A group of soldiers from Ukraine's 121st Territorial Defence Brigade published a video on Aug 11 appealing directly to army chief Mykhailo Drapaty, saying they had spent more than four months on the frontline without rotation, gone without food or water for periods of three to seven days, and on one occasion went 12 days without water.
Ukrainian soldiers appeal to army chief after four months without rotation, citing days without food or water
A group of soldiers from Ukraine's 121st Territorial Defence Brigade published a video on Aug 11 appealing directly to army chief Mykhailo Drapaty, saying they had spent more than four months on the frontline without rotation, gone without food or water for periods of three to seven days, and on one occasion went 12 days without water.
Platoon commander Anatoliy Saichuk, appearing gaunt and exhausted alongside other servicemen in the video, said the unit had been deployed on what was described as a one-month mission with supplies to be delivered by drone. 'But as it turned out, that was not the case,' he said.
Saichuk said the unit was sheltering in a location the soldiers had found themselves after all previously held positions were destroyed. He said some of his servicemen were 'semi-conscious for several days due to lack of water and food,' and that during the 12-day period without water the unit 'drank our own urine and waited for at least something to be dropped to us.'
He also accused senior officers of lying to soldiers' families by assuring them the men were 'fully supplied,' and said he eventually decided to abandon the positions when circumstances allowed.
The 121st Brigade command confirmed the video's authenticity on Facebook and said it 'continues to take all necessary measures to properly supply the servicemen' in what it described as 'extremely difficult' battlefield conditions.
The 'South' joint forces group, which commands the area, said the platoon was fighting in a 'difficult and dynamic sector of the front' and described the video as showing only 'an isolated fragment of a complex operational environment' that did not capture the full extent of efforts being made.
Ukraine's army has for years been critically short of manpower and unable to rotate frontline troops regularly, according to the article. The increasing density of drones over combat zones has also made resupplying soldiers more difficult. Similar cases, sometimes involving soldiers becoming emaciated from lack of food, have previously come to light.
- The specific location on the frontline where the platoon was deployed is not identified.
- The total number of soldiers in the platoon or featured in the video is not stated.
- Whether any formal investigation or disciplinary proceedings have been initiated in response to the video is not established.
- The identity or rank of the senior officers Saichuk accused of lying to soldiers' families is not provided.
- What action, if any, army chief Mykhailo Drapaty has taken or indicated in response to the video is not reported.
- The current status or location of the platoon following the abandonment of positions is not stated.
Read the original at The Straits Times