47 Tips For War, from the commander of Vostok battallion of DPR, Aleksander Khodakovsky (via r/CredibleDefense)

A blogger / IT assistant of Khodakovsky's posted his list of tips for Russian enlisted and junior officers on his blog, at a site I can't link to from here, but the non-link is here: telegra.ph/Pobeda-01-17-3 . I was very fascinated with the contents, and translated this myself, with some help from google translate, trying to preserve the writing style of the original.

It contains Part 1, "On Defense", with 33 tips, and Part 2, "On Offense", with 14. Some are old truth, some are inspired by new tech, some are insightful - for you to judge. He doesn't mince words -- anything from looting to personal leadership on the line of fire is there.

(seems like a required disclaimer: I don't personally support what he's saying, I'm translating his point of view).

Tips On Surviving The War:

1, You must always wear armor and a helmet! On the front line you may only remove armor when in a dugout. Shells can hit you even far in the rear. If the shelling of your position is already a routine for the enemy (that is, they marked it on the map and plink it every day), then urgently move / change the positions.

The weapon must be with you at all times (not hanging on a tree or lying in a dugout).

The enemy can appear in your trench very suddenly!

2. Learn to dig trenches according to military science, from the simplest shell scrapes to real underground strongholds.

Make fox holes, multiple exits from dugouts in different directions, false positions with pipes from potbelly stoves.

In one dugout - a maximum of 6 people so that a single HIMARS does not get everyone.

Be sure to get the necessary tools (shovels, pickaxe, crowbar, saw, axe).

3. Be sure to get acquainted with the guys from other units around you. Communicate / cooperate / be friends with neighboring units, barter with them for something. Personal acquaintances with our neighbors on the front really saves lives. Know the nearby units to communicate and interact with. Sometimes, due to poor communications, information about mines near our positions does not reach everyone, but the neighbors may know.

You need to find out who your neighbors are on the left and right.

Establish interaction, communications as a matter of course. Explain what you're short on. If you only have small arms and there is no way to defeat armored vehicles, then ask them to share with you the means of defeating armored vehicles. If the enemy breaks through your position, then your neighbors will not be able to resist either.

If communication with your commanders is lost, or some kind of super strange situation arises, first of all ask for advice from the commander of the neighboring unit, and only then go to to your superior's superior to find out why there is no communication with your commanders. If your spot is broken through, it will be bad for all the neighbors, so it is beneficial for the neighbors to help you whenever possible (at least with advice).

4. HIMARS can fly into the deep rear up to 70 km from the front, and level an entire barracks full of soldiers to the ground. There is no "green zone" anywhere near the SVO.

This means no bunching people together anywhere.

It is advisable to PROHIBIT any large crowds of people and it must be ordered to place personnel exclusively according to crews or squads (at a maximum !!!), except when underground, if the front line is within the reach of HIMARS (70 km). Try not to show yourself as much as possible even in the deep rear; change the location from time to time, hide equipment from NATO satellites and enemy agents. Enemy agents in the deep rear can comm the coordinates of the location of the military objects (barracks, gathering places).

Look for the most protected places for garrisoning, if there is no possibility to be located underground (Abandoned factory floors, for example, will be a better protection than a super old panel residential house).

5. Make mine maps (using paper and pen, for sketching landmarks). Learn how to read mine maps, and at least make an understandable drawing on the terrain where the mines are located, noting landmarks with ranges. Pre-sight squad weapons at the folds of the terrain, where the enemy can approach. If it is not possible, place mines, or at least signal flares.

6. Definitely require thermal imagers (at least 2 thermal imagers per platoon) for night security, in case of a night attack by enemy infiltrators. Security must be done to the "T". Change watches extra quietly at night, always carry weapons, watch for newbies losing their weapons due to panic during shelling.

7. When occupying enemy positions, do not shift or take anything. Yank everything with hooks and ropes. Each squad must have at least one set!

Do not rush to loot the captured positions of the enemy and the stiffs, even if they have beautiful equipment - what if there are mines / claymores nearby?

8. Don't kick anything! Look carefully at your feet. Defuse mines as carefully as possible and it is advisable not to do it yourself, but to entrust it to a sapper, people get seriously injured because of negligence when clearing mines, it happened!

9. Scout tubes (when your position is being stormed or shelled, you can look through them, detect the enemy and repel the attack) and the mine clearance probes are super useful. Enemy pros storm positions under cover from artillery, a scout tube can save you from being broken through.

10. Walk only where the sappers have already checked, do not leave the marked tracks. Drive on proven roads only, there are many mines nearby.

11. Disperse the equipment, do not bunch up, we need a gap of at least 20 meters between vehicles so that an artillery hit does not destroy all the cars together. If possible, put all transport vehicles further back from the frontline positions, mask them with camo nets. Transport vehicles should be prepared to move right away, turned the right direction, prepare all equipment to pull out in advance in case you have to urgently scoot. Stop any cars 1.5 km back from the positions, camo them as much as possible so as not to show their positions, then hoof to the location. If you have something heavy - drive up, load or unload, and drive off. Don't make it look like a mall car park.

12. Identify vulnerable areas for defense of our positions and closely monitor them from copters(drones).

13. IMPORTANT: If an order or intelligence has been received that your position or a temporary deployment point has been marked by the enemy as a planned target, you need to move as soon as possible!

There were cases when the commanders ignored the change of position orders and ate missiles such as HIMARS.

Take note of any received intelligence.

14. Do not walk in crowds, hits on a crowd are a disaster. Opponents are actively posting after-action videos such as t.me/razvedos_video/97?comment=34. Always keep a distance between yourselves (they can get hit with a machine gun, with a mortar, with artillery, small arms can kill everyone, if someone steps on a mine, everyone will die). Do not crowd. Now it is easy to be detected from a copter and get hit with a mortar, and almost everyone has drones.

You need to move covertly, keep a distance on the march between military personnel up to 50 meters!

15. Run across open spaces, the enemy can watch for us and hit us with pre-sighted weapons.

16. It is advisable not to get out of the dugout at all, to organize maximum comfort there. Have several emergency exits in different directions, just in case you need to leave if the shit hits the fan.

17. Do not draw Z on the top of the vehicles, so that the enemies do not fire from their copters (this is controversial advice, our guys will not recognize their own either, but it seems that the ukros have more copters).

18. If it so happens that you are not at your usual site: the shelter where you cover should ideally have a 360-degree view and preferably different exits in different directions. For example, if you are in a basement, you need to come up with something for the view and the security. There are proven approaches for those in military science. It must be done according to science, it's described in military literature for literally anyone.

In one building, a maximum of 5 people, try to be located in the cellar or in the basement, or dig a cellar. It would be ideal to build a dugout under the foundation, this is the best protection against HIMARS.

19. When the positions are prepared, they must be masked with camo, branches, screened from thermal imagers. Use fine green mesh for the latter.

Place observers under canopies so that it would be difficult for enemy copters to find them, including copters with thermal imagers. Disguise transport and the troop positions, do not burn your position with scattered garbage (do not scatter garbage! This must become a habit), it is advisable to locate the toilet close to dugout (it happened that guys did not have time to reach the dugout during shelling).

20. To everyone who plans to go to the SVO as officers, Khodakovsky is offering to show how he organized everything (communications, security, etc.), to make it easier for novice officers to adapt to the war.

21. Conduct exercises, in case the enemy suddenly, secretly approaches your position and tries to attack it. Come up with a keyword for all personnel to rush to repel an attack. For example: "Plan Fortress". At the "Plan Fortress" command, all personnel who are not already in positions get equipment, grab weapons, and advance to positions previously designated to them to defend their sectors. Do not run to where everyone is running, or to where it seems interesting, but to the place indicated!

22. Conduct vehicle movement exercises. Everyone must know his place and where he dismounts in case of an ambush. The squad must not swap or change places while driving, unless driving in someone else's car or infantry fighting vehicle.

23. This thought of the commander of the Vostok battalion of the DPR, Alexander Khodakovsky, is going to be controversial. Good senior officers do not risk their lives on the front line, the soldiers should be sympathetic and understand this. Khodakovsky said that if he loses a deputy, it will be a disaster, he simply will not find a replacement. Good officers are super valuable, and a good senior officer can save many lives in defense, with his competent instructions from cover, by saving himself (avoiding dangers, sitting in a safe dugout). For this, they need good connectivity, a solid wireless unit, with a wired unit for backup. Sladkov's video shows what Khodakovsky's hideout looks like. In the NATO troops, only the sergeants are on the spot, on the ground, and they have more authority than our sergeants. Good officers are super valuable, and there are very few of them in the army. These good officers should make our army better every day, gradually displacing bad officers from their posts.

24. By the way, about movement at night. You can be fired upon at night by your own side. Like, "it seemed to us that this was an enemy". So, that might await you. It is imperative to get to know who comes to your position and, if possible, get to know everyone who is standing guard. Be known by your equipment and by your voice, so they could recognize you at night. There are a lot of frightened people on the front line, someone points weapons at you right away, some even just shoot. Therefore, you need to become familiar there, so that as many people as possible recognize you.

25. Guard changes should be done at dusk, and after that it's recommended to reduce activity. The guard change can be arranged for the moment when it just gets dark. In winter, it is already 6 o'clock, that is, when the dark comes. Do not roam at night. If you have not been given a task of going somewhere, I do not recommend going outside your positions.

26. Explore as much as possible all the trails between strong points. If you don't know where to go, it's very easy to get lost in a fight. As a result, there will be problems with the evacuation of the wounded and saving their lives. The careful study of routes is not only walking distance, nearby, but also to adjacent units and armored groups.

27. You need to clearly know which unit you are from, and who your superior officer is. Otherwise, you can easily appear to be a lost enemy. There were many such cases. Someone meets a traveler who cannot answer questions, does not know anything, they get taken prisoner. Then his commander has to run around and search, asking "where is my idiot" and describing how he looks.

28. If you are, for example, a UAV crew and come to work at night to positions you don't know, this applies doubly. You need to find cover and work there, as you can get fired on, you can run and break your legs, or break your neck. Nights do not forgive mistakes.

29. Keep your things in one place (backpack or bag)! Live in such a way that at any moment you are ready to grab a backpack or bag on command and go, and commanders must demand this from subordinates, otherwise, they command to perform a maneuver, and people run around their positions collecting their clothes instead. If you are going on a raid, then only take the bare necessities and as little as possible in your backpack, or your armored personnel carrier can be knocked out and everything will burn.

30. Dig secure places for storing ammunition so that the whole pile of reloads for RPGs and missiles for ATGMs does not go off from a stray enemy shot. Otherwise, you're sitting in a dugout without the ability to control the situation, because you have freaking fireworks going off under your nose. It is also advisable not to store ATGMs at the firing position itself, otherwise something may also fly into it and it will suddenly go BOOM and the rockets will fly whichever way they want. This was the case with me and my colleague during artillery shelling of positions, we fled to our dugout, and the ATGM in the firing pit lit up and went BOOM after getting its rocket hit with a fragment from a mortar, thank God not in our direction. (Bro, if you're reading this, you'll remember it wasn't very funny back then).

31. Extremely important for officers, you shouldn't think that if you are a duty officer (sergeant) in a position at night, it means that you take the issued Azart radio, lie down in your dugout and sleepily answer "all quiet, 555" to your superior. Or that you give the radio to the closest enlisted, while you climb into a warm sleeping bag and fall asleep. You have to go and check your subordinates at the posts, check how they know the password and the response, how they react to commands, ask them what they observed, what they heard, etc. (if the soldiers of my unit read this, they will remember how I did it all the time every night, sometimes they told me that I annoyed them, but I was confident in our surveillance system, security and defense plan, and, accordingly, the unit's safety).

32. Do not underestimate the enemy, we have not had such a strong enemy since the Great Patriotic War. Personally inspect the area around the fortifications from a copter, have scout pipes in order to keep watch during enemy shelling, guard and monitor positions according to modern military science. This is what happened if you don't set guards and observation while in position - the enemies took one of our trenches without a fight, 10 prisoners, threw grenades into the dugouts. Even if this video is a lie and made up, it illustrates the importance of a properly built defense system: t.me/razvedos_video/96

33. I think every soldier should be shown some videos and this list of tips, read each tip with explanations and answers to questions, let the newcomers have a printed list of tips in their hands. It is necessary to show each mobilized personnel a video of how Ukrainian soldiers tortured captured Russian soldiers (these Ukrainian soldiers themselves uploaded terrible videos to intimidate), videos how some soldiers of the AFU shot our captives (in the comments under this post t.me/razvedos_video/96 there is info on this topic), video showing how the AFU units take trenches without a fight (t.me/razvedos_video/96). Let them search Yandex for videos of Russian soldiers being tortured by sadists in Ukraine - let them see the atrocities (shooting kneecaps and other tortures, shooting prisoners in the back of the head, what they did at Malaya Rogan, etc) - t.me/ombudsmanrf/1951. Let them remember that only some of the most repulsive Ukrainian sadists post videos of their crimes, then how many terrible atrocities have been committed without video recording?

Some people just don't understand what kind of people can take them prisoner, it is necessary to explain to newcomers what kind of war they are going to and that it is desirable to minimize the chances of being captured by performing all defense actions according to the rules of modern military science.

Tips for organizing offensive actions (for those mobilized and their commanders):

1, When preparing for assault operations (attacks), it is necessary to organize coordination with all the supporting forces, and make sure that communications are stable between units (infantry, the armored group, the reserves, artillery).

The best arrangement is that everyone should have receive communication (to understand the general picture of the actions of all platoons / assault groups), but go on the air (transmit) only when absolutely necessary (when they've got wounded, knocked out vehicles, an IFV / tank is out of ammunition, support vehicle [like a TOS-1] is rolling back to reload). Distribute control between the overall commander, the deputy, and commanders of departments / subgroups. Who manages people, who controls the combat vehicles, who can call for the support by artillery or heavy weaponry. General guidance - q/kg. It is desirable to have a separate radio for calling and controlling artillery fire, so as not to clog the airwaves. Think over the brief commands, and a direct line to the senior commander for the evacuation of damaged equipment and the wounded.

If communication in units is not stable, it is worth it to delay an attack until a stable communications are arranged, otherwise, with a high probability, the goals will not be achieved and you will incur losses in personnel and equipment.

Also have a reserve of charged batteries for radio stations and preferably spare antennas (they tend to break).

2. Make sure that there is enough ammunition for artillery to provide for the unit during the offensive, as well as to cover the evacuation of the wounded and killed.

The Senior commander must make sure the allocated ammo is sufficient for the task being performed, especially for heavy weapons and artillery. Discuss these issues personally with the commanders of these units. If possible, calculate the time, duration and consumption of ammunition for the assigned fire support.

Also, speak with the commanders of artillery units (heavy weapon crews), assign planned targets, mobile and stationary barrage fire (in advance with coordinates for each!!!) and give them easy designations: "Oak", "Birch", etc.

3. Prearrange assistance to the wounded, appoint a designated evacuation group, and allocate transport for them, designate a collection point for the wounded for everyone, and designate a route for the evacuation group drivers to evacuate the wounded to the medical center of the battalion (regiment, brigade).

Each fighter must have at least one hand-held smoke grenade to be able to set up smoke screens during evacuation. A comrade probably known to you as the call sign "Junker", having been ambushed on one of the streets of Kherson, was able to organize the evacuation of two wounded of his squad thanks to the a smoke screen.

4. The unit must be provided with one or more UAVs and assigned, as indicated in paragraph 1, a person to communicate with the crew commander. The same crew commander must also have a prearranged comm channel with the commanders of artillery units (heavy weapons crews) to correct their fires and the actions of assault groups.

I spoke with the platoon commander who was fighting in the trenches assaulting an enemy's stronghold, having a connection with the crew of the quadrocopter; he was told behind which corner and in what dugout the enemy was, where to throw grenades, etc. According to him, it was just a perfect short-range battle, crowned with success.

5. When finding and preparing units at the starting point of an offensive, it is necessary to disperse both equipment and people. The enemy can anticipate our attack plans by conducting reconnaissance, notice the accumulation of forces and equipment, and launch a preemptive strike with artillery, thus curtailing the troops' desire to attack.

I came across something like this in practice. The enemy, noticing the accumulation of forces, opened mortar fire, but the commander decided to attack regardless; quick and decisive actions made it possible to take the fight to the enemy and win.

Thus, we understand that the pace of the offensive and the determination of the commander to complete the task are paramount. And in no event should you slow down the pace of the offensive.

6. If possible (if revealed by reconnaissance), establish the direction of attack, identified targets, ranges and local landmarks for each squad and crew. After each advance, communicate the new targets.

Everyone must have their own goal. Tanks and anti-tankers primarily hit tanks and combat vehicles. Then hit fortified structures and dugouts until they are destroyed. Infantry must focus on covered weapons and destroying the enemy.

Make proper use of different types of ammunition. Cumulative ammo is for destroing heavy equipment. Thermobaric destroys fortifications and lightly armored vehicles. Shrapnel is for personnel.

7. Be prepared for the fact that not everyone will get to the assault assembly point. The enemy can mine approaches, and protect dangerous approaches, especially those easy for tanks to traverse, with mines. Equipment may get damaged and forced to stop. You will have to make decisions on the go, quickly and decisively.

The main thing is to dismount, help any wounded as quickly as possible and move!!! Again, in an organized manner and not in a bunch.

The enemy will attempt to finish off any damaged and stopped equipment and their crews by artillery and RPG fire. If one or two attacking vehicles are forced to stop, the offensive must be continued without slowing down! Close to the enemy as quickly as possible, enter and assault the trenches.

An evacuation vehicle (an MTLB) will come to the aid of the damaged equipment later. When dismounting near enemy positions, in no event must you huddle together. If seen, the enemy will most likely call their fire support on you.

If you are attacking, it's human nature to slow down and huddle as soon as mortar fire starts to land. This cannot be allowed! If they pause, it is likely that most of the entire company will suffer.

Commanders at all levels must MANAGE their units, and not create the appearance of action and shoot their own assault rifle -- you are a COMMANDER, not a shooter.

8. If the assault on enemy positions is successful and their fire positions are taken, it is necessary to provide assistance and evacuate the wounded, and then either advance further or move away from the enemy positions for a while. This is due to the fact that the enemy, knowing the exact coordinates, will deliver massive fire, after which the positions may be forced to be abandoned due to the loss of personnel. That's been happening recently in many cases. Enemy positions are taken, and then, after taking massive enemy fire, they have to be abandoned due to losses.

9. If you have fire support in the form of 82-mm mortars and / or MLRS, arrange their rapid advance behind the advancing battle formations to destroy the approaching / retreating enemy and to counter the enemy return fire.

10. During the offensive, organize your entire unit cohesively. Move quickly, in rapid dashes, using folds of the terrain. Cover each other in groups of threes and twos. As a commander, never yell using invective, using "fucking", "situation red", "situation orange", "trouble", etc. You just create fuss and unnecessary movement of troops and help orient the defending enemy towards you. To assault open areas, make quick dashes, and use smoke screens.

11. Remember that during combat, any fighter can be killed or wounded. Everyone should remember who was positioned next to him, whether they ran or crawled. Provide first aid to the wounded and report any dead to your superior officer. When withdrawing, do not rush aimlessly, look under your feet and around.

12. All assault must be carried out with quadcopter support. Preferably at least three. The FIRST crew continuously monitors the position that will be attacked, directs the fire of artillery units (and crews of heavy squad weapons), and the actions of assault groups. The SECOND unit is looking at the rear of the enemy, the THIRD unit is a reserve. It can be useful for coordinating reinforcements that are coming to help you, to enter the battle. A common situation, vehicle crews got lost moving in for an assault, they just missed the turning point and kept driving on the road. With the help of a drone, they can be quickly turned around brought back into battle.

13. Study military medical training, it is more important than tactical fire training. Most of the wounds in the SVO zone were from artillery operating in coordination with drones. 80 percent of the wounds were inflicted in situations where they did not even see the enemy and did not shoot at them. For example, riding in a convoy and getting hit with artillery. Good medicine, a good first aid kit is super important. To return alive and healthy from the war, do not economize on military first-aid kits. At a minimum, everyone, not just the medics, be sure to watch the mandatory video tutorials for those mobilized for military medical support.

14. There's a special ops guy, call sign Prometheus, who returned from the SVO due to wounds and started a youtube channel. He has a lot of views on YouTube, there is a lot of useful information there that does not contradict the expert recommendations [?] Prometheus also has a chat where he answers all questions related to service in the SVO and survival in the war. If you have any questions, I recommend asking them in this chat t.me/+XxbAp9oBGyRlMTBi

This list of tips was compiled by the admin of the Telegram channel t.me/razvedos_video. They all come from of a real officer from the front, for the publication of the RSOTM channel and Khodakovsky's tips for the war.

Reading these notes with recommendations that will help you survive in modern trench warfare, I am sometimes shocked by comments that start blabbering that this is not logical, that this is not applicable to us, etc.

Dear comrades, I am an officer of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation who fought for almost half a year right on the front line, and I will say that if all military personnel tried to observe these essentially common sense facts, and do not become reckless, and if commanders at all levels demanded compliance with this from subordinates, then losses in our ranks would be HALVED!

People sometimes talk a lot about the fact that "whoever was destined to die that day, nothing would have saved him" ... damn it, then just go there in a tracksuit, don't carry your rifle, call home using a Russian SIM card, sleep in your vehicle which is not not dug in, and so on - fine! But it's the one who is prepared and follows the rules dictated by arts of war who will survive and win.