Ruotsalaisessa lehdessä oli ukrainalaisen tarkka-ampujan haastattelu (26.3).
Kreml tycks förbereda sig för ett utdraget krig. De ryska styrkorna går på defensiven och satsar alltmer på artilleribeskjutning, enligt prickskytten Oleksi Sharadkin. Men han ser inga vägar framåt för Ryssland, säger han till SvD. ”Det här kriget följer ingen militär logik”.
www.svd.se
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The Kremlin seems to be preparing for a protracted war. The Russian forces are on the defensive and are increasingly investing in artillery shelling, according to sniper Oleksi Sharadkin. But
he sees no way forward for Russia, he tells SvD.
"This war does not follow military logic."
"Strange". This is how the Ukrainian sniper Oleksi Sharadkin describes his impression of fighting against the Russian army. Both
he and soldiers in his unit had an image of the Russian military as strong, competent and dangerous. The reality they now face on the battlefield is the opposite.
- I really can not understand it. Our opponents are so unprepared. It is easier to shoot Russians than targets on shooting ranges, he tells SvD over the phone. This does not only apply to ordinary marksmen. He says that they have also fought against the Russian special forces Spetsnaz and Chechen militias belonging to the warlord Ramzan Kadyrov. Spetsnaz has made itself known for possessing great tactical ability, Chechen militias for their brutality and violent capital. - That's not true either. They are both better in their marketing than in their military skills. According to Oleksi Sharadkin,
there is only one major problem: - There are so damn many of them. It will take us a while to get rid of them all, he says.
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The sniper's military history began ten years ago, when he was called up for military service and was then a paratrooper. He enjoyed the military - so much so that he applied to become a mercenary for a private military company, in the style of the now infamous Blackwater and Wagner group. He does not want to tell which group he was in, or where he served, more than that he was an instructor abroad. After a couple of years, however, he returned to Ukraine and started his own company that manufactures parachute equipment. But when the war became a reality at home, he was drafted into the army again. He now serves as a sniper outside the capital, Kyiv. According to him, they have operations around the whole city "where needed". According to the American think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which publishes daily updates on the war in Ukraine, Russia has been on the defensive for the past few days. This is noticeable through increased mining and burial in trenches. They further write that Ukraine is carrying out limited, but effective, counterattacks. The Russian army has therefore increased its use of artillery and rocket attacks. This is something that Oleksi Sharadkin has first-hand experience of. - They come to a village that we defend, are opposed back, and then they bomb that village, he says. - Then they do the same thing with the next village. Sharadkin reiterates several times during the interview that the Russian strategy is irrational. - This war does not follow military logic.
They may try to surround Kyiv, but it is a huge city and they do not have enough resources for it. It would require at least twice as many soldiers on their part. If they still manage to get to the capital, a "nightmare" awaits there, he says. - Of the one million Ukrainians left in Kyiv, half will actively resist the invading army. We will fortify every high-rise building, and it will rain Molotov cocktails on them. I really do not understand. It's a waste.
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There are no verified figures on how many Russian soldiers were killed in the war. The latest official figure from Russia, given on March 2, was 498 dead. On Sunday, however, a Russian newspaper published information that 9,861 of the country's soldiers had died, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense. However, the data was deleted quickly and according to the newspaper, they had been hacked. At most, Russia may have already lost one-fifth of the forces it sent to Ukraine, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing NATO sources. They write that almost 40,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, injured, imprisoned or disappeared. Oleksi Sharadkin believes that the war will continue for about another year, and then expects Ukraine to retake its entire territory - including annexed Crimea and the separatist-occupied part of the Donbass region. He himself will in any case stay in the military until it has happened
. The soldiers he sees in his binoculars are often only 18 to 20 years old. According to him, many lack basic tactical knowledge and many do not even have body protection. He adds that it is not uncommon for soldiers to stand still completely open when they are under fire. That they would not be conscripts, as Russia has consistently claimed, he dismisses as "bullshit".
How do you feel when you pull the trigger? - Recoil. It is the short answer that is given. Nothing else? - No. In another situation I would probably feel sorry for them, but now they are in my country and have made their choice.
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