Inside Ukraine’s frontline assault as mobile mortar squad blasts Russian positions ahead of looming counter-offensive

THE mobile mortar lightning squad scrambled at a moment’s notice for a “shoot-and-scoot” mission to target Russian defences ahead of a looming counter-offensive.

Using off-the-shelf Chinese drones and Czech-made 82mm mortars, Ukraine’s Special Forces Unit raced from their base to the front line hoping to take out a lookout that could spy on troops.

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The team is part of a coordinated effort to soften up Vladimir Putin’s thugs as thousands of newly-trained troops and battle-hardened commanders wait for the order to advance.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has hit pause for further preparations to limit the death toll as the mortar squads keep probing Russian defences to spot cracks and keep their troops stretched.

We joined the unit as, acting on intelligence, it raced from its Zaporizhzhia base to the Yanchekrak River — the limit of the enemy’s advance in eastern Ukraine. A two-man drone team, codenamed Sasha and Rose, combined to pinpoint its location for the police SWAT unit who fired the mortar, which fits in their 4×4.

They chose scrubland away from friendly positions to reduce the risk of casualties should Russia fire back.

Sasha, 24, a professional cage fighter, sent up the drone and its first flight was almost jammed by the Russians as it flew over No-Man’s Land.

He climbed a tree to elevate a remote antenna so the drone could be controlled while Rose, in a nearby bunker, scoured the river’s southern bank for Russian positions.

The drone spotted lines of trenches where Putin’s troops have been digging in for most of the war. Between each flight, Sasha wiped the drone’s memory over fears its Chinese makers could share location data with Russian forces and reveal Ukrainian positions.

Eventually, Rose, a builder, located the lookout in an unused country cottage, around two miles away.

The troops scrawled messages on the mortars. One read: “Hello from Donetsk” — the town Russian-backed rebels captured in 2014. Rose honoured a pal by writing his nickname on another.

A small puff of smoke on the live feed showed the first shell fell short. The SWAT team swivelled the weapon’s dials and fired a second. Still short.

Each time they fired, they adjusted the mortar until a bomb landed directly outside the property’s back door.

Moments later, an incoming blast sent us scrambling for cover as Russia returned fire. No one was hurt.

The troops rapidly packed up the mortar and we quit the danger zone before the Russians could zero in.

We returned to the HQ of the Thor Group. It is part of a volunteer army part-funded by donations to buy kit, like the drones, to give them an edge.

Their commander, codenamed Thor, said: “We are destroying Russian positions, softening up their defences and harassing all the time so they have to keep moving. It’s all about making them weaker so when we launch the offensive, fewer of our soldiers will die.

“We still don’t have orders for the offensive, but everyone is preparing. The Russians can see we are massing forces and they are massing forces too because they are expecting an attack.”

The dad of two, whose home town of Berdyans’k is under Russian occupation, added: “The counter-offensive will be great. We are ready, we are armed.”

Analysts expect a push south from Zaporizhzhia towards the Sea of Azov to cut the land bridge linking Russia to occupied Crimea. It would isolate their troops who could only be supplied by sea, or the vulnerable Kerch bridge.

President Zelensky insisted: “We can go forward but we would lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable. We still need a bit more time.”

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UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned it may not be a “simple, quick, decisive breakthrough”. He said: “This isn’t a Hollywood movie. Things are messy. Things will get scary.”

Last year, Ukraine’s big offensives both came in the autumn after a months of artillery slogging matches.

The arrival of long-range UK and US rocket artillery systems led to a collapse of Russian front lines in Kharkiv and a retreat from southern Kherson.

Yesterday, Britain revealed it was giving Ukraine its formidable Storm Shadow cruise missiles with a range of 155 miles. The problem in Zaporizhzhia, however, is much closer.

Just 20 miles south of the city, satellite imagery reveals lines of fortified Russian defences.

But in a major morale boost, Ukraine has reclaimed part of eastern Bakhmut, where thousands have died. The boss of the Wagner Group of mercenaries, Yevgenny Prigozhin, threatened to retreat unless Moscow sent more shells, despite US officials saying he has plenty.

• Additional reporting: Oleksii Kulyk