INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
On a remote plain on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border the morning of Feb
the movements of the 31st Brigade over 100 days of brutal fighting in Ukraine that has killed thousands and displaced millions.The 31st,
which previously fought in the Second Chechen War and the 2008 Russo-Georgian conflict, has suffered heavy casualties in Ukraine, and
paratroopers were among some of the first Russian soldiers to see action in Ukraine when they fastroped onto the tarmac in Hostomel on Feb
forces in the early days of a war, according to military analyst Rob Lee
aircraft from flying into Hostomel, Russian ground forces dug in around the airfield and waited for reinforcements that they thought would
Hostomel comes from an interview with captured 31st Brigade paratrooper Ponomarev, who was subsequently interviewed by a prominent Ukrainian
tanks and armored vehicles flooded into northern Ukraine, heading for Kyiv
In a dramatic address on Feb
at Hostomel the next morning, Ponomarev recalled
Suddenly, Ukrainian artillery slammed into the buildings
The barrage lasted two hours, killing dozens of soldiers and destroying large amounts of equipment
from the start of the war, making it impossible to know how many men from the 31st Brigade died in the fighting at Hostomel
been Sergeant Ilnur Sibgatullin, 31, from Nizhnekamsk, a small city in the republic of Tatarstan
An-225 wreckage at Hostomelsergi_mykhalchukVideo footage reportedly from Feb
were killed in Hostomel, according to Ukrainian intelligence
independent media outlets citing open source data
sought to encircle Ukrainian-held areas of the Donbas region by advancing north from separatist-held Donetsk and south from the northeastern
Ukrainian city of Izyum.Some of the 31st Brigade were redeployed around Izyum, 120 kilometers south of Kharkiv, according to a friend of one
establish, but the friend of the 31st Brigade soldier said parts of the 31st were involved in the Russian offensive on the strategic city of
Severodonetsk in late May.Over 80% of Severodonetsk is now under Russian control, Luhansk governor Sergei Haidai said this week as the city
There is no drinking water, toilet facilities or electricity in the camp
Ukraine, told The Moscow Times
has been appealing to locals to donate supplies to send to the 31st
the Ukrainian military, 25 soldiers of the 31st even refused to redeploy to eastern Ukraine
Fedorov was reported last week, Olga Burmistrova, whose nephew died fighting for the 31st in Ukraine, left a comment on social media site VK
