The President turned to Castle and Johnson, “I want you both to work the phones and meet with the NATO leaders. I want an agreement from NATO on supporting any military action against Russia. We will need to have consensus to do what needs to be done, or we will not act.”
The discussion continued for another hour as everyone went over the various aspects of what needed to happen next. The mobilization of the Army Reserves and activation of key National Guard units was going to raise a lot of red flags and cause a lot of questions to be asked. Everyone needed to know exactly what to say, and work from the same basic talking points.
Peace Keepers and Shots Fired
At 0400 hours, in the twilight hours of the morning, the lead elements of the 137th Reconnaissance Battalion (nicknamed the “Red Foxes”) crossed the Russian/Ukrainian border at the small village of Maksimov, which was located along the A280 highway. The critical port city of Mariupol was a mere eight miles away along the same road. As the armored vehicles approached the border, they spotted several Ukrainian border guards and one armored vehicle. The Red Foxes approached the guards and informed them of the recent UN Security Council resolution. “We would also like to reiterate that the governor of your region has requested that Russian peacekeepers come to help observe and protect the referendum vote,” they continued. “We respectfully request that you stand down and let us pass.”
A tense pause followed, in which no perceptible activity took place. Finally, the Red Foxes issued their ultimatum, “If you do not stand down, you will be fired upon.”
The situation had everyone on edge, but ultimately, the border commander ordered his men to stand down. They were clearly outnumbered and outgunned. To have fought would have resulted in certain death for his men, something he was not willing to risk. He did, however, radio ahead to the government forces in the city, letting them know that the Russians were coming. They had managed to delay the Russians for close to an hour before they rolled across the border.
As the armored convoy reached the outskirts of Mariupol, they encountered the first of a series of roadblocks. Several police officers, intermixed with a platoon of Ukrainian soldiers, had formed a makeshift roadblock using three police cars, two army trucks, and two BMP-2s.
As the column of Red Foxes approached the roadblock and came to a stop, a Russian captain got out of his armored vehicle to walk towards the roadblock. He was hoping to talk with the platoon commander and avoid a conflict. As the captain was roughly halfway between the two parties, a shot was fired. It may never be known who fired the first shot; it could have been a nervous police officer, an agitator, or one of the soldiers on either side. At any rate, the bullet hit the young captain who had sought to defuse the situation.
When the Captain clutched his chest and fell to the ground, violent chaos ensued. The Russians had the Ukrainians heavily outgunned; in less than a minute, the defenders of the roadblock lay dead in the street, and the vehicles they had been using as cover were completely shredded from the intense gun battle. The T-80s wasted no time in firing their 125mm cannons at the Ukrainian BMPs — they didn’t even have time to get off returning fire before they were destroyed.
The reverberations of the short exchange of heavy weapons fire and subsequent explosions shook the small city, waking many of the locals from their sleep. The resident Ukrainian battalion commander, Colonel Skopje, was one of the men roused from their slumber. Concerned that his men might be in eminent mortal danger, he threw on his uniform and immediately headed to his office. His battalion had been planning to withdraw behind the demarcation line later in the day, so they had already gathered their vehicles and were ready to move.
Fifteen minutes later, a survivor of the attack was brought to the room, and regaled Skopje with the horrors of how the Russians had slaughtered the soldiers at the roadblock. The colonel immediately sent a message to his higher command, telling them that the Russians had slaughtered one of his platoons and were advancing on the city.
Without orders or permission from his superiors, Colonel Skopje issued an order that may very well have been the single act that escalated the conflict to a full-blown war. The colonel commanded his battalion to head for the Russian unit and engage them. He also sent a message to his aviation support unit and requested the two Mi-28 Havoc ground attack helicopters to engage the Russian column. Deep down, Skopje knew his forces could not prevent the Russians from capturing the city, but he hoped they could blunt their advance until additional reinforcements arrived (pending, of course, the central government sent them).
The American advisors he had with him argued against engaging the Russians. One of the men insisted, “You should order your units to leave for the demarcation line immediately. Look to fight another day, when you have sufficient force and support elements.”
The colonel wouldn’t hear any of it. “I am going to protect my country, even if that means that we are killed in the process,” Skopje snapped.
The American major who was the lead advisor for this sector hung his head low. Then he looked up and offered to shake his hand. “I wish you all the best of luck,” he said.
Turning to the other advisors who were assigned to this battalion, he ordered, “Let’s all get in our own vehicles and head across the demarcation line. I will not have us be a part of this ill-advised and non-sanctioned attack.”
Captain Nikolai Popov had just woken up when he received word that the Russians had indeed crossed the border in the early hours of the morning. Less than ten minutes later, he found out about the shooting that happened at the roadblock. Thinking things could potentially get hairy, Captain Popov called out to his lead crew chief, “Get the helicopters fueled and ready to move. I want them equipped with anti-tank missiles and rocket pods… we may need to fight our way out of this situation.”
The group of aviators, mechanics and ordinance technicians began to get the two attack helicopters ready for a potential combat mission. The pilots walked over to the maps and began to orient themselves as to where the enemy formation currently was and where they would most likely move in the immediate future. They also looked at potential egress routes where they could fly once they had expended their ordinance. They decided amongst themselves that if they survived the engagement, they would radio ahead to their support element and find an empty field to settle down into, refuel, and then continue to their original destination, Kryvyi Rih Airbase.
Twenty minutes later, Captain Popov received a request for air support from the army ground commander. He knew an order might come, but he had secretly hoped it would not. He informed the group of the orders anyway. The ground crew was nearly done getting the Havocs loaded with their ordinance. The captain provided some additional guidance to his team. “Fly low and stay between the various buildings. This will provide you with cover. As you spot the enemy tanks and armored vehicles moving through the city, engage them on sight, and keep going until you have expended all of your missiles. If all goes well, we will destroy sixteen tanks or armored vehicles and then get out of there as fast as possible.”
The other pilot responded, “Yes sir,” with a wild grin on his face. Then they dutifully climbed into the Havocs and began their pre-flight checks.
As the rotor blades got up to speed, Captain Popov’s helicopter lifted off and began to head towards the city. The sun was fully up at this point. It was a beautiful morning, though as they got closer to the city, they could see dark black smoke rising from where the Russians had attacked their comrades. Suddenly, Popov spotted the Russian convoy. The Russian armored vehicles were nearly to the downtown and still driving in a single file column — they had not fanned out into the city yet. They were still heading in the direction of the town hall and the airport, which were probably their main objectives. The captain slowed his helicopter down and went into a hover behind a four-story building roughly a mile away. His wingman did the same.