border earlier this month and say they have captured about a dozen villages.
The town of Vovchansk, 5 km inside the border, remains the focal point of the raid. Ukrainian forces control about 60 percent of the city and are fighting house to house to fend off Russian attacks.
The stakes are high: the capture of Vovchansk would be Russia’s biggest gain since the attack. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, is 70 km away.
“We see them walking on the road, five kilometers away, all the way from Shebekino,” said Vitalii, commander of the brigade’s artillery unit, referring to a town on the Russian side of the border.
“We see them walking towards their positions on foot. As they move, we naturally try to hit them, to cause as many casualties as possible.”
Officers are studying drone footage of Vovchansk, showing smoke rising over several districts, to assess the situation below. Monitors are checked, calculations are made.
Two men are tasked with making sure the howitzer is properly camouflaged – with tree branches.
Vitalii is confident that the shells will keep coming as everyone is aware of the importance of holding their line.
“Yes, we will get ammunition because we are up against a large and serious enemy group,” he said.
“If we can now demonstrate that in such an extreme situation we are able to stop the enemy’s large-scale attack on Kharkov and the Kharkov region, the enemy will not dare to think of attacking Kiev, Chernihiv, Sumy or Poltava traps.”
(Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Stephen Coates)
