sigernusantara.my.id - The distraught Ukrainian soldiers realized early on that they were being sent to Bakhmut only to be "sent off".
They complained that they had no artillery and were only targets of Russian fire.
Bakhmut, a small town in eastern Ukraine, has become a horrific battleground as Moscow forces intensify their offensives over the winter.
While Kiev's military and Western media describe "heavy losses" on Moscow's military front, Ukrainian troops have spoken of their own desperate struggle for survival against Russia's nearly limitless stockpile of artillery and personnel.
“When they drove us to Bakhmut, I already knew that I would be sent to death,” a Ukrainian soldier told The Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity near Kramatorsk, about 25 km west of the front line.
"(The Russians) are continuously shelling us, but we have no artillery - so we have nothing to counterattack them," added Volodymyr, whose surname has been withheld to protect his identity. Saturday (18/3/2023).
“I don't know if I will come back or not. Our [troops] have just been killed.”
Russia's progress relies heavily on members of the Wagner Group mercenary group. The group has made gains in Bakhmut.
Moscow first attempted to win a brutal conflict by deploying a "human wave" attack, using battalions of convicts, before eventually sending in an elite mercenary force.
It came after president Volodymyr Zelensky and his main military command agreed to continue defending Bakhmut.
He said only a few of the original 27 members of his platoon were out of town with him, but made it clear that most of them were injured, not killed.
“Russia has so many weapons, and there are so many of them,” said Valeriy.
“They were shooting at us all the time. Sometimes, you hear (artillery fire) coming in every second." (*)
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