“We deployed in a field, fired several mortar rounds, and a package of Grad MLRS rockets hit us.” Mortar crews of the 59th Brigade are working in the Donetsk direction, one and a half kilometers from the Russian positions. They destroy enemy military hardware and help Ukrainian infantry repel enemy assaults. Members of one of the crews joke that they are not tired because they rested while they treated their wounds in the hospital. Our journalists, Ksiusha Savoskina and Oleksii Nikulin, in February 2023, visited the positions of the 59th Brigade mortar crews. Watch the video to understand how Ukrainian mortar crews “work.”

Russians are continuing their attempts to capture Avdiivka in Donetsk region. The Ukrainian military say that recently “the escalation has been felt” in this area. The Russians are trying to surround the city after a year of unsuccessful attempts to break through the Ukrainian defense. Gunners of the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade are helping the infantry to repel these attacks. At the beginning of February of 2023, hromadske filmed the unit that now uses the RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launcher system, the Czechoslovakian analog of Soviet-made Grads. Gunners of the Brigade received this MLRS system as part of the help from Western allies.

The 108th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade has been fighting on the front line in Donetsk Oblast for 10 months – with a break of seven and a half days. They have captured dozens of Russian prisoners, including those from the private company Wagner, and have carried out dozens of successful assaults and captured enemy positions. The battalion was one of the first to use aerial reconnaissance not only to adjust, but also to drop ammunition, and to accompany its assault groups. Our report features the battalion’s mortar gunners who work with French mortars, a brigade officer who was sent to work with an artillery brigade on three “sevens”, a legendary aerial reconnaissance man who has killed half a thousand Russians, infantry assault company commanders who talk about successful and difficult operations, and the battalion’s deputy commander who makes explosives in his spare time.

There was more ammo for us in the Kherson direction, but the enemy had more artillery. Russians did not throw so many people at us. The Russians are throwing in a lot of infantry here, God forbid. Every day, on every sortie — you shoot at the same spot because the enemy infantry occupies the same positions every day. They don’t spare their infantry,” says the tank commander with the call sign “Chikatilo”. The 59th Brigade is currently defending the Donetsk direction. See how Ukrainian tanks cover and support infantry in hromadske’s report.

The 59th Motorized Brigade is now defending the Donetsk direction. The Russians continue their assaults there. Hence, MLRS and artillery do not stop their work. Our crew was heading to film tank crews, but accidentally witnessed the work of Grad MLRS.