REPORTAGE – The soldiers of the 225e assault regiment evoke a timid “counter-offensive” against the Russian forces, while from the “kill zone” to the streets of the city, the drones put up a fierce fight.
The steppes of Zaporizhia stretch as far as the eye can see. But Oleksii has neither the time nor the heart to look at the poppies. With his foot pressed on the pedal, the lieutenant of the 225e assault regiment slaloms at 130 km/h between the crevasses, stifling a curse with each impact. “We are already in the kill zone. You shouldn’t hang around here.”blurted Artem, his co-pilot. The soldier holds the drone detector like a candle, antennas deployed. “They are ours”he reassures when the machine beeps intermittently, signaling drones within a radius of 10 kilometers.
The large industrial city of Zaporizhia disappears in the rearview mirror. The 4×4 heads towards Houliapole, one of the most contested sectors of the southern front. Here, at the crossroads of the Zaporizhia and Dnipro oblasts, the Ukrainian forces, including the 225e assault regiment – known for having led the incursion towards Kursk in 2024 -, have regained the initiative since February.
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