Assault on hospital and 95 days on front line: "Skelia" fighters recount battles in Kupiansk. VIDEO
Soldiers from the 425th Separate Assault Regiment ‘Skelia’ spent over a month and a half storming the central district hospital in Kupiansk, which was one of the Russian forces’ key strongholds in the city.
According to Censor.NET, citing the ‘Butusov Plus’ channel, direct participants in the operation spoke about the fighting for the hospital, the assault on the city’s built-up areas and the 95 days spent holding their positions.
To reach the hospital, Ukrainian troops had to storm buildings Nos. 10, 12, 14 and 16. During the assault on building No. 12, a soldier took four Russian soldiers prisoner, and later captured three more near the same building.
According to the soldier, the hospital’s defence was led by a Russian officer who refused to allow his subordinates to surrender. Following Russian air strikes, some of the occupiers remained in the building’s multi-level basements.
Ukrainian soldiers used explosions and smoke to split the enemy into smaller groups and force them out of their cover. The siege of the hospital lasted over a month and a half.
During one of the battles, a Russian soldier walked out to the Ukrainian fighters and surrendered. He subsequently provided information on the location and movements of enemy positions.
During combat operations, Ukrainian troops operated under constant artillery fire and attacks by Russian FPV drones. According to the soldier, a single assault group of four servicemen could face over 70 artillery strikes and around 30 attacks by FPV drones on fibre-optic cables.
Over eight months of heavy assaults, the unit lost 32 servicemen. At the same time, Ukrainian fighters eliminated over 250 Russian soldiers, took more than 25 occupiers prisoner, and around 187 enemy combatants were killed in close-quarters combat.
The ‘Skelia’ fighters also recaptured 37 high-rise buildings, a hospital, a plant, a motoring college, a coach station and a number of other buildings in Kupiansk from Russian forces.
The soldier himself spent 95 days at his posts before moving to a safe zone. Upon returning home, his main aim was to see his family and his granddaughter, who was born whilst he was at the front.
