Essence of Time unit in Donbass. Donetsk Airport. January 2015. Volga

To 10th anniversary of the combat of the Essence of Time unit near Donetsk Airport

Exactly 10 years ago, on January 17, 2015, we lost three of our comrades who took up arms to defend the Donetsk People’s Republic. Yevgeny Krasnoshein (Pyatnitsa), Igor Yudin (Bolgarin), and Yevgeny Belyaev (Belka) fall at the Donetsk Airport, defending the strategically critical position Monastyr. Capturing this position would have opened a direct path for the enemy into Donetsk. Despite the enemy’s overwhelming numerical advantage, the servicemen of the Essence of Time” unit held their position.

The day before, on January 16, 2015, Donbass people’s militias took control of the last stronghold of the Ukrainian armed units — the new terminal. The Ukrainian side, requesting a ceasefire for negotiations and the evacuation of the wounded on January 17, unilaterally violated all agreements and made a desperate attempt to reclaim lost positions. However, this attempt failed.

January 17, 2015, is a date that divided our lives into BEFORE and AFTER. Many bitter losses came after, but Pyatnitsa, Bolgarin, and Belka will forever remain the first.

At the request of their Russian comrades, the servicemen of the Essence of Time unit wrote and published firsthand accounts in 2015 about the events at Donetsk Airport, in which they were witnesses and participants (the unit had been tasked with defending the Monastery and Vesyoloye positions from mid-November 2014 to March 2015).

The following is an account about the January 2015 events, culminating in the January 17 battle, written by Yegor Gorshkov (Volga), the founder and longtime commander of the Essence of Time” unit, who fall doing his duty in the zone of Russia’ special military operation in September 2022.

Volga, Commander of the Essence of Time unit (account first published in October 2015)

Position Monastyr after the combat of January 1
Position Monastyr after the combat of January 17

The beginning of 2015. The new year itself. It brought many plans and expectations. Although already on the night of January 31 to January 1 there was a thought: the Ukrainian militants will not simply accept defeat and the loss of the airport.

We approached the new year of 2015 at the peak of both positional warfare and consolidation of positions gained through the assault and liberation of the old terminal. With regard to the positions of the Essence of Time unit , this was expressed primarily in the fact that, on the one hand, our positions, which we inherited from the guys from Sparta, were optimized: firing slits were constructed, new firing points were established, and algorithms for coordinating fire between positions — including individual firing points—were created and refined. We conducted additional reconnaissance of adjacent front-line areas, identified opportunities for establishing new positions to advance toward the runway, and fortified these positions.

On the other hand, we achieved superiority in firepower (except for artillery), i.e. sniper groups were knocked out, machine gun crews were suppressed, and automatic grenade launchers (AGS) and grenade launcher crews could only attack us by flying out from behind cover and firing a single shot in a hurry, i.e. aiming in a rush. Our units worked together, we gained the control over territory.

Due to the fact that back in mid-November 2014, the 3rd Battalion Vostok reconnaissance, providing an approach to the airport of the 3rd Battalion and conducting a reconnaissance raid in the direction from Spartak to the radar station, was almost completely destroyed, I had to do reconnaissance in November-January in a mixed group. That is, in a group staffed on a residual principle. In November-December, four people were basically engaged in it: one from Perevozchik’s platoon, two from Gruzin’s company and me. We worked separately, one pair and us one at a time.

During one of the raids, I managed to locate a winding path along the treeline [forest belt — Rossa Primavera News Agency] beyond the ditch on the enemy side. I “passed” almost to the “striped building” [the former fire station building at the airport — Rossa Primavera News Agency]. At the exit of this path (at the corner where the treelines intersect, to the left and ahead of the Tryoshka position), I was spotted and came under fire, first from a PK machine gun (firing blindly over my head) and then from an AGS grenade launcher. While retreating from the AGS fire, I veered sharply to the left of Tryoshka, stumbled upon a complex of buildings, took cover there, and then made my way out. After returning to Devyatka position (the 3rd Battalion’s headquarters — specifically the reserve command post, RCP), I examined the maps to figure out what these unoccupied buildings near the runway were.

Tryoshka after the fight on January 17, 2015
Tryoshka after the fight on January 17, 2015

In the morning, I found Pyatnitsa. He immediately grasped the idea. Together, we brought in Amper, the platoon commander in Scorpion’s company, our left-flank neighbor to the Essence of Time unit. It was safer to approach the position from his “territory” without risking enemy fire. He caught on quickly as well. Forces from the Essence of Time unit conducted additional reconnaissance (there’s a whole story about Pyatnitsa and Alfonso’s reconnaissance — I’ll tell it someday))). This resulted in the establishment of a new position called Garazh, which allowed us to better control movement on the runway, including that of enemy vehicles. The Garazh played a crucial role on January 17.  Overlooking the right flank of the enemy attack, it diverted part of their equipment and firepower, disrupting the momentum of their assault. On that position on the 17th, two of Amper’s men were wounded, one seriously.

The Essence of Time unit was ready to start using its own artillery and armored group, but the means to acquire them were still lacking, despite everyone digging tirelessly to secure such resources.

Finally, we seized the tower, captured the new terminal, and the enemy requested a ceasefire…

Bashnya - the airport's control tower
Bashnya – the airport’s control tower.

January 17 was the day of combat “not for glory, but for life on earth.” Much has already been said about it. So much — and yet so little! The entire day flashes before my eyes: the calm courage of the guys on the Tryoshka… The desperate support from the Essence of Time servicemen from other positions, who, under Iris’ command, rushed to the Tryoshka and ensured the enemy would not enter… The selfless and near-suicidal counterattack by Pantsir with three tanks on the left flank of the advancing enemy… It’s impossible to recount everything.

I led both breakthrough groups to the Tryoshka. Both attempts ended in concussions and losses. The second group reached the Tryoshka when Iris and the guys, along with artillery, were already hammering the retreating enemy.

After the first breakthrough attempt, I regained consciousness on the edge of a cemetery. My mind was hazy, and the only thought that kept coming to me was: “crawl to the guys.” I couldn’t orient myself. I crawled, feeling as though it took a hundred years. Eventually, I crawled onto a road unfamiliar to me at the time, saw headlights to my right, and passed out again.

When I came to, I was in a vehicle. One of Amper’s solders was driving a wounded soldier (“300th”) to the Devyatka and said he had picked me up near Stratonavtov.

Pyatnitsa
Pyatnitsa

I went to the Devyatka, took the second breakthrough group, and led them to the Tryoshka. We were attacked for a second time. I regained consciousness to the sound of a voice on the radio — either Shiba or Voivoda was calling me (I never found out who). They were shouting that the guys had been unblocked. I crawled back out to Stratonavtov, then returned to the Devyatka in a vehicle from either Oplot or Pyatnashka (it was coming from Peski). At the headquarters, I waited for reports on losses and positions, and we agreed that Pyatnashka would take over the Tryoshka. I got in touch with Iris.

Bolgarin
Bolgarin

Darkness. Periodically emerging from the haze, I tried to understand where I was and what time it was. I finally realized what world I was in on the evening or late afternoon of January 18. I called for a vehicle and left for the airport. Once there, I clarified the situation and went looking for reinforcements. Between January 12 and 18, I lost half of my unit to casualties, both “200s” (killed in action) and “300s” (wounded). I requested volunteer assistance from the Essence of Time movement in Russia. I arrived at the training camp to see Chika. Chika gathered the training staff instructors and gave them a speech.

When he asked who was ready to help the Essence of Time until Volga could find reinforcements — everyone stood up. Understand this — everyone! And they went. They held the defense until the wounded started returning, and until we recruited replacements and trained them according to the KMB (basic training) program, which was shortened to one week. Those who went were officially listed as instructors in the training center. The fact that they entered the airport was known only to Chika and me. The guys just wanted to help — calmly, thoughtfully, and fiercely.

Belka
Belka

We paid our last respect to the fallen comrades at Chetrvyorka, one of the bases of the Vostok. There were many people from other units. Those who came from combat units were the first to say goodbye and immediately loaded into cars. Back. To OUR positions. To meet the Ukrainian militants. The Ukrainian militants attacked again and again, and only in the 20th of January the intensity of their attacks subsided …

Volga and Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Yudina, mother of Igor Yudina (Bolgarin). January 17, 2017
Volga and Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Yudina, mother of Igor Yudina (Bolgarin). January 17, 2017.

If I live to see victory, I will go to the relatives of my servicemen. I will look into the eyes of their loved ones. I will visit their resting places on earth. I will speak to heaven again and again. I am ready to answer to God and to people. Because everything that is not done is the commander’s fault. All the dead are in my heart and on my conscience.

Will this war be the last? For me, I don’t know, only God knows. But for my people and my homeland, everything is just beginning. History has returned. But in order for our people and our state not to fall into the state of “there was such a people, there was such a state” – there are still many battles to be fought. And the main battles will take place in ourselves. We will have to awaken from selfishness, simplicity, consumerism, lack of faith in ourselves and our neighbor. Then, perhaps, we will become worthy of our great ancestors. And without this, it is pointless to hope that our descendants will be great.

The enemy will be defeated – the Victory will be ours!

Translated from Rossa Primavera News Agency