Matsik bends down, removes some dry branches that are lying on the floor of the apartment and lifts the lid of a buried rectangular box. It is there that the Stinger is hidden, the portable air defense system with which they periodically shoot down Russian planes and drones. “This is hurting them a lot,†he says as he holds up the US-made gun that weighs about 17 kilos. “The enemies no longer dare to enter this area as they did at the beginning of the war when they felt that the sky belonged to them,†adds Matsik.
He insists on several occasions that the pilots no longer want to get close. He teaches me how it works. Move a lever and some bars are raised that operate as antennas. “They serve to detect objects that move at a distance. They recognize enemy air targets, identify who it belongs to, whether it belongs to our forces or not, â€he points out.
The position he commands is located on top of a hill of extremely dense vegetation and covered with the brilliant spring grass. When it’s sunny, he and his men camouflage themselves behind a couple of trees to observe the horizon with binoculars that they won’t take off. But when it rains they do it from a small trench covered with black plastic.
The month of April that ended was the rainiest in years. The countryside is splendid, but the roads are a quagmire that makes mobility of troops extremely difficult. The Matsik position is one of the 13 air defense units of the 68 Brigade located along the line from Marinka to Vuhledar, one of the most heavily attacked sectors of the Donetsk region and one of the most strategic areas for both forces. .
This is especially evident in Vuhledar, where the Ukrainians have time and again stopped the advances of the Moscow forces. The defense of this town has been possibly the most successful mission of the kyiv forces since the counteroffensive to retake the city of Kherson at the end of November. “These weapons – because of the Stingers – have helped a lot,” explains Orest, another of the brigade’s anti-aircraft defense commanders.
“They have allowed us to prevent them from breaking our positions. They haven’t been able to do anything”, adds this musician -also known as “father”- converted into a Stinger operator. Mastik steps in to explain that the work they do is especially important for the infantry defending these areas. “We cover them, we protect them from the sky, and at the same time they cover us and don’t let the Russians advance,” he points out. They do recognize, however, that the situation is still delicate, especially in Marinka, where the fighting is becoming more intense.
The two explain that the effectiveness of these portable air defense systems is extremely high, close to 80%. Nothing comparable to similar Russian-made weapons that have a success rate of 30%.
The mission of each of these positions is to stop any object that flies below 600 meters. This includes Russian drones, missiles, helicopters and fighters that often fly extremely low, between 50 and 150 meters, to avoid detection by the most sophisticated anti-aircraft systems that only pick up movement above 500 meters. The last one they shot down, Orest proudly says, was a Mig, on April 14. “Many times we heard them coming. For example, with missiles. We feel them when they come our way. Like the kamikaze drones that are on their way to attack other positions. If we have the possibility, we will shoot them down, â€Orest explains that he recognizes that they have no rest.
They work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, especially in recent weeks where the Russians have increased their attacks. “They are desperately looking for the places where our men are located and we have weapons stored,” Mastik intervenes. My interlocutors associate this increase in the activity of the Russian army with the counteroffensive that the Ukrainians are planning in the coming weeks. “They are afraid, they are worried, but let them feel that way. Let them suffer, â€he says.
The night before our visit to these positions, last Monday, Russia launched 18 cruise missiles on Ukraine and 15 of them were intercepted according to the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian forces Valery Zaluzhny. Here they say that three of those missiles flew over this position. Two of them fell in a nearby town, without major consequences. The third took another direction.
They couldn’t reach them. It is not always easy, especially when the weather is bad and it rains. The Stingers do not operate well in these circumstances, they explain, but they are saved by the fact that Russian planes and helicopters do not dare to fly either. Another thing is missiles or kamikaze drones.
Ten days ago they shot down one. Mastik shows the photo of the wreckage of the downed aircraft that he keeps on his cell phone. “We didn’t take it down with the Stinger, it was with a normal weapon,” Orest chimes in. He admits it almost with embarrassment, but assures that when the drones approach you have to shoot them with whatever is necessary. This includes anti-drone weapons and machine guns installed in vans that are destined for special operations.
“Our task is defensive, but we will be fundamental when there is an offensive,” confesses Mastik. “We will protect the infantry,†he says. This front line between Vuhledar and Marinka is called to be one of the points where the Ukrainian offensive chips will move in the coming months. Although for the moment, these men assure, in these positions they have not seen any extraordinary movement.
