Infantryman Vadym Panashchenko: "It was easier in 2022. Now Russians have lot of ’eyes’ and they fly not in dozens, but in hundreds"
In the spring of 2022, Vadym Panashchenko, the commander of the 5th Slobozhanska Brigade, defended Kharkiv region, and in the fall he took part in a counter-offensive operation to liberate the occupied territories. Now he is fighting in Donetsk region. And he has seen with his own eyes how the enemy’s tactics have changed in the most difficult areas of the front over the past few years.
That's why we talked to the commander of the 5th Slobozhanska Brigade about the present and the events that happened before. Because right now, the Russians are trying to recapture the territories from which they were expelled.
- When you talk to the guys at the front, they say that the situation is much more difficult now compared to what it was in 2022. Do you feel it too?
- In 2022, it was easier. Now the Russians have a lot of "eyes" and they fly not in dozens but in hundreds. For example, there are ZALA drones that never fly away, they are constantly above you. And if they see you, the fpv drones with "drops" fly.
If you survive and they see that you are the 300th, they will not let you be taken away. They are definitely not humanitarian. They try to kill you.
And if they see a car somewhere, they launch a "Lancet" and it's on...
- Recently, videos of them killing Ukrainian prisoners of war have become public. What do you do in such situations, when you realise that you could be captured? Because if you don't surrender, you will die, and they kill you anyway.
- If we talk about the guys who go to the positions with me, I think that no one will surrender, because everyone has seen how the Russians cut off the heads of prisoners. And even if they don't kill them right away, they will torture or kill them after a while.
My friend was taken prisoner at the end of 2022. Later, one of the Russian telegram channels found information that he was a prisoner of war, with photos and videos.
A few weeks ago, when there was an exchange, they brought his body. He was killed in captivity with a shot to the head.
So I don't understand what to do there if you're going to die anyway. I think you have to fight to the end. And if there is a chance to survive, you have to fight for it.
Of course, everyone has their own level of fear, but you need to be less emotional about it.
- How do you overcome this fear?
- No way. You have to live through it.
- Are there situations when you see that a person cannot take up a position because they are afraid of what they have experienced in a battle or during a drone attack?
- This can happen to anyone. A person who has seen death but survived tries not to go there the second time because he understands that you cannot be so lucky every time.
- What to do?
- I don't have any special recipe. Personally, we had a situation when a 152-calibre artillery shell came in, hit a dugout, knocked out a wall and did not explode. My comrade and I were the only two inside. We sat in a stupor for 15-20 minutes. Then we came to our senses. These emotions cannot be expressed in words.
We were really lucky. The crater from that shell was 1.5 by 1.5 metres and a metre deep. And if it had exploded inside, everything would have been blown apart with us, and no one would have ever seen us.
However, we continue to fulfil our tasks and take up our positions. And there were no conversations between us about whether to leave or not. It all depends on how you feel.
Everyone understands their own bar. And when you conditionally jump over it, that's it. That's why we then read about situations in different units when people run away and hide. You have to take all these things into account.
- Did you volunteer in 2022 or did you receive a summons?
- Probably, due to the fact that I had served in the National Guard a year before Russia's full-scale invasion, I received a summons from the military commissariat. I received it on 29 March, was allowed to stay at home for three more days, and on 1 April I went to the training centre.
- Did any of the skills you acquired during your military service come in handy?
- I knew weapons well and was physically developed. So I helped the guys who volunteered to fight and had never held a weapon before. I explained what to do and how to do it so that they wouldn't hurt themselves. These were people of different ages: some were 18, some were over 40.
- The issue of lowering the conscription age is periodically discussed. They say that twenty-year-olds should also be mobilised. In your opinion, is this worth doing or should we take our time?
- I believe that we should not rush into this. When a person is an adult, has had time to live, so to speak, he understands better what he is fighting for. And if you are 18 or 20, and you did not volunteer, you don't care, you think more about where and how to go for a walk, not about the war and defending the country.
I don't think the war will end this year either. If we take everyone to the front now, who will stay and fight later?
- Don't believe it could end this year or next year?
- I would like to, of course. But the Russians are not trying to end everything, they are trying to capture, destroy, and kill more.
- I read in the news that they are financially incentivised to fight. That in different regions, the payout for joining the army is a million or two. And in Belgorod region, they promise as much as three.
- I read that too. And in the intercepts we hear that they go for money, especially those with many children. Those who come from some villages. They don't think that a million is such a big sum. You can't even buy a normal car with it. But they are paid, and they go.
As for the Belgorod region, I heard that since the SMO cannot take place on Russian territory, they are not paid anything at all. They only get paid if they are on the territory of Ukraine. So it seems that they decided to stimulate them in such a way to defend these territories. Because obviously not everyone understands why they have to fight for Belgorod and Kursk regions.
- Vadym, back in the spring of 2022, you were defending the Kharkiv region. Where exactly did you have to hold the line?
- Initially, it was the Balakliia-Zmiiv road, near the cement plant. We held defence in this area.
In the first year of the full-scale war, we had a lot of guys who went to fight for their home. Everyone in our unit was from Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region. So we fought on our own land and took care of each other. Everyone quickly dug in, built firing positions. Everyone wanted to survive and defend their region. And we were still very much supported by volunteers, who provided us with everything we asked for.
- What happened next?
- The rotation was about 1.5 months. We had been before the counter-offensive near the city of Chuhuiv. Not far from the contact line. And when it started, we were transferred to the Kupyansk direction. We were liberating the city of Kupyansk.
And then we held the line where the guys are holding it now - along the banks of the Siverskyi Donets.
- When Kupiansk was liberated, were the battles more intense than those on the Balakliia-Zmiiv road?
- Of course. At that time, we were fighting against recruits on the track, who apparently did not understand what they were supposed to do there.
Artillery and tankers were shooting at us, but there was no intense fighting.
And in the Kupyansk sector, the Russians had been there for six months and had also brought up combat reserves in preparation for a counter-offensive. So there were really intense battles there, and artillery and aviation were still constantly working on us.
- What was your military speciality back then?
- I was a machine gunner for almost a year and a half.
- You are now a squad leader. Is it more difficult than being responsible for yourself?
- Of course, it is more difficult. When you're alone, you understand that you have friends you need to support, but you are responsible for yourself. And when you have a squad, you have to make sure that no one loses anything, that the soldiers have everything, including in case of injury. Even though there are few people, they have to be more or less focused.
- Are there situations when your subordinates don't want to follow orders?
- I have no subordinates. I have friends and comrades. The guys are not following orders, but because they are ready to go with you. Do you understand?
- So, there is no such thing as them not wanting to go somewhere, and you have to react to it?
- No. If they ever don't want to, I'll go instead.
- If you don't do it all the time, they will get used to it.
- Not all the time, of course. In general, everyone understands that if it's their turn, they have to go. To give others a chance to rest.
- Are the Russians also actively moving in the direction where you are now?
- They want to, but they fail. They suffer very heavy losses. If we see on the broadcast that they drop off 20 people from a tank, then only two reach. Aerial reconnaissance is working well, and drones are also being used with drops. Artillery and mortars are also working hard. That's why it's easier in the Bakhmut direction than in some other areas in Donetsk region, but not as good as we would like.
- Are you now able to make any fortifications, dugouts?
- No one is building anything now, because if the terrain changes a little bit, and there is clay here, and it is noticeable, they see it and start hitting that square.
There is no way to deliver any materials here. You can only quickly run to the positions that are already there and wait for the assault to repel it.
All that was dug up during the offensive last year, when they were pushed back a little bit, is all there.
- If you're on the ground for weeks at a time, how do you adapt to weather changes? For example, when it rains heavily.
- The main thing is to have plenty of socks to keep your feet warm. But drones don't fly in the rain, and it is in a way a little easier. Except for the "Orlans", but they don't pay attention to infantry, they are looking for equipment.
- So are you used to living conditions at war?
- Yes. If you are a new recruit, it may be difficult at first. But if it's not your first year, you don't care about anything. You know you need to take water, snacks and ammunition.
- The Russians are now trying to recapture Kupyansk. Do you follow the events in this area, at least in the news?
- They have almost destroyed it. That's why they don't want a city, they want ruins, like in Bakhmut.
It was much easier for us during the counter-offensive than it is now for the guys who are defending it. My uncle is fighting in the Kupyansk sector, he is the commander of an armoured group. So I know not only from the news.
The Russians are levelling everything they can with bombs. There are only craters left, and you can't even see that the houses once stood. Imagine a 15 by 15 metre crater!
- Are the KABs being launched?
- KABs, rockets. In general, they like to launch anything that is at hand.
In December 2022, we were in the Serebryanskyi Forest, and the Russians used missiles that are used to clear minefields. When they explode, there is no one left.
- It's all very scary, but the guys are still holding on in the most difficult areas and defending the territory as much as possible. It's the same in the Kupyansk direction.
- No doubt about it. If we hadn't held on, the fighting would have been going on around Kharkiv. Everything comes at a great price.
- What was the hardest battle for you personally over the years?
- Probably when we lost our positions in the Serebryanskyi Forest. It was a very heavy assault by the Russians, and we had a lot of guys killed and missing.
- How was it different from the others?
- In the Donetsk region, the Russians do not have the opportunity to enter in columns. But in the Serebryanskyi forest, they have this opportunity. And the guys in some positions were simply crushed by tanks.
If there were about a hundred of us there then, there were over a thousand of them. Both equipment and aircraft. The soil there is sand, it is impossible to dig in. Everything is crumbling. The pine trees are all burnt, nothing can be used to fortify ourselves.
- One of the fighters told me that the Russians often used gassing in Serebryanskyi Forest, especially before attacks.
- Russians use gases on a regular basis.
- Were there phosphorus bombs too?
- Phosphorus is not the worst thing when you are in the forest and have gas masks. It's when you're in a landing and you're being burned that it's different.
- And how did you get out of that battle if it was so difficult?
- We retreated a little bit, then gathered in a bunch and took up a new line of defence. We were supported by the 95th Brigade.
- Do you plan your life "after the war" or do you live mostly in the present?
- I would like to plan, but the prospects are not on our side yet. Of course, everyone wants to go home.
- To get my life back, as one of the soldiers said. Unfortunately, so far there is no talk of demobilisation. Perhaps, if mobilisation is more active, the situation will change. Now military units have been allowed to recruit recruits directly, without the involvement of the TCR. Do you think this will work?
- In my opinion, it should have been done immediately. We'll see if it works now.
Tetiana Bodnia, "Censor.NET"
