Facing the village of Dimidev, North KyivThe Russian forces, like other areas that were covered by the military operations last March, except that its residents used an unthinkable ploy to obstruct the Russian advance.
Residents fought off the Russian advance by releasing water from a hydroelectric dam, flooding the village, this time achieving a tactical victory, according to a report in the New York Times.
They flooded the village
The residents deliberately flooded the village with water, along with the vast expanses of fields and swamps around it, creating a swamp that thwarted a Russian tank attack on Kyiv and provided the Ukrainian army with valuable time to prepare its defenses.
The swamps protected the capital, Kyiv, but he also helped protect Demdev himself, who was close to Russian troops stationed in the flooded fields.
Image source The New York Times
Although Russian soldiers patrolled the village, it never became a front line in battle, and was spared the grim fate of the towns to the south.
The siege of Kyiv was lifted
Ukrainian officials and soldiers said the move was particularly effective, as it created a sprawling shallow lake in front of Russian forces.
The floods that blocked the northern edge of Kyiv on the western bank of the Dnipro River played a pivotal role in the fighting last March, as Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attempts to encircle Kyiv and eventually pushed the Russians back.
A picture of the village following it was flooded (The New York Times)
Also, the water created an effective barrier to tanks and directed offensive power into ambushes and cramped urban spaces in a series of remote towns such as Hostomel, Bucha and Irbin.
It also identified possible crossing points on a tributary of the Dnipro and Irbin rivers. In the end, the Russian forces attempted to cross that river six times in vain, using a pontoon bridge and driving across a swampy area, all in unfavorable positions and under fire from Ukrainian artillery.
scorched earth
It is noteworthy that what happened in Demidev was not excluded. From the early days of the war, Ukrainians deliberately wreaked havoc on their lands, often by destroying infrastructure, as a means of thwarting the advance of the Russian army with its superior numbers and weapons.
Bridges destroyed near Kyiv (archive – AFP)
Elsewhere in the country, the Ukrainian army, without hesitation, blew up bridges, bombed roads, and disrupted railways and airports.
The goal was to slow the Russian advance, draw Russia’s forces into traps and force Russian tanks into less favorable terrain.
