Armies have stormed trenches for more than a hundred years, but for all the advances in military technology, it’s no less harrowing today than it was when soldiers traversed the muddy battlefields of World War I.
Attacks can be stealthy and surgical with surprise attacks, or with overwhelming force using drone strikes or tanks and artillery. The goal is to break through a maze of sheltered firing positions and bunkers connected by sunken passages and guarded by the enemy.
Ukrainian soldiers chose the louder option of attacking a trench in May. Some participants described a swift, well-choreographed operation that is likely to play a crucial role in Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive, which US officials said began Monday and will ensue Breaking through belts of Russian landmines, anti-tank obstacles and trenches.
During the May attack, Ukrainian mortar units bombarded the position. A tank rushed out and opened fire. Then armored Humvees leapt across a field and fired machine guns, the men said. The assault group fired 3,000 rounds from two US-supplied Browning machine guns, a commander named Kozak said, an indication of the troops’ vast ammunition needs on the offensive.
When a squad of Ukrainian soldiers arrived at the edge of the Russian trench, the defenders appeared deafened by the artillery blasts and too disoriented to fight back, the soldiers involved said in interviews.
“It really helped that our tank fought them,” said a member of the assault team, Sergeant Oleksandr.
An exploding drone also helped. Flown in by the Ukrainians before the troops, it drove the Russians into their bunkers and left the entrances to the trenches unguarded. “They’re all hiding,” said Sergeant Oleksandr.
Ukraine has been training special units for such attacks for months. Allies like the US and Britain are training Ukrainian soldiers in artillery, armored vehicle and infantry coordination. The Ukrainian army provided interviews with members of the force that stormed the Russian trenches in eastern Ukraine on May 20 and were part of a reconnaissance unit of the 59th Brigade.
Taking a trench fortification might seem like a small operation, especially compared to an operation involving a wave of tanks, airstrikes, or the thunderous might of artillery like HIMARS.
But capturing a trench is hard soldier’s work. It depends on careful planning, taking into account the features of the landscape and weather, as well as the actions of individual soldiers, said commander Kozak. For security reasons and in accordance with Ukrainian military rules, he and his soldiers asked to be identified by their nicknames or first names only.
The goal is to get as close as possible before the enemy has a chance to fire on the soldiers who are open and vulnerable in their maneuvers.
The attacks are sometimes stealthy. A video of a Ukrainian attack, filmed with a drone and used for training, shows two Ukrainians sneaking up to a trench in the early morning, while the Russians appear to be sleeping, jump in and go to the entrance of the bunker.
Alternatively, the goal is to force everyone in the trenches to keep their heads down with a cacophony of firepower. “They should be sitting there, hiding, not being able to do anything,” said Captain Myron, the commander of an artillery battery that has supported infantry in rushing trenches.
Choreography is key, he said. The trick is to dig in the trench until the infantry is as close as possible – without hitting your own soldiers. “The faster they run, the greater their chances of success and survival,” said Captain Myron.
The Russian army has its own tactics for storming trenches, relying on its advantage in the amount of howitzers and other artillery, as well as an abundance of soldiers.
one is called reconnaissance through combat. In this approach, armored vehicles drive towards a trench line to draw fire from the defenders. Once the firing points are known, the artillery is used to shell the trenches.
Last year, at the Battle of Bakhmut, Russia revived the WWII-era practice of sending multiple waves of about a dozen convicts forward to overwhelm the defenses, posing an enormous risk to the attacking soldiers.
During the winter, Russia formed special infantry units specifically used for storming trenches, so-called assault units, recruited in part from special forces veterans. They operate in combination with armored vehicles and artillery, similar to how the Ukrainian army tackles the problem of capturing trenches.
The trench at the center of the May battle, near the town of Pisky, had been overrun by a Russian train, but the Ukrainians wanted it back, in part to save a wounded soldier.
The Ukrainians first tried to sneak up and set off around 1 a.m. on May 20. But the Russians spotted them and opened fire, injuring four of the eight soldiers in the assault group. They retreated, dragging their wounded with them.
Kozak, the commander who was interviewed at a base far from the front lines where he and the assault group were resting, described this setback – and then turned to announce the next morning’s raucous attack as the Ukrainians unleashed their entire Raised arsenal and recaptured the moat.
“When the Brownings stopped, the infantry was at the entrance to the bunkers,” Kozak said.
He said, “You don’t allow the enemy to orient themselves, raise their heads, work with shells.” Until he understands, our people are in his trenches.”
At the entrance to a bunker, Sergeant Oleksandr shouted at the Russians: “Come out, you will survive!”
The Russians started marching off with their hands up, he said. The squad captured 22 Russians from the newly created assault units
The report could not be independently verified, but several Ukrainian soldiers similarly described the details of the attack, and military-provided videos of detainee interrogations matched their accounts.
The Ukrainian military called the trench attack a success as it resulted in the capture of large numbers of prisoners, in contrast to the brutal, vacillating and often inconclusive skirmishes in most areas along the front line.
A Ukrainian soldier, using the nickname Ryzhy or Ginger, said the prisoners were given cigarettes, water and medical kits to treat their wounds. “They’re all saying the same thing: ‘We didn’t want to come here,'” he said.
The prisoners could be exchanged for captured Ukrainians, Ryzhy said. “Every captured Russian is a hope of return from captivity for one of our soldiers,” he said.
The soldiers could have rescued their wounded comrades, it said. Both of his feet had been ripped off in an explosion.
“It’s a miracle he didn’t bleed to death,” Ryzhy said. “I can’t say he was happy to see us as he was very poorly. He kept asking for water.”
All the tactical planning it takes to capture a trench requires something else, the soldiers said.
“We have a word in Ukrainian: anger,” Ryzhy said. “We don’t have to be angry or angry. We must be angry.”
Maria Varenikova reported from Pokrovsk, Ukraine
