Russian Unit Sent Families Desperate Video Saying Commander Is 'Drunk'
A new video shows Russian troops raising the alarm about their treatment by commanders in Ukraine.
The 50 or so mobilized soldiers said they weren't given food or ammo, and weren't being paid on time.
They warned that they were being led by a "drunk commander" to reinforce positions in Bakhmut.
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Around 50 mobilized Russian troops in Ukraine sent their families a desperate plea for help in a newly-surfaced video, saying they were brought to the frontlines by a "drunk" commander and given no supplies to survive.
In a video addressed to their relatives, the men from the 85th Brigade gathered solemnly in a building in Svetlodarsk and said they'd been sent to fight in Bakhmut without food, ammo, or fire support, according to a Sunday Telegram post by independent Russian outlet Astra.
Astra wrote that it received the clip from relatives of the mobilized soldiers and that after the clip was filmed at least 10 of these men were deployed in the city of Bakhmut.
Insider could not independently verify the details of their deployment, or when the video was filmed.
The troops alleged a litany of grievances, saying they were ordered to reinforce unmined positions with a "drunk commander" but were delayed by heavy fire from enemy tanks, mortars, and missiles.
A man in the video added that the commander from another unit "said that for us it would be a suicide mission."
"We tried to explain to the commander that we are not stormtroopers or special forces, we have no ammo, or food, no evacuation, no vehicles, we were thrown in like stormtroopers," the unnamed soldier said.
His unit protested their orders, but were instructed to carry on and "die an honorable death," he said. Those who initially refused were told they were traitors and threatened with imprisonment or death, the man added.
"We won't fight not in this direction, not in the first line of defense, and not with these commanders. I think that's it," the man said.
He added that the troops were receiving only part of their salaries, which weren't even paid on time.
The only comfort they had left was their phones, which they used to record their message, he said.
The besieged city of Bakhmut has been the site of bitter fighting for months, with Kyiv and Moscow both suffering heavy casualties in what's been dubbed the war's "meat grinder."
The Wagner Group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, was stationed in Bakhmut in the spring, before being replaced by the Russian army.
Russia mobilized some 300,000 men in September, hoping to bolster its waning manpower in Ukraine. But reports emerged just weeks after the mobilization from troops who said they were given little to no training and treated essentially as cannon fodder.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The video comes amid a new wave of Russian air attacks on multiple cities in southern and eastern Ukraine, officials said on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera.
Drones and ballistic missiles were possibly used in the attacks, which destroyed several buildings, they added.
Source: Business Insider
