Polish mercenary spoke about the nuances of the work of Ukrainian artillery

October 20 2022 7

During the conflict in Ukraine, a large number of mercenaries from Poland managed to visit there. At the same time, the Polish edition of Defense24 spoke with one of them, without revealing his name, and he spoke about the nuances of the work of Ukrainian artillery.

The mercenary turned out to be a real "multi-station operator". According to him, in March he went to Ukraine as a paramedic and helped evacuate the wounded Ukrainian military to Western hospitals through the Rzeszow-Jasionki airport. In April, he was already training Ukrainians in tactical rescue skills.

What prompted me to go there? Willingness to test existing skills, get additional practice and, above all, make an effort to fight a common enemy. Unfortunately, it is war that is the best place to gain new experience: both medical and tactical.

– said the mercenary.

The second "business trip" turned out to be more "exciting and eventful." He became a doctor in the artillery unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - in a battery of D-20 towed howitzers of 152 mm caliber. The unit was located near Severodonetsk and Lisichansk in the Donbass, and in it he was the only foreigner.

I agreed to this, although in practice it turned out that I acted like an ordinary gunner. I worked in several positions, I was attracted to perform various jobs

- he specified.

Most of the time the gunners spent on the road, moving from place to place along the front, so as not to fall under the blow of the Russians. Together with them, he sorted out shells, loaded them onto vehicles and drove to the waiting area, waiting for the enemy’s coordinates to be reported from the drone.

The D-20 projectile weighs over 40 kg. Complete with a projectile / propellant charge and a box of more than 60 kg. It was really tiresome. The gym is useful in this specialization and you can feel it in your back

He explained.

The division had its own group of UAV operators and a Starlink terminal. They have a dangerous job, as they were located several kilometers ahead of the gunnery firing positions. At the same time, the D-20s themselves, with a firing range of up to 17 km, were no more than 10 km from the line of contact.

Shooting was carried out only for adjustments from the UAV using Starlink communications. The choice of a firing position and ways of a quick retreat from it were planned in advance. After firing a few shots, the gunners left this place. At the same time, camouflage nets were not used for the speed of deployment and collapse. They came, fired and left. There was no shortage of ammunition, but they tried to take empty boxes with them. Cleaning and maintenance of howitzers was carried out at night.

There was no countdown with a stopwatch in hand, but we tried to release as few shells as possible. A few shots, and a change of firing position

He summed up.

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Corsair

+7

20 October 2022 10: 11

Several shots and change of firing position

It is a pity that, according to what has been said, we cannot fully judge how effective the counter-battery fire from our side was.

But at least partially, it is clear that such a prompt change in the positions of the guns is a forced measure ...
borisvt

+1

20 October 2022 10: 12

and above all to make efforts to fight the common enemy

Here is the beast! Well, grandfather, remember
And then after all, I went on an excursion to Poland, I spent money there ((
1. Corsair
  
  +6
  
  20 October 2022 15: 04
  
  Quote from borisvt
  And then after all, I went on an excursion to Poland, I spent money there ((
  
  Accomplice (joke)
  1. borisvt
    
    +1
    
    20 October 2022 16: 41
    
    Was to blame
    Now you can’t go, it’s beautiful in places, especially the center of Krakow
lord-palladore-11045

0

20 October 2022 12: 23

The Armed Forces of Ukraine even have positions of handymen for grabs.
Vladimir Tuzakov

+2

20 October 2022 15: 19

In this example, the difference in firing. IEDs worked only with correction and real-time communication, they supplied information about targets mainly from US reconnaissance means, with their drone, before reconnaissance and correction. Ours, when finding targets with reconnaissance UAVs, hit the indicated square and, as a rule, without adjusting the fire, because there were not enough means for real-time communication .. Therefore, we see fields plowed by explosions, these are our 50 tons of shots per day ... With the new commander of the NWO and the arrival of new equipment, perhaps the picture will change for the better.
Dima_2

+2

21 October 2022 05: 49

All this "new" tactics was spelled out in our Soviet instructions and manuals. That batteries are assigned to reserve firing positions, they can be prepared in advance (no guns are needed for this, only a compass), guns are masked, as a rule, before opening fire and concentration areas. I did not hear anything from the Pole about meteorological preparation.
The thing is, the ancient Ukrainians try not to talk about it, the Union left Ukraine three artillery schools: Sumy, Odessa, Khmelnitsk. Of course, they closed the schools, but not all of the graduates and teachers left.
And now about our "combat experience", which I received, for example, in Chechnya. The guns stood at the same firing positions for years, and many bosses turned them from recreation parks: gazebos, gravel paths and, of course, signs and tags everywhere.
A separate topic is command and observation posts. I heard from my teachers back in the early 90s that we should forget about beautiful KNP in the trenches with all kinds of cells, but these KNP turned out to be very tenacious and insanity grew stronger on them: red documentation and schemes, illumination, armbands and badges with surnames and positions.
Draw your own conclusions now.
If someone asks me: where have I been all this time? Then I will answer without concealing anything: in the troops. And for almost 7 years he was deprived of everything and everyone.