Young Russians face a tank with masked faces. She and more than 200,000 other recruits were called up by the partial mobilization of Vladimir Putin (70) – because the Russian president has run out of soldiers at the front.
But conditions in the Russian military are apparently catastrophic. Time and again there were reports of missing equipment. In a video, young Russians tackle exactly these problems. They had not been properly trained and had just fired a pistol, according to the Russian medium Ostorozhno.
It is unthinkable for them to be sent to the front like this. In addition, there is a lack of equipment. They were promised that no one would have to go into battle without proper training, weapons and ammunition. Some of them had to buy their own bulletproof armor.
“Then the Massacre Began”
The young Russians are said to be members of the 15th Motorized Infantry Regiment, “Focus” reports. They were drawn up at the end of September. Already at the beginning of October they were sent to eastern Ukraine. The video was said to have been taken on October 8, but was not uploaded to YouTube until October 17.
Just four days after the men shot the video, they came under fire. Many of them were killed. The officers are said to have said the tanks would advance to repel the Ukrainian attackers. Instead, the tanks withdrew.
The recruits didn’t stand a chance. “Then the slaughter began,” the wife of a fallen soldier told the Russian platform Ostorozhno. Survivors are said to have reported that the retreat was a mess. They just walked through the area until they found another Russian army position. There they asked to contact their commander.
Putin sends young men to the front like ‘cannon fodder’.
But then they were told, “You either go back to the front or go to jail.” They were also called cowards. The officers then admitted that mistakes had been made and that the recruits were being trained for the front. The young men’s relatives are now trying to get their loved ones back home. But the army refuses, saying they don’t know exactly where the soldiers are. After all, it is war.
The September mobilization in Russia sparked a series of protests in the country. Tens of thousands of military-aged men fled conscription abroad, mainly to neighboring countries. Kazakhstan reported more than 200,000 arrivals from Russia within two weeks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, 44, had accused Russia of sending reservists to Ukraine as “cannon fodder” for its partial mobilization. (jmh/AFP)