Meet the 28-year-old colonel leading Ukraine's ferocious fightback

Meet the 28-year-old colonel leading Ukraine’s ferocious fightback to drive out Putin’s army of Russian invaders

• Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Sak confirmed country’s troops making advances

Troops trained by Britain are leading the main thrust of a Ukrainian offensive that has broken through Russian lines.

It also emerged yesterday the units are being led by remarkably young commanders, including 28-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Sak and his 29-year-old deputy Major Ivan Shalamaha.

Almost all the troops in the 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade are too young to remember when Ukraine was part of the former Soviet Union. They have been Westernised as they grew up and clearly want Ukraine to fight for its independence and its future.

In a media interview, Major Shalamaha said: ‘We are the young generation, we still have our whole lives ahead of us and we are fighting for ourselves, our children, grandchildren and so on.’

The soldiers from the 47th Brigade are using the skills passed on by UK instructors and are equipped almost entirely with Western weapons and vehicles.

It also emerged yesterday the units are being led by remarkably young commanders, including 28-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Sak (pictured) and his 29-year-old deputy Major Ivan Shalamaha

The soldiers from the 47th Brigade are using the skills passed on by UK instructors and are equipped almost entirely with Western weapons and vehicles (File Photo)

The unit was among those behind the recapture of Staromaiorske in Donetsk region. Ukrainian flags were yesterday unveiled in the village, which lies to the south of a cluster of small settlements along the Mokri Yaly River.

The group began as a volunteer battalion in the weeks after the beginning of the invasion last year. Senior officers sought to recruit intelligent, British-speaking soldiers who could be trained in the UK to learn Nato tactics.

The culture of the unit is intended to be more like a Western army, rather than a regiment with Soviet influences, Soviet tactics and Soviet equipment.

One of its soldiers, master sergeant Valery Markus said recently: ‘If you are not capable of self-education then you are not suitable for us. We have to take the initiative and communicate like civilised people.

‘We have to accept commands, even from officers who are much younger than us. We have to learn quickly and in critical conditions.’ Britain has provided infantry skills training to thousands of Ukrainian recruits since last summer. Many of the courses took place on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.

Soldiers from 47th separate mechanized brigade (File photo). The group began as a volunteer battalion in the weeks after the beginning of the invasion last year

The emphasis has been on what top brass call ‘combined arms warfare’, where infantry soldiers integrate their movements with artillery and armour. The 47th Brigade is part of a Ukrainian ‘pincer movement’ which the Russians fear could result in some of their units being surrounded.

Following the recapture of Staromaiorske, another village nearby, Urozhaine, is firmly in Ukraine’s sights. Both settlements sit on the Velkyka Novosilka axis of Ukraine’s counter-offensive. Its ultimate objective is to push through Russian-held territory all the way to the Sea of Azov.

This would effectively cut off the Crimean peninsula and put Ukraine in a dominant position in the conflict for the first time.

The success in Staromaiorske was celebrated by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in his nightly address on state television. UK military commentators have likened Ukraine’s recent victories to D-Day, as it is hoped the territory seized from the Russians will act as a ‘beach head’ from which further attacks can be launched.

But senior British defence sources have called for caution, remembering that Ukrainian forces must still get through Russian minefields laid directly behind the front line.

And Russia still holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory and its 600-mile front line is heavily defended. Russia is also making advances of its own along other sections of the front line – although these may prove insignificant in the big strategic picture.

Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister, confirmed his country’s troops were making advances but stressed it was a case of ‘slowly but surely’, with few, if any, dramatic developments.

Social media posts by the Russian military blogger Rybar typified the concern felt by the occupiers: ‘The enemy’s plan in this case is obvious; the armed forces of Ukraine intend to pincer the Russian Federation armed forces.’

A Russian field commander Alexander Khodakovsky wrote on Telegram: ‘Ukraine went on the offensive and is gradually pressing us back, at the same time creating a flank threat to positions on Urozhaine.’ Russian forces pounded Staromaiorske yesterday with heavy artillery in a bid to dislodge the Ukrainian troops.

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