“Crossed the minefield one by one”, — Guardsman Kayman's memories of the liberation of Balakliya
Balakliya is not only a transport hub of Izyum district of Kharkiv region and one of the centers for the production of cement and building mixtures in Slobozhanshchyna, but also an important bridgehead.
The liberation of this city from the Russian invaders in September 2022 was strategic in nature and was the key to a successful Kharkiv counteroffensive.
The officer of the 5th Slobozhanska Brigade of the NGU under the callsign Kaiman, which participated in the successful Kharkiv counteroffensive, said that at the time of the operation, Ukrainian troops had been near Balakliya for the fourth month.
“This time we did not hurry: we buried ourselves, made very good fortifications, engineered, taking into account the terrain. Particular attention was paid to mine-explosive barriers. To be honest, we waited for the “dear guests” to visit, but it turned out the opposite. We were preparing to give the enemy good kicks if he climbs in our direction. But in a few weeks in our area the area began to be reviewed by officers of the highest command staff, who came from the Colonel and above from the General Staff. Then it became clear to me that a counterattack was being prepared in our direction,” Kaiman recalls.
The military says that always before assault actions there is a very detailed reconnaissance and study of the terrain. Thus, two weeks before the fighters began to move and accumulate other units, primarily the assault brigades. And at the same time began a massive fire defeat of the enemy with all possible types of artillery - from mortars to “Haymars”.
“Later it became known that headquarters, warehouses of ammunition and weapons, places of accumulation of personnel and equipment were knocked out. And we began to prepare for the offensive, we showed the officers of the new units the terrain and the terrain, because in four months we studied them well,” says Kayman.
The fighter recalls that as soon as the Ukrainian military reached the line of enemy troops, they turned out to be empty. The enemy fled after a powerful art training:
“According to the holes dug by the invaders, we reached the village of Verbivka. It turned out that the enemy escaped from there, leaving a bunch of trophies. We took 6 units of equipment, among them the newest BMP-3, which still fights on our side in the brigade. We spent the whole day in Verbovka, which is actually a suburb of Balakliya, collecting enemy equipment, ammo for it and conducting a sweep. In the evening, we went to the planned milestone, fasted and spent the night. The next day we went to the town of Balakliya, our area of the west was called Tabori”.
The fighter admits that he considers the operation carried out to liberate the city of Balakliya brilliant. Thanks to excellent planning and careful art preparation, significant territories were liberated.
“Our artillery smashed their headquarters, the enemy was disorganized and ran in panic in the direction opposite to our offensive. The command post of the First Army Corps in the city of Izyum was destroyed, along with the entire command. This effectively destroyed communication between the occupiers' units,” says Kayman.
As is known, the officer with the callsign “Cayman” for the Kharkiv operation was awarded the Order “For Courage” of the third degree.
National Guard of Ukraine
