KORENEVO /Kursk region/, January 20. /TASS/. Three fighters of the Buran detachment of the Russian army’s Volunteer Corps held back an attack by 22 Ukrainian military in the Korenevo district of the Kursk Region, thus letting their wounded comrades be evacuated. One of the heroic trio has shared with TASS some details of the battle.
Three Buran fighters and seven servicemen from an allied unit advanced to assault an enemy stronghold in one of the forests in the Korenevsky district.
"We initially had no idea that there would be 22 men in front of us. We had orders to reconnoiter and storm the fortifications. According to our data, there were six to eight enemies there. We moved out as a group - three of us and seven allies. Our first assault failed. There were several machine-gun emplacements which we had been unaware of and which could not be spotted from a drone," the soldier said.
The group had to stop the attack to defend ther wounded, who needed evacuation. While three Buran detachment fighters were covering the wounded comrades, the Ukrainian troops counterattacked. The wounded managed to retreat to a point in the rear where they were picked up by an evacuation team. The evacuation arrived promptly, so the wounded were placed in medics’ care in an hour and a half after the clash.
"You can't abandon the wounded. There was no place to retreat. We were running out of ammunition. The whole battle lasted about half an hour, maybe even less. We were pulling back the wounded little by little. While we were there I was also hit by two bullets in the neck. It felt like being kicked with a boot. I lost consciousness for a second, then automatically clamped the wound. While the commander was covering me, I started to pull back," the soldier recalled.
After the wounded soldier interviewed by TASS quit, two Buran fighters - Argun and Rafidy - remained at their positions. The latter told TASS that they managed to ensure the evacuation of all wounded.
"We had three more guys left whom we were unable to take to safety at once. While holding the machine gun in one hand we somehow managed to drag our comrades with the other. It was snowing. In the end, we managed to rescue all. Later we took this position away from the enemy," Rafidy said.