The 3rd Army Corps under the command of Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, in less than a year since the beginning of deployment in its zone of responsibility, has stabilized the front in the longest defense sector and eliminated all enemy infiltration areas, Deputy Chief of Staff of the 3rd AC Danylo Novytsky ("Boroda") has said.
"Exactly a year ago, we received a zone that is currently over 150 kilometers, and now it is the largest zone. Currently, it is 12% of the entire line of combat contact. The longest zone among the corps. We are the first corps that was able to lead into battle and fully deploy its combat formations into regular units," Boroda said at a press conference in Kharkiv, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports.
He emphasized that supply and training extend not only to their own units but also to adjacent formations, including the 66th separate mechanized brigade, the 120th territorial defense brigade, and the 3rd border guard detachment. Novytskyi separately noted active cooperation with special forces from the Ukrainian special forces, security service and military intelligence.
"In less than a year, we were able to stop the enemy’s offensive. Facing the 3rd Army Corps (3rd AC) are as many as three armies of Russia: the 20th and 25th combined arms armies, as well as the 1st tank army. Where up to 70 square kilometers a month could be lost before our arrival, not a single meter is currently being lost. The tactical situation is improving. We were able to stabilize the front. We were able to completely eliminate all infiltration areas in the corps’ zone. Once they reached up to 10 kilometers deep. Currently, all brigades stand firm," Novytsky said.
An important component in this was the creation of fire impact on the enemy, the corps noted. Boroda recalled that recently the corps’ fighters struck Russian logistics in Luhansk region. According to Novytsky, this "inflicts very heavy damage on the operational level" of Russia.
Summing up the results for the year, the deputy chief of staff declared the creation of precisely a "sustainable defense." As an example, he cited a massive offensive by the Russians in March of this year, when Russian forces made the largest breakthrough attempt since the beginning of hostilities in the Lyman-Borova direction.
"Through the joint efforts of all brigades and units of the corps, more than 100 units of enemy equipment with infantry were destroyed. Not a single one of them broke through the front, all were destroyed on the approaches," Boroda said.
He named the management system and staff culture as an important component of the reform. "What did we bring with us from the experience of the Third Assault Brigade? We built a unified management system according to the standards of the leading countries of the Alliance. We did not just take their doctrines, but adapted their systems, their actions to the modern front," the corps noted.
As Novytsky pointed out, joint staffs were created. That is, a combat staff is created for each task, in which everyone has their own roles (separate command posts, separate tasks, separate leadership roles). In addition, the 3rd AC became the first to introduce a battle captain (an officer who directly manages the battle) in all units.
"And now we are the first corps in which a battle officer has fully started working, this is a higher level of battle captain, who already summarizes the unified work of everyone at the corps level," Novytskyi added.
In addition, the number of reports for subordinate brigades was significantly reduced. According to the deputy chief of staff, about 32 reports were optimized per month so as not to turn the service into a "paper war."
