Russian Soldiers Fleeing Front Line in Face of Counteroffensive: Ukraine
Russian fighters are "fleeing the front line" in eastern Ukraine as Kyiv's counteroffensive gathers pace, according to Ukraine's military.
Moscow's soldiers are moving away from the front lines in the contested eastern Luhansk region, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in an operational update on Sunday morning. Newsweek could not independently verify these reports, and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Desertion has become a documented problem in Russia's forces in Ukraine. In November 2022, the British Defense Ministry said Kremlin generals may have sanctioned the use of weapons against deserters, "including possibly authorizing shooting to kill such defaulters after a warning had been given."
A Russian serviceman patrols a destroyed residential area in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine, on July 12, 2022. Moscow's soldiers are moving away from the front lines in the contested eastern Luhansk region, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in an operational update on Sunday morning. Olga MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images
Described as mobilized forces, one group of Russian troops who fled their posts were found in the Ukrainian village of Novorozsosh, the Ukrainian General Staff said. Search efforts for the fleeing soldiers involved the Russian National Guard, it added.
"The tactic of shooting deserters likely attests to the low quality, low morale and indiscipline of Russian forces," the British government department said at the time.
Earlier this month, footage circulating online from Ukrainian media appeared to show Moscow's troops opening fire on their own retreating soldiers.
Ukraine's long-anticipated counteroffensive has seen Kyiv gain territory back from Russian forces in recent days. On Saturday, the Institute for the Study of War think tank said Ukraine carried out counteroffensive operations "on at least four sectors of the front" that day.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian General Staff said 26 combat clashes had taken place on Saturday, with Russian forces focused on the Donetsk cities of Bakhmut, Lyman, Avdiivka and Marinka.
In the past few days, the "most intense combat" has focused on the western parts of the Donetsk region, the fiercely contested city of Bakhmut, and in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, the British Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
"In all these areas, Ukraine continues to pursue offensive operations and has made small advances," the ministry added in its daily intelligence update.
Russian forces have carried out "relatively effective defensive operations" in the south, it added in a post to social media.
However, both sides are racking up high casualty counts, the U.K. continued, saying Russian losses are likely at the highest point since the "peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March."
Russian forces have moved additional units to the destroyed city of Bakhmut, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Maliar, said on Friday.
"Practically in all areas and directions where our units advance in the south, they have tactical success," she added.
"The time of payback has come," Maliar then wrote on Telegram on Saturday, adding: "We are stronger than ever."
Source: Newsweek
