To spare the good soldiers for the offensive: Ukraine sent inexperienced conscripts to the meat grinder in Bakhmut

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For many, it was death row. The Wall Street Journal tells the story of a group of 16 Ukrainian conscripts who fought in a bloody skirmish in the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut in February. The men, many of whom had been called up just days earlier and had received no training whatsoever, were tasked with defending a housing complex against Russian forces.

The combat mission ended badly for most of the men. Within 36 hours, 11 of the 16 men were killed or captured. Most of the men came from poor villages and had no combat experience before their deployment. They were given obsolete Soviet rifles and uniforms. According to the report, the Ukrainian government used the newly mobilized soldiers in Bakhmut to rescue the Western-trained and equipped brigades for the planned spring offensive.

“It Was Hell on Earth”

Oleksi Malkowski was one of 16 men. The unemployed father of three fired a bazooka at the front in Bachmut for the first time in his life. He missed the target. The Russians returned fire, hitting the wall next to him. Malkowski fled. When he returned to the building after sunset, he found the bodies of two of his comrades.

Vladislav Yudin, a former Luhansk prisoner, told his boss that he had never held a gun, let alone fired it. “Bachmut will teach you,” was the reply to the objection. Moments later, Yudin had to watch as a villager and the commander were killed in front of his eyes. “It was hell on earth,” he recalls.

Probably several thousand dead on both sides

After months of fighting, Russian forces have recently taken control of Bakhmut. Although neither side has disclosed casualties, according to Western estimates, several thousand soldiers on both sides lost their lives on the front lines in the city, which has been repeatedly referred to as the “meat grinder”. Many were injured or captured.

Some relatives are still searching in vain for their husbands and sons, who were sent to the front after Bakhmut. The fact that the men had to fight without adequate training arouses great anger among them.

According to the report, two Ukrainian military officials showed up at the home of 51-year-old shift worker Vasily Zelensky in early March. They had to tell his family that the man is missing. Is he dead? In jail? Wife Olena asked the pair, “How come you take an untrained man and a week later he’s gone?” It was war, was the curt reply from the military officials. No one will train the mobilized now. (no)

Source: Blick