The valley of Donbas has been the key stake and the most important Russian claim from Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The battles are by far the fiercest and the forces of Moscow and Kiev are clashing for each and every meter of land. Protothema.gr was at the site of the fighting, specifically less than 2 kilometers from the “ground zero” in the area.

The bombardings -outgoing and incoming-are ongoing at the point of contact between Russian and Otykran forces, specifically outside the town of Pogrovsk. The city, which has yet to be fully evacuated of its permanent residents, is being hammered daily, and today Russian army forces have the momentum. Pogrovsk is pivotal as it is another step closer for Russia to hit and eventually threaten the city of Dnipro as well, which is given one of the strategic tactical- military, and geographic control of the entire valley and essentially most of eastern Ukraine.

A special unit of the Ukrainian army has given us a rendezvous in a small village on what is essentially the border of the war zone. The 10 kilometers separating us from the battlefields is not enough to stop the sharp, heavy but rhythmic sound of Ukrainian guns firing towards Russian positions and the corresponding responses from the Russian side.

The man we are meeting gets into the car giving a handshake and a “sheepish” smile as an introduction. He drives us with the GPS on our cell phones turned off for security reasons to an area where a special transport unit of the Ukrainian army is located. The place is rough and the only 2 degrees above 0 are enough to turn the frozen ground into a vast mud lake. Although the trees at the site are quite large and large in height, they can barely hide even a small part of the American “monster” as the Ukrainians call it. Our first impression up close is that the American MaxxPro 2 is indeed impressive, to say the least.

Officers in the unit explain to us that they are by far the most useful “tool” these US vehicles have been for several months now, especially in the hands of special forces who are fighting for every road and every meter of land now less than two kilometers from where we are. These vehicles with a weight of more than 14 tons enter having double armor up to the point of “zero” and carry out of combat wounded and soldiers who are on the verge of exhaustion.

With Ukrainian and Russian artillery fire now constant and with the feeling that there is no “break” in the war one of the drivers of these US transport vehicles tells us that they are now one of the most wanted targets of the Russians. “The damage we are causing them is that we cannot be stopped by a mine or a drone not at least easily” he notes and it is clear that the work for the Ukrainians especially in difficult times is done efficiently… But it is the face of the same man who will immediately change color and tone when he receives a call on their military phone: “Is everyone okay?” he asks more than 7 times, turns towards us, and, speaking to our fixer to make sure that what he will say will be translated correctly, stresses that another vehicle of the unit has been hit and they are moving it to where we are. None of those on board have been hit and this proves that even though ultimately the “American monster” is vulnerable it is fulfilling to the end its “obligation” to the safety of those it transports.

The monstrous in size even wounded “beast” is reached by one of its many “brothers”, “Only one of its own can pull it out of the mud” we are told by the soldiers getting off the vehicle. The commander of the unit that has just arrived tells us that one of the hundreds of Russian drones in their area hit the drive shaft destroying their wheel. The armored vehicle designed to withstand, among other things, a mine blast did not “betray” its crew but left the unit with just two of its total of 26 vehicles at the beginning of this year.

Targeted by Russian drone

After many discussions and consultations that all ended in a vertical – for security reasons – refusal one of the unit’s drivers finally takes on the big truth is the responsibility to take us to the closest point of contact between Pogrovsk and the Russians. At 800 meters, one of three larger units of the Russian army is pounding the town and on the other hand, supervising all the roads through which Ukrainian vehicles pass. We stop in the middle of the road which looks blocked. Our driver asks us if we want to get off for a minute to see a vehicle that was hit just yesterday by a Russian UAV. The two occupants are dead.

Maxx Pro’s driver realizes that a Russian drone surveilling the area has him in mind’s eye. He informs us that our route will be stopped immediately as the danger is no longer at a theoretical level… The turnaround occurs almost in parallel with the activation of the Russian drones’ signal jamming system and our adrenaline levels are further increased by the speed at which we leave the spot… More than 100 kilometers per hour is enough combined with the Ukrainian driver’s experience to prevent the Russian pilots from pursuing us.

The war in eastern Ukraine has reached a critical juncture with Ukrainian forces facing for at least four months now multiple and mostly decisive blows from now expert, now expert Russian army units. The city of Pogrovsk in particular appears to remain today marginally in Ukrainian hands and the main concern of the Ukrainian army is to evacuate civilians from the urban fabric and delay the Russian advance.

The war in eastern Ukraine has reached a critical juncture with Ukrainian forces facing least four months now multiple and mostly decisive blows from now expert, now expert units of the Russian army. The city of Pogrovsk in particular appears to remain today marginally in Ukrainian hands and the main concern of the Ukrainian army is to evacuate civilians from the urban fabric and delay the Russian advance.