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The last battle of the Russian bear: as the militia attacked the Ukrainian "Alpha"

The last battle of the Russian bear: how militiamen smashed Ukrainian «alpha»

Each side presents the battle in Semenovka as its own grand victory, but what really happened on the outskirts of Slavyansk 5 May 2014 of the year?

One of the most mysterious battles of the entire war in the Donbass occurred 5 May 2014 in the village of Semenovka, that on the outskirts of Slavyansk. And today there is no exact data, what happened on that fateful day.

Both sides continue to adhere to their original versions and give clearly overestimated figures for enemy losses. From the side of the militia there is a legend, what's in that battle 36 "Spartans" cleaned out Sumy "Alpha", adding a couple of hundred paratroopers on top. The Ukrainian press claimed the destruction of hundreds, or even two, Chechen fighters. Such high losses of the enemy are explained by ambushes. Howbeit, but there is a lot of fragmentary information on the web today, by which you can approximately restore the course of the fatal battle.

It is known, that in early May Sumy special forces of SBU "Alpha", Vega and Omega held Kramatorsk airport. TO 4 the number of armed forces took over the defense of this object, and the special forces decided to transfer to the rear at a military base near Izyum. The very next day, the entire Sumy "Alpha" hit the road on four BTR-80.

The last battle of the Russian bear: how militiamen smashed Ukrainian «alpha»

Source photo: wikipedia.org

At the same time, completely different events unfolded in Slavyansk. At the end of April, many volunteers arrived from all over Ukraine and Russia.. Some of them were from the Crimea, they formed their own battle group, part of Igor Strelkov’s squad. 2 May, the "Crimea" was headed by 36-year-old Vyacheslav Rudakov with the call sign Bear.

In the Ukrainian army, Rudakov served in the sabotage and assault battalion and received good military training.. On the "citizen" he got a job in "Golden eagle", and with the start of hostilities the volunteer went into the militia of Donbass. As colleagues recall, despite sufficient experience, he was not satisfied with the appointment to the command post, as I thought, that there are more worthy candidates in his squad - Afghan veterans, already in a real war.

But an order is an order. Already 5 May the group of the Bear was supposed to make its first combat exit. During this time, several local and just lone volunteers joined the Crimeans. On the instructions of Strelkov, Rudakov with his people was to advance to Semenovka and conduct reconnaissance there.. The village is located on the outskirts of Slavyansk and at that time was not controlled by anyone, none of the parties simply did not have reserves to retain small settlements.

Before leaving, the Bear divided his squad into two groups. The first consisted of six fighters and was supposed to advance the first and check the safety of the road in Semyonovka itself, the main group consisted of 11 the man and advanced next in two cars. At the exit from the village, the groups were supposed to meet and already jointly scout the area in the direction of Kramatorsk.

While, how the rearguard entered Semenovka, a column with Alpha was already moving towards him. The SBU special forces commander also divided his fighters into two groups - two armored personnel carriers were ahead, and two more covered the rear. The meeting was a complete surprise for both teams. Ukrainian armored personnel carriers turned and moved towards their second group. The militia decided, that the enemy noticed them and decided not to hide, so they tried to shoot after the RPG-7, but the grenade launcher misfired, affected disgusting state of captured weapons.

The last battle of the Russian bear: how militiamen smashed Ukrainian «alpha»

The last battle of the Russian bear: how militiamen smashed Ukrainian «alpha»

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Source photo: flickr.com

It turns out later, that the commandos did not turn around at all, what the militias noticed. In fact, the unit was not discovered. Just the commander of the Ukrainian group recalled advanced armored personnel carriers, intending to cut off the road on the outskirts of Slavyansk. But, after consulting with fighters, it was decided not to turn off the track, because in the city ambushes could be organized.

Meanwhile, militia scouts have already reported to Medved about the Ukrainian group, which "fleeing" towards Kramatorsk. Rudakov decided to rush in pursuit and defeat the enemy. He and five fighters on the SUV were the first to move out of the village. The car drove just a couple of hundred meters, when Ukrainian armored personnel carriers appeared ahead.

The bear instantly turned around the car and moved to his, Fortunately, they had not yet managed to get into cars and stood at the central intersection of Semenovka. Likely, if the militia moved in a column, they couldn’t turn around quickly and were destroyed. But the enemy was not quick and opened fire from armored vehicles, when the militias hid behind houses and fences. probably, “Alfovites” simply did not understand, that the militia moved in a lonely car.

A few minutes later this mistake will turn into a tragedy. One of the armored personnel carriers fired a salvo “just in case” along a passing car. Then it turns out, that the driver was a local pensioner, driving home.

Howbeit, at the crossroads a fight broke out. In the first minutes, the Bear militia successfully knocked out the enemy’s head vehicle from Bumblebee. The commander of the Ukrainian special forces decided, that the column was in a large ambush, and ordered the soldiers to disperse on the ground, and pull the armor back. He did not suspect, that his detachment of fifty trained commandos confronts everything 16 militias.

To somehow hold back the enemy, A bear with a machine gun took up a position almost in the center of the intersection, hiding behind a concrete pillar. The fire of all enemies was concentrated on it., but the rest of Rudakov’s group had the opportunity to retreat.

Suddenly, special forces began to fire towards the building of the Chemical Industry. At least, so the militia decided. In fact, at the railway crossing there was a large detachment of Donetsk under the command of a fighter with the call sign Wolf. They were really ambushed, but no one informed Medved before going on assignment. Anyway, balance of power more or less leveled.

The last battle of the Russian bear: how militiamen smashed Ukrainian «alpha»

Source photo: wikipedia.org

However, the Bear was in an open area and could not retreat to his. The militias tried several times to break through to the commander, but they did not succeed. Things got complicated, when Ukrainian snipers took advantageous positions and began to hit indiscriminately. So, two local residents were killed by sniper bullets, in their homes.

The critical moment of the battle has come, when two APCs suddenly appeared in the rear of the militias and 30 paratroopers from the 80th brigade of the Armed Forces. They were supposed to connect with the “Alfovites” at the nearest Ukrainian checkpoint and move together to Izyum. But, when the sounds of battle were heard in the distance, they moved towards fellow soldiers.

The militias were trapped on both sides. Bear was especially unlucky, who had nowhere to hide from a sudden enemy. The gunner of the Ukrainian armored personnel carrier gave a machine-gun fire on Rudakov, and the hero’s machine gun was silent. Later, five hits were counted in his body., but the Bear was still alive and conscious.

The Donetsk team again tried to break through to the mortally wounded commander, but the forces were not equal. The enemy even managed to take the intersection, one of the “Alfovites” threw a machine gun away from Bear, but, for some reason, did not finish him off.

At this time, assistance from Slavyansk had already approached the militias - two BMDs and a dozen fighters, including the then little-known Motorola. By coincidence, on the other hand, the Salang detachment entered Semyonovka, he came to refuel cars at a dilapidated gas station. “Salang” also joined the battle and now the Ukrainians are in the grip.

But even such help was not enough., to knock over a hundred well-trained fighters with five armored personnel carriers. But the sudden appearance of militias in the rear nevertheless made a rustle in the ranks of the “Alfovites”. This took advantage of the 16-year-old militia from Kiev with the call sign Vandal. Taking advantage of the clutter, he slipped to the Bear and dragged to his. After that, the militia regrouped and retreated to Slavyansk. Half an hour later, Vyacheslav Rudakov died in hospital from injuries.

The last battle of the Russian bear: how militiamen smashed Ukrainian «alpha»

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In total, in Semenovka, the militia lost four fighters, fifteen more were injured. Sumy “Alfovites” also lost four killed, thirty more were injured. Among the dead was the colonel of the SBU, Alexander Anischenko. Another curious moment: during the battle two paratroopers “lost”. As it turned out, injured, they hid with the locals, and after the battle they were taken to the hospital.

As seen by the losses, no defeat is observed on either side. There were no ambushes, at least, intentional. During the battle, then the militia, then the “Alfovites” found themselves in a situation, which could be regarded as a deliberate special operation. In fact, the whole battle in Semenovka is nothing more, than a series of accidents. Nevertheless, and in such a situation there was a place of dedication and feat.

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