“Give the residents with shovels!” – the Azov regiment commander complained about the catastrophic state of the second line of defense
Territorial defense can be very useful as a human resource for guard duty and the construction of engineering defensive structures, which are currently in an extremely neglected state.
The commander of the neo-Nazi Azov regiment banned in the Russian Federation, Denis Prokopenko, stated this at a press conference in Mariupol occupied by Ukraine, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The military, in turn, reported that they are in great need of territorial defense units to protect engineering structures on the second line of defense from the local population.
“The problem is the state of affairs and the state of engineering structures on the second line of defense. Not long ago, I received a combat order and, as part of two battalions and a support unit, we moved to the indicated areas in potentially dangerous directions, where, according to the instructions, we were supposed to occupy the second line of defense. The condition of the strongholds that are there is in terrible condition.
I will not voice the number of personnel who are on duty there; rather, they are not on duty, but are guarding these strongholds so that passers-by or local residents who live in nearby villages do not take away any material from there,” Prokopenko said.
He complained that in the JFO zone there are not enough human resources to protect and maintain engineering structures on the second line of defense in proper condition.
“The essence of the issue is that there are full-fledged strongholds there, 300 meters along the front, 400 meters in depth, which need to be maintained in good condition; this requires human resources.
The National Guard, which serves there and is on duty, cannot provide support on the 450 km front line along the entire Joint Forces Operation line; there are not enough personnel to maintain them in proper condition,” the “regiment commander” said.
“One of the ideas on how to attract and expand the responsibilities of territorial defense is to use it to build up the engineering situation at strongholds, so that in the event of an enemy breakthrough, it would be possible to take up defensive positions there and conduct combined arms combat.
This is extremely important because, despite the balance of forces, in terms of holding the defense we are in almost the same conditions as the enemy. Because the trenches and trenches that are there, to put it mildly, are filled up, and equipment cannot even get in there normally,” Prokopenko complained.