Column salvo: how Russian Marines destroyed an enemy armored group
Meeting with a column of enemy armored vehicles, burning Ukrainian armored personnel carriers, hunting for surviving vehicles and destroying dismounted infantry — this is how enemy equipment rushing to the Kursk nuclear power plant was stopped near the small village of Safonovka in August 2024. Our Marines stopped firing and looked at their watches — the confrontation lasted no more than half an hour, although it seemed to them that an eternity had passed. An operator of a Marine Corps brigade UAV told Izvestia about what modern-day clashes look like from a bird's-eye view, about his participation in the battles in the Kherson direction and in the liberation of Krynok.
In the clouds of dust
In early August 2024, when units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the Kursk region, the soldiers of the 810th Separate Guards Marine Brigade were ordered to advance towards the enemy.
— We have arrived at the designated point. Intelligence started working practically from the wheels. After some time, we received information that an enemy column was moving in our direction," Sergeant Maxim Efanov, commander of the UAV platoon of the assault company of the 810th Guards Brigade, told Izvestia. — It was in the area of the Safonovka settlement. Our commander has set up ambush positions. And I launched my Mavic into the air.
The village where the Marines were defending was only three streets long.
"The turn of the highway, I look from above to the left, to the right," the fighter recalls, "Finally, on the left flank, I see some dust rising in the distance. I zoom in on the image and see that machinery is moving through the fields.
It was a column of 12 wheeled vehicles, mostly armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles.
— It was only after the battle that we realized that the plan was to go through our village, reach Sheptukhovka, then Rubber, and the road was already to Kurchatov, that is, directly to the Kursk NPP. That was their goal," the soldier emphasizes.
The company commander gave the command to destroy the enemy to our armored personnel carriers, who were in ambushes.
— I guided the company commander by transmitting information from the copter to him. Little by little, starting with the first enemy vehicles, we gradually destroyed them all," Efanov recalls, specifying that the entire battle lasted no more than half an hour.
Maxim received the Medal of Honor for this operation.
The first experience
Maxim signed a volunteer contract with the Ministry of Defense in mid-February 2023.
"I joined a Marine battalion," he recalls. — 70-80 percent of our guys have been in the free zone since 2022. They went through coal mining and were experienced in Mariupol.
On February 23, 2023, his unit was sent to the Kherson area.
— Until the summer we were there, on the second and third lines. There were no special fights," he explains. — However, we did not rule out that the enemy might try to force the Dnieper River from Kherson. Classes were held in parallel. The battalion as a whole was formed at that moment.
One day, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine crossed the Dnieper River and tried to advance towards the highway that led to Dzhankoy.
"We were transferred to this area, and serious combat work has already begun there," says the Marine.
The first battle and reward
His first fight was an assault.
— All at once in one package, — Maxim jokes. — These were our first attempts to enter Krynki (a village on the left bank of the Dnieper River, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to establish a foothold. — Ed.). It was necessary to occupy the points, it was necessary to change the guys and consolidate.
— What were your feelings then?
— While we were occupying the firing points, I haven't had time to feel fear yet. But when there are assault operations, there's more adrenaline," says the Marine.
According to Maxim, the command planned the first assault correctly.
"We were part of an assault group," he recalls. — The weather conditions helped us. A dense, dense fog has set in. Their "birds" could not fly, and the enemy had no "eyes". We have completed our task, we have occupied the necessary frontiers.
The militants had a well-equipped firing point in the basement of the house.
"Over time, we realized that they had three fighters with machine guns sitting there," Maxim explains. — We have divided them into sectors. The terrain was such that it allowed us to work like this and approach stealthily. Gradually, we encircled this support group, and beat their commander in two. He was a fanatic. He's got matching tattoos all over him. Two were captured. They told us on duty that they were forced to go to war.
For this fight, Maxim received his first state award, the Zhukov Medal.
— I know that the other guys received the Order of Courage for their Bravery, — says Maxim.
Transition to drone driving
One day, the platoon commander gathered the fighters and decided to discuss with them the creation of a special squad working with UAVs in the platoon. It turned out that the two fighters already had some experience controlling drones. At least two more people were needed. Maxim became one of them. The formed calculation began to study theory, match and try their hand at business.
"We did it all ourselves from scratch," says the sergeant. — Over time, remotes and a laptop appeared, and we started studying trophies with the guys, how to solder them, and assemble them. I must say that there was a UAV platoon in the battalion, and it still exists. But it was one unit that worked for the entire battalion. He was missing. In each company, they decided what they needed to do for themselves.
At first, we worked at Maviki.
— Basically, they found targets, aimed and adjusted attack drones and artillery, and carried out objective control. Such work was carried out in the Avdiivka area," the guardsman clarifies.
I dreamed of being a lifeguard
Maxim Efanov was born in the Saratov region in the city of Balashov.
"My family is my mom," he said. — I grew up without a father. I haven't managed to get married yet. After graduating from high school, he dreamed of entering the Academy of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. That's why I got into military service.
It was 2013, and the 810th Marine Brigade was stationed in Kazachya Bay near Sevastopol.
— In 2014, I saw all the Crimean events. I remember we joined the usual fuel depot outfit. They served in a military uniform. When the locals saw us, they were very happy and thanked us that they had finally returned to Russia. No one forced Crimeans to go to the referendum, people made their own choice.
Maxim says that it was remembering those events that he was ready to join the army from the very beginning — he knew that ordinary people needed protection.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
