Ukrainian officials allege a Russian Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack jet was also downed by a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter approaching Vinnitsya to the west. Losses proved so severe that some paratroopers reportedly refused to fight. A similar flexible contingency was prepared for during the U.S. air landing operation in Grenada in 1983. Given how indiscrete the crash of such large aircraft would be, one would think confirmation should not be long in coming if accurate. And the russian paratroopers who landed in Gostomel will be completely destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. Most transport planes are highly vulnerable to enemy fighters and surface-to-air defenses. The video has been circulated widely on social media and is being held up by Ukrainian media outlets as proof that Russia's losses are far greater than the Kremlin cares to admit. F kill them all. Dating back to the first use of paratroopers in World War II, critics in many armies including the US and British militaries complained that airborne units and special forces siphon off the best soldiers, leaving less-qualified personnel for the regular infantry. Reached by the AP in January, Ivans mother at first denied shed ever talked with her son from the front. In their last intercepted call, Maxims wife seems to have a premonition. They were well prepared.. The city is on fire, the enemy is pressing. Published: 13:16 GMT, 28 February 2023 | Updated: 09:30 GMT, 2 March 2023. All the weapons., Mother: Its the Americans driving this, of course! Am I different from them? Mother: Oh Lyonka, youve seen so much stuff there!, Leonid: Well civilians are lying around right on the street with their brains coming out., Mother: Are they the ones you guys shot or the ones , Mother: Lyonya, they might just be peaceful people., Leonid: Mom, there was a battle. The problems range from poorly designed vehicles to parachute drops conducted without first suppressing enemy air defenses. Trophies from Ukraine, he calls them. In addition, citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and to the website of a foreign media outlet. But VDV squads were too small and weakly armed to fight on foot, according to Timokhin. And Ukraine claims it successfully used both to contest the skies over Vasylkiv. The AP isnt using their full names to protect their families in Russia. Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 began with a surprise VDV helicopter assault on Hostomel airfield northwest of Kyiv. WebKYIV, Ukraine Ukraines military says it has shot down a Russian military transport plane with paratroopers on board. The issues raised about the role and value of paratroopers are not unique to Russia's military. He holds a Masters degree from Georgetown University and served with the Peace Corps in China. But phones have been dangerous for the soldiers in another, more personal sense. Pictured: A vehicle is destroyed by a missile in a field. And I bless you for everything, everything! The phone acts as a real-time bridge between two incompatible realities the war in Ukraine and home. Preparing properly. This was reported by the command of the Air Assault Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Joe Biden Keeps Putting His Foot In His Mouth. There were dead bodies lying around and burning. Of course, youll come. In a joint production on Saturday, Feb. 25, The Associated Press and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting will broadcast never-before-heard audio of Russian soldiers as they confront and perpetrate the brutality of Russias war in Ukraine. Russia's huge airborne force, composed of 45,000 paratroopers in four divisions, is actually a separate military branch that serves as shock troops and a rapid-intervention force. But if resistance proved too intense, then they could parachute into the fray instead. Details: On 7 September, in one of the The dramatic war footage emerged as a separate video captured Ukrainian paratroopers taking out a Russia armoured convoy made up of tanks and amphibious tracked infantry vehicles called BMPs with the help of US-made Javelin missiles. Learn more about policies and standards in APs Statement of News Values and Principles. One way for them to get what they needed or wanted was to steal. It was supposed to be an airhead for cargo planes to ferry troops and vehicles in to support the isolated paratroopers, who would then advance on Kyiv. And day after day, you sit there alone with those thoughts, he tells his girlfriend. A third wants his girlfriend to know that in all the horror, he dreams about just being with her. Hows the situation there?, Maxim: We dont have a f thing to do, so we go around and loot the f shopping mall., Wife: Just be careful, in the name of Christ.. Maxim: Everyone is like that here. Leonid tells his mother about the terror of going on patrol and not knowing what or who they will encounter. Even as she teaches their daughter the rules of society scolding the child for throwing things, for example Maxim talks about what hes been stealing. The VDV then became elite infantry spearheading the Russian armored columns a role they were not designed for. Debris is scattered all around them on the scorched stretch of road. The Ukrainian government has been intercepting Russian calls when their phones ping Ukrainian cell towers, providing important real-time intelligence for the military. They blame the United States and recite conspiracy theories pushed by Russian state media. Well probably stay until they clean up the whole of Ukraine. I just wasnt prepared emotionally for my child to go to war at the age of 19, his mother told the AP in January. I told him: Look here, take it, give it to families with kids and take something for yourself. According to a statement from the militarys General Staff, the Il-76 heavy transport plane was shot down near Vasylkiv, a city 40 kilometers south of Kyiv. However, warzone-related chaos can delay such verification too. The vehicles have rusted, suggesting they were destroyed some time ago. The text of the tweet in Russian said, Remember, this is how Russian They are developing biological weapons. Video from We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. Laying around, sitting together, eating, looking at each other just us, together., Ivan: Together all the time. Maxim: Do you know how much a gram of gold costs here?, Maxim: Roughly? He calls his girlfriend, Olya, and tells her he had a dream about her. All rights reserved. After his first fight, Leonid seems to have compassion for the young Ukrainian soldiers theyd just killed. US and NATO are 'risking a catastrophic clash of nuclear powers' with their involvement in the Ukraine war, Russia's troop death toll 'passes 150,000' with bodies of 'human wave' soldiers carried off battlefield Ukraine's first lady condemns Putin for 'mercilessly firing at civilians' as 'deliberate missile strike' on Denmark's famous Little Mermaid statue is vandalised with Russian flag painted over it, Woman finds a 100-year-old Dairy Milk bar under her floorboards while renovating her 1930s home. Though they ultimately seized the island, losses were so heavy that Hitler forbade airborne operations for the rest of the war. Unfortunately, they are in the 200s.. Its so f- up, the s- thats happening. You know where they shoot themselves?, Leonid: The bottom part of the left thigh., Mother: Its bull, Lyonya. Some soldiers shoot themselves just to get medical leave, he says. We shot from the tanks, machine guns and rifles. Lets not talk about this. Ex-Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman was rushed to hospital twice last month following fears he suffered a Edvard Munch painting that was hidden from Nazis in a barn alongside his famous work The Scream sells at Aldi releases list of 30 sites where it wants to open stores - is one of them near you? Has Ron DeSantis Already Lost to Donald Trump. And we have to stop it.. She declined to listen to any of the intercepts: This is absurd, she said. Coronavirus literally started there., Maxim: Yeah, I also saw somewhere that they used bats., Mother: All of it. (Many sources claim the distance is 25 miles, but Google map data suggests otherwise.). 'The cemetery in Mikhailovsk they're all guys from the VDV.'. American motherf have been helping them out., Mother: F f. WebThis is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 89%. Leonid became a soldier because he needed money. Mercy was for suckers. The tyrant unleashed his "legendary" While citing and using any materials on the Internet, links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory. But its become normal for him. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. As with most aerial shoot downs claimed in the war so far, evidence in the form of wreckage has not been produced yet to the authors knowledge. We, however, did find a tweet from September 4, 2016, that carried the same video. Maxim and his mother discuss the opposing stories about the war being told on Ukrainian and Russian television. There remains a major caveat to these reports: visual confirmation of the Il-76 losses has yet to be produced. Maxim: Here, its all American. The Southern California News Group is one of them. That said, the Associated Press claimed two American officials familiar with the situation on the ground confirm the loss of the transports. His wifes world is filled with school crafts and the sounds of children playing outside. His wife asks him where theyre going. Did you shoot from your tanks?, Leonid: Yeah, we did. He used to dress up in fatigues and play paintball with friends in the woods. US and NATO are 'risking a catastrophic clash of nuclear powers' with their involvement in the Ukraine war, Russia's troop death toll 'passes 150,000' with bodies of 'human wave' soldiers carried off battlefield Ukraine's first lady condemns Putin for 'mercilessly firing at civilians' as 'deliberate missile strike' on Denmark's famous Little Mermaid statue is vandalised with Russian flag painted over it, Woman finds a 100-year-old Dairy Milk bar under her floorboards while renovating her 1930s home. Disabled woman, 49, who gestured for a cyclist to move off the pavement and onto road seconds before she was Epsom College headteacher killed by her husband died ofshotgun wounds to chest and abdomen while daughter, Tesco urgently recalls popular product over allergy fears. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Ukraine's military said Russia was shelling settlements around Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of around 70,000 but now lies in ruins after months of intense warfare. ONE: Kill if you dont want to be killed. Given the level of attrition in Ukraine where trench-bound soldiers are expending massive amounts of ammunition does Russia need a few elite units to stiffen poorly performing regular ground troops during key operations or is better to spread the best soldiers around and raise the overall quality of the infantry? Glory to Ukraine!'. Beaming Prince Harry and Meghan enjoy a date night at exclusive $4,200-A-YEAR Repli-Kate! russian helicopters with paratroopers attack Gostomel and Vyshgorod. A Ukrainian soldier is standing by some trees Death came for Ivan a decade after that boyhood paintball game. NOW WATCH: The US military uses this tactic to get hundreds of troops onto the ground in a matter of minutes, counterattacked and pinned down the paratroopers. Several helicopters were shot down by anti Those setbacks have led Russian commentators to question how the VDV is designed and employed. WebA Ukrainian tank has blown up a house being used for cover by Vladimir Putin 's soldiers, and a Russian armoured convoy has been ambushed by paratroopers with Javelin missiles, two "As after every war in the past, the future of the Airborne Forces is now being called into question," wrote commentator Alexander Timokhin in the Russian defense publication Military Review. Everyone ran away., Mother: So all the people left, right? We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Whatever the case, some Russian paratroopers did reportedly land in scattered fashion around Vasylkiv. He says theyre even shaking down kids. The AP has been unable to determine what happened to Maxim. A Ukrainian ground and air attack drove the Russian paratroopers out that evening, but Russian forcesincluding Spetsnaz and additional airbornemostly regained control the following day. Maybe theyll pull us out. Presenter posts Now the CHICKENS could get vaccines! How the scariest sound is not the whistle of a rocket flying past, but the silence that means its coming directly for you. Ivan: F-, you know, its driving me crazy here. In our money, theyre like 30-40,000 a piece, 60,000 a piece., Maxim: I scored about a kilo and a half of necklaces, charms, bracelets these earrings earrings with rings , Maxim: Anyway, I counted and if its 3,000 rubles a gram, then I have about 3.5 million. RIA Novosti reported that during the course of the war between 1979 and 1989, 125 Soviet planes were shot down in Afghanistan. All of Russia shares this grief. The Ukrainian military first claimed that one of their large but maneuverable Su-27 Flanker jet fighters intercepted one of the Il-76MDs and destroyed it at 12:30 AM. His mood darkens. The intercepts also show that as soldiers realized how much theyd been misled, they grew more and more afraid. In the calls, there is an obvious moral dissonance between the way Leonids mother raised him and what he is seeing and doing in Ukraine.Still, she defended her son, insisting he never even came into contact with civilians in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin's invasion plan for has been stalled by the slaughter of his crack paratroopers in Ukraine, experts claim. Your email address will not be published. "Yesterday, in one of the areas of mission execution, an air defense unit of the 80th Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down a Russian Mi-24 attack helicopter by Stinger MANPADS," the press service of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted on Telegram. Ill come back and tell you how it is here and why we drink!, Maxim: Everything will be fine. Finally, at 7:30 AM the Balasynovych posted on Telegram that the landing operation had been defeated: The battles that lasted all night are over. It was an 18-year-old guy. Of course, youll come, his mother says. But Maxim and his mother believe its the Ukrainians who are deluded by fake news and propaganda, not them. (I'm a bot) The Russian military reported Monday that it shot down a Ukrainian drone approaching an airbase deep inside Russia, the second time the facility has been targeted this month - again revealing weaknesses in Russia's air defences. Many of the recent criticisms about the performance of Russia's elite parachute force, known as the VDV, have been voiced about lightly armed airborne units since World War II. And the russian paratroopers who landed in Gostomel will be completely destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Leonids introduction to war came on Feb. 24, as his unit crossed into Ukraine from Belarus and decimated a detachment of Ukrainians at the border. Putin's soldiers have been sent to Belarus and Russia to resupply and reorganise before the heavy onslaught in Ukraine's east, US intelligence sources said. Ivans dream came true. Im so proud of you, my son! Ironically, the Soviet-era VDV had an array of air-droppable equipment, including trucks and multiple rocket launchers. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. The Ukrainian military announced that it Stay up to date with what you want to know. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform. We found nothing relevant there either. In the second drone video, more rusting vehicles are shown on the side of the highway and are spaced further apart than in the first. WebRT @Igor_from_Kyiv_: russian helicopters with paratroopers attack Gostomel and Vyshgorod. (I'm a bot) The Russian military reported Monday that it shot down a Ukrainian drone approaching an airbase deep inside Russian paratroopers landed with parachutes in the fields, forests and villages of our community. I dont know, I felt something warm, something dear. WebUkrainian paratroopers shot down two Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft, using the Soviet-made Igla man-portable air defence system. Maxims mood flips between boredom and horror not just at what he has seen, but also what he has done. He gleefully calculates and recalculates what his pile of gold might be worth.He says he offered a wad of money the size of his fist to Ukrainian women and children. Forget the plant-based diet, it's time to eat trees! Hostomel is a small cargo field to the northwest of Kyiv that is also known as Antonov Airport, for the Antonov aircraft company based there. If you offload it., Wife: Got it. Many joined the military because they needed money and were informed of their deployment at the last minute. Stuck just outside Kyiv, bored and unsure why theyre in Ukraine in the first place, Maxim and a half-dozen other guys shot up a shopping mall and made off with all the gold they could carry. As he speaks, he watches a town burn on the horizon. A split-second later, smoke explodes from the nearby house as is is struck. But the big Il-76 cargo planes never arrived. And yesterday Ukraines 110th Brigade shot down an SU-25 Russian warplane which was trying to attack a Ukrainian position near Avdiivka, military sources claimed. Required fields are marked *. And the russian paratroopers who landed in Gostomel will be completely destroyed by the Armed Forces Another shows a vehicle in the middle of a field being blown to pieces. As things get worse for Ivan in Ukraine, his mothers patriotism deepens and her rage grows. The only reason Maxim is able to speak with his family back in Russia is because theyve been stealing phones from locals. But she agreed to listen to some of the intercepted audio and confirmed it was her speaking with Ivan. As far out as you could be. WebKYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's military says it has shot down a Russian military transport plane with paratroopers on board. When his mother found out he was in Ukraine, she said she stopped speaking for days and took sedatives. So, we won., Mother: Oh what a nightmare! War You know, when youre sleeping and then youre like War Where, where is it? And yesterday Ukraines 110th Brigade shot down an SU-25 Russian warplane which was trying to attack a Ukrainian position near Avdiivka, military sources claimed. News and publications marked as "Advertisement" and "PR" and articles in the section "Releases" include promoted content, and an advertiser is responsible for the content. 2015-2023 Ukrinform. WebHonored to coauthor article in U.S. Russian soldiers had been told by Putin and others that theyd be welcomed by their brothers and sisters in Ukraine as liberators. He holds a Masters degree from Georgetown University and served with the Peace Corps in China. 'The Russian Federation will simply abandon them according to its old tradition.'. Lyonka, you wanted to live at that moment, right honey?, Leonid: They were lying there, just 18 or 19 years old. Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. It's possible that the building is a small outhouse. Web11.05.2022 12:30. WebKYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's military says it has shot down a Russian military transport plane with paratroopers on board. WebRussia's huge airborne force, composed of 45,000 paratroopers in four divisions, is actually a separate military branch that serves as shock troops and a rapid-intervention force. There was no trouble at the checkpoints. No, Im not.. In the Brest region of Belarus, which borders Ukraine, on February 28, within the framework of military exercises of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, paratroopers landed. :))), Your email address will not be published. Its like something was on fire in my hands, so warm And thats it. The head of the Vinnytsia Regional State Administration, Serhiy Borzov, said on social media that Ukraine shot down a Russian SU-25 fighter jet near Kalynivka in the Vinnytsia region. Instead, Leonids unit got stuck around Bucha. TWO: The rules of normal life no longer apply. First, he was shot in his leg. They show how deeply unprepared young soldiers and their country were for the war to come. Phone acts as a real-time bridge between two incompatible realities the war being told Ukrainian... Was her speaking with Ivan Corps in China the issues raised about war! Patriotism deepens and her rage grows bridge between two incompatible realities the war between 1979 and 1989, 125 planes. He calls his girlfriend the horror, he watches a town burn on the ground confirm the loss the! Is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, defense News, Foreign Policy,... Had an array of air-droppable equipment, including trucks and multiple rocket launchers role they were not designed.. 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