IL-76, strikes on Zmeiny and burned columns: how "Tochka-U" destroyed the Russian Armed Forces at the beginning of the invasion
The brigade received orders from higher command to advance to the concentration areas about a week before the start of the full-scale invasion. Units of the missile forces also received instructions on how to act in the event of Russian aggression. In particular, it provided for a clear order - what to do and where to advance to deter, no matter which side the Russians came from. "At the point of permanent deployment, a joint unit was formed that was sent to defend Kyiv.
A few days before the invasion, the brigade commander was given an order to form combat columns and demonstratively leave through the city towards the east of Ukraine, after which return as inconspicuously as possible to the PPD in order to confuse possible spies and protect the city from possible enemy missile attacks. In this way, the brigade was distributed along the entire front line and on defense of the capital," the memoirs said.
Every day, the Ukrainian military delivered dozens of strikes across the line of combat. On February 25, 2022, Ukrainian military missile forces took up a position in a forest in the Chernihiv region. The forest was located between two roads, along which the occupiers tried to advance towards Kyiv.
The rocket launchers could strike the logistics and warehouses of the BC of the Russians, as well as the convoys that passed the military, as well as the outskirts of the capital and the exclusion zone near the Chornobyl NPP, where the enemy was located. The military also commends the bravery of the drivers who delivered rockets to the surrounded unit. After the Russians calculated the approximate location of the unit, they began dropping FABs on the forest.
But, thanks to skillful command and reading of the operational situation, the unit did not suffer any losses in personnel or equipment. The closest FAB to the Ukrainian military fell 150 meters away. On February 24, the Ukrainian military advanced to positions from which it was possible to strike airfields and warehouses of the Russian Federation. One of the divisions took up positions near Siverskodonetsk, from where an attack was made on the airfield "Millerovo" of the Rostov region.
The military emphasizes that it was important to do this as quickly as possible, because at 6:00 a. m. the Russian aviation was supposed to take off into the sky, where it was out of reach for the rocket launchers. On February 25, successful launches were made and enemy aircraft and personnel were hit. Another blow by several Point-U missiles with a cluster warhead was inflicted on the convoy, which stopped at the crossroads between the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
As a result of the successful operation, dozens of BMP and armored personnel carriers were destroyed, as well as many personnel of the occupiers. One of the units of the 19th Missile Brigade was also located not far from Volnovakha, which was still unoccupied at the time, but there was no communication with the brigade, which is why the launch order was not given. Nevertheless, using improvised means, the fighters managed to establish communication.
After that, at the end of March, there was already an attack on the Taganrog airfield, where a Russian heavy military transport aircraft Il-76 was destroyed with all personnel and equipment on the runway. Another Il-76 was significantly damaged. Il-76 is able to deliver cargo with a maximum weight of 28-60 tons over a distance of 3,600-4,200 km.
In addition, it can transport 167 (245 - in the double-deck version) soldiers with personal weapons or ensure the ejection of 126 people of the landing group. The plane can transport the entire nomenclature of combat equipment of airborne units and a large part of the equipment of motorized rifle divisions. The 19th brigade emphasizes that due to the fact that the minimum distance required for launching missiles is 20 km, the units had to constantly retreat.
Retreating, they stopped, struck, and retreated again, because the enemy was rapidly advancing towards the South Ukrainian NPP. It was possible to stop the advance of the enemy near the city of Voznesensk, Mykolaiv region. "There was a lot of work for the rocket engineers, the units made dozens of strikes every day, and the rockets began to run out rapidly. It is good that since Soviet times, many factory rockets without warheads (the so-called "tails") remained in storage warehouses.
The military and engineers were able to replace the factory warhead ("head") with a warhead from a high-explosive aerial bomb, in the shortest possible time to conduct all the necessary tests and set up mass production of new missiles less than in a month," emphasized the 19th brigade. Later, when the front line became more stable, the military made many more precise strikes on Russian positions.
In particular, almost half of the more than 30 strikes on Chornobayivka were made by Point-U missiles. Also under the attack of missileers was the island of Zmiiny, the large amphibious assault ship "Saratov", enemy airfields, warehouses, logistics and many, many different targets. The 19th Missile Brigade participated in the de-occupation of Kherson and the counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast. The complex consists of several machines - command, launch and transport-charging machine (TAM).
The launcher is equipped with one rocket, the TZM carries two more and is equipped with a crane for reloading. Rockets with a warhead weighing 482 kg of high-explosive or cluster type, probable circular deviation - 95 m, maximum range - 120 km. Adopted by the Soviet Army in 1989, it is a deep modernization of the "Point" complex, developed back in 1973. Since 2007, the 19th missile brigade has been fully equipped with "U-Points", and as of 2022 it remained the only missile brigade in Ukraine.