A month passed after we had started our training in the “Vostok” battalion. We, the newcomers, got accustomed to militia life. Kitchen details and daily material handling didn’t seem something incredibly titanic for us anymore. Newly-fledged soldiers were tired of doing the dishes and move boxes from place to place. Everyone wanted to take up arms…
We tormented our commanders with the question: “When?!”
Receiving our first AKMs caused sincere joy. Even the fact that they were half rusted and that we had to soak and clean them for a couple of days, did not diminish our optimism.
Our commander was multitasking liked crazy with us and his other duties, while the members of the “Essence of Time” unit demanded passionately his attention and new lessons in military skills.
Pyatnitsa entered our team in those days…
Zhenka became simply and naturally one of the leaders in military life, as he had served in airborne forces. The commander didn’t fail to take advantage of the fact, and immediately appointed him the senior instructor. Bright guy with deep, very deep understanding of life, he easily won the respect and became one of the leaders in our motley group…
The war was moving on Donetsk… After an epic Mr. Strelkov’s flight (you can find more on Strelkov’s betrayal of half of DPR’s territory to fascists here – Editor), artillery attacks on the city become permanent… People were leaving the city. The streets became deserted… By mid-August one could come across a civilian car on the road only occasionally.
We continued to exercise. The need to fight in the informational war forced some guys to fiercely plunge into the media scene.
At the same time, by mid-August there still remained a real threat of urban combat in Donetsk itself. The commander made the decision to arrange a combat group. Everyone wanted to join it, but new obligations didn’t allow everyone to do it…
In passing, almost casually and discreetly for training, reorganization, air raid alarms and the kitchen and unloading duties we moved into new barracks with more tolerable conditions of existence.
First combat missions… For me these memories associate with night trips around the city on an old “Volga” car and thorny emotions: what if the car stops, and I will fail the commander and everyone else…
Finally, the whole group was trusted with a real combat mission. The militia was fighting its way to Yasinovataya.
At night we changed (rotated) the battle outposts of tanks. August, the nights were dark, we moved without light, nervous… But everything passed without incidents. Guard positions were placed, everyone was waiting for the battle… but the night passed quietly.
But at the morning we were already more confident. New day, new troubles. It was decided to move the “Essence of Time” battle group to a new base in Yasinovataya.
Moving didn‘t take long, and we immediately received a new mission. Mineralnoe village is nearby; a morbid stirring of suspicious folks was detected there. A part of the battle group modestly moved at night and assumed guard positions. Another part entered the village in the morning. The operation went well. In addition to combat missions, there were team coordination and interaction.
A simple training mission turned into a true baptism of fire. Our group, moving on the way to training, was shelled by mortars. Many of us remembered whizzing of mines exploding nearby for a long time…
Our group shared its residence with the “Vostok” training company. The guys from training unit watched with admiration how the commander and his assistants trained the “Essence of Time” group. Good friends were found. And in a week or two the “Essence of Time” group became a unit.
People asked to join us, but there were different people… Some left in a month, and some are still in the ranks.
The guys from the “Essence of Time” information center were also building up their muscles in th
e informational war. EoT TV-DPR news became regular. Some people went to study to be cameramen.
By that time the “Essence of Time” combat unit was finally formed and became a military unit. And we turned from tank guards to tank-borne infantry.
The commander received a new task: to move to the outskirts of Yasinovataya on armored vehicles, to stay there as a reserve, and to join the battle, if necessary.
There was reconnaissance at night. The old “Volga” car also did not fail that time, and, as a part of the group, didn’t fall very that much behind a jeep during the night.
The first departure on the armor remained in my memory for a long time… Morning, still warm autumn sun, a combat gear growling and twitching under me…
The day passed in waiting… There was no fighting that day. But in a day or two we launched an offensive. This operation to liberate Vasilievka, Lebyazhye, Zemlyanki, and Panteleymonovka took about 48 hours. There were no casualties in the unit.
Ukrainian army rolled back, leaving their military equipment and weapons behind. After the victorious march on tanks through Panteleymonovka, we assumed guard posts. In the evening, our positions came under mortar fire. The night was also varied – as soon as we settled down and fell asleep, mortar attack repeated, the enemy hit squares, the camp located in the forest was showered by shrapnel…
After those events the war mostly moved to trenches. The command used the “Essence of Time” unit, as one of the most disciplined, in combat guard of tanks and their crews.
Until November we were serving in two places, protecting military equipment: Panteleymonovka and Yasinovataya. We were on guard, training… But in early November a new task was set before the “Essence of Time” unit…
The “Essence of Time” unit took off from Panteleymonovka, and we began to prepare for the new combat missions – entering the Donetsk airport.
Other stories of “Essence of Time” unit soldiers: “Essence of Time” unit in Donbass
Source (for copy): https://eu.eot.su/?p=7710
