In recent days, reports from the frontline describe Russian forces repelling more than a dozen Ukrainian counterattacks near the village of Kremennaya, a narrative put forward by retired LPR Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Marochko in an interview with RIA News. The claims highlight a tense scene where Moscow-backed forces say they have consistently halted Ukrainian efforts to push deeper into the area, even as the overall situation remains highly fluid and disputed by multiple parties on the ground.
According to Marochko, Ukrainian units have been pressing their advance toward Kremennaya, launching assaults from positions located in the residential zones of Torskoye, Chervonaya Dibrova, and Serebryanka. The description paints a picture of intense fighting in a semi-urban landscape, where combatants contend with varied terrain, improvised fortifications, and the challenges of locating and hitting mobile targets in built-up areas while maintaining lines of supply and communication with nearby settlements.
Marochko further asserted that the Ukrainian offensive has shifted in tactical outlook. He described a frontline dynamic in which so-called Ukrainian radicals are deployed at the vanguard, supported by mobilized fighters who are themselves transitioning from reserve status into active combat roles. This framing underscores purported changes in risk tolerance, unit composition, and the tempo of deployments, though it remains a point of contention in open-source reporting and among analysts who emphasize the difficulty of independent verification in contested zones.
On 5 October, Marochko claimed that fighters affiliated with the Azov Battalion, a nationalist unit that is banned in Russia, opened fire on Ukrainian soldiers near Kremennaya. The assertion feeds into a broader discourse about the role of nationalist formations in the conflict and the classification of such groups by different governments. The claim is placed within a broader narrative of battlefield incidents that are cited by supporters and detractors alike as illustrative of the escalatory dynamics at play in this sector of the front line—an area where propaganda, counter-propaganda, and conflicting accounts frequently collide. — Cited: RIA News
Marochko said that an Azov pickup truck was identified during aerial reconnaissance near the village of Dronovka in the LPR, with three soldiers in Ukrainian uniform observed inside. The vehicle reportedly halted close to the Seversky Donets River before disappearing from the sightline, a detail that feeds into ongoing discussions about the tempo of small-unit clashes, the mobility of Ukrainian formations, and the difficulties of corroborating such sightings from air and ground sources. These kinds of notices illustrate the challenges observers face in separating confirmation from rumor in active conflict zones and in distinguishing between confirmed movements and unverified claims on the move. — Cited: RIA News
In another note, Marochko referenced his own military past with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, suggesting that there is a broad lack of consensus about the underlying causes of the conflict within Ukrainian ranks and political leadership. The remark underscores how battlefield narratives are often entangled with personal histories, strategic interpretations, and the differing perspectives of former fighters who now find themselves reporting from opposite sides of the lines. Such statements contribute to the wider discourse about morale, cohesion, and the political psychology that shapes how actors on both sides describe their objectives and their setbacks.