19th-century machine gun keeps Putin’s troops at bay
Weapon used in the Great War still ‘works smoothly as a clock’ and helps repel waves of Russian soldiers
UKRAINIAN troops are using a 19th century machine gun on the front line of Bakhmut as they fight back Russia’s “human waves”.
Soldiers in underground bunkers are firing Maxim machine guns, more usually associated with the colonial era and the First World War, amid shortages of modern weaponry.
The Maxim has “120 years of history killing Russians”, a soldier maintaining a fire position told the BBC. “It’s a weapon from the First World War being used in the Third World War.”
A recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Stevens Maxim, it is credited as the first such fully automatic weapon in the world. Firing at a rate of 600 rounds a minute the Maxim has to be water-cooled, a design that adds considerable weight. It is, however, able to sustain its rate of fire far longer than air-cooled guns.
Vladislav, 27, told The Daily Telegraph: “I have seen Maxim machine guns in stationary positions many times. Despite their age, it is a rather formidable weapon. The only drawback is its weight, but it shows itself stoically in constant firing. [It is] a fairly effective weapon in capable hands. It needs care so that it … works as smoothly as a clock.”
Yesterday, the British Defence Intelligence department of the MOD said that in recent days regular Russian troops and fighters of the Wagner mercenary group have obtained footholds west of the Bakhmutka River in the centre of the contested Donbas town of Bakhmut.
In recent weeks the river has marked the front line as Russian and Ukrainian forces have clashed over the city.
Ukrainian armed forces continue to defend the west of the town.
Russian sources say the fighting in Bakhmut has reached the industrial estate on the outskirts of the city close to the final supply route for Ukrainian troops. “Wagner PMC fighters are pushing the enemy simultaneously in the northern and southern parts of the city,” Rybar, an authoritative Russian military blogger, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Street battles are taking place in the industrial zone and near the industrial college.”
The industrial college sits close to the highway between Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar, considered the last Ukrainian-held road in and out of the besieged Donetsk region city. If Russian forces, which are spearheaded by Wagner Group mercenaries, seize control of the road, the remaining Ukrainian troops inside Bakhmut could become encircled and cut off from crucial supplies or an escape route. The Daily Telegraph could not immediately verify the claims.
More broadly across the front line, Russian attacks have slowed to their lowest levels for weeks, likely as a result of ammunition, manpower and equipment shortages. On Wednesday, Col Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi, a spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the south of the country around Kherson, said daily Russian ground attacks had decreased from around 100 a day to around 30. Around Bakhmut, Ukraine estimates that for every soldier it loses, Russia loses seven.
President Volodymyr Zelensky met his top military advisers this week and decided to continue supporting the defence of the city, despite the high casualty rate. Kyiv seeks to buy time to build up a “combined arms” force, to be better able to conduct a counter-offensive once the ground dries out.