A Russian soldier who says he was one of the few survivors of an attack on the Ukrainian city of Vovchansk has described how his regiment was ‘crushed’ by machine gun fire as they were ordered to advance.
The soldier, identified as Anton Andreev of the 5th company of the 1009th regiment of Vladimir Putin’s invader army, said in a video that he doubted he would make it out with his life.
‘There are twelve of the hundred left. We are being shot at by machine guns and drones. We are complete meat. And generals in Moscow: give zero f***s,” he reportedly said.
Andreev’s report comes as Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia was losing around 1,200 troops a day in May – the highest since the conflict began – amid a fierce offensive that is using troops as cannon fodder.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the total number of victims has passed half a million since Putin’s forces launched their illegal invasion in February 2022.
The soldier, identified as Anton Andreev of the 5th company of the 1009th regiment of Vladimir Putin’s invader army, said in a video that he doubted he would make it out with his life.
The site of a Russian air defense system in Belgorod is on fire after a suspected HIMARS attack
“The total number of Russian casualties (dead and wounded) since the start of the war in February 2022 has now probably reached 500,000,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement on X.
It added that tThe ‘higher number of casualties is most likely a reflection of Russia’s ongoing attrition offensive being waged across a broad front.
“It is very likely that most Russian forces receive only limited training and are unable to conduct complex offensive operations.
“As a result, Russia is using small-scale but costly wave attacks in an attempt to weaken Ukrainian defenses.”
The lack of training among troops was highlighted by the Russian soldier in the video, who said new troops coming to the front had only received “four to five days of training.”
“They were sent to attack in the morning; didn’t even pass two houses. They were pinned down by machine guns, packed and finished off by FPV,” he said. ‘In one group there was only one man left.
He said that the first night his group was ‘rushed’, ‘half the party fell’; “Thank God most were injured, but many were killed.”
He labeled the attack a “massacre” and said: “We did not reach the enemy stronghold until the next day. Even then they said they just had to achieve that, and other troops would follow.
In this photo released by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense on Sunday, June 2, 2024, a Russian soldier operates a gun at a secret location in Ukraine
“They told us we could only carry armor and a gun to Volchansk… the first night was fine, we took one street and then all hell broke loose.
‘A group is coming, sent to attack a street. At first it seems okay, then you end up under mortars, machine guns, FPV. They take away so many people. But the command calls on the radio for us to move forward. We must not turn back.’
Russia’s tactic of letting wave after wave of poorly equipped and barely trained men die on the front lines has allowed the country to make a number of breakthroughs in recent months.
But its strategy of constantly attracting new recruits limits its ability to form units with higher capabilities, a Defense Department report suggests, meaning the military’s overall effectiveness is limited.
It comes after footage emerged of what is believed to be the first major use of Western-made weapons systems by Ukrainian forces to destroy targets on Russian territory, prompting a top Kremlin official to warn of “fatal consequences.”
The Ukrainian military is believed to have attacked an S-300 or S-400 air defense system using the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and completely destroyed it in a devastating attack on Sunday.
A stunning video taken by a Russian soldier and shared to the Telegram messaging service showed a massive fire raging in a field in Belgorod, a Russian region bordering Kharkiv.
The turret of a Russian T-80BV – one of Russia’s top battle tanks – was blown dozens of meters into the air amid a fireball explosion
The attack comes days after US President Joe Biden for the first time gave Kyiv limited permission to deploy US weapons on targets in Russia in an effort to halt Vladimir Putin’s debilitating attacks on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv .
Until now, U.S. weapons have only been approved for use on Ukrainian territory annexed by Russian forces, marking a significant shift in White House policy toward the conflict.
In recent weeks, a number of NATO countries have said they will allow Ukraine to attack targets in Russia with weapons they have supplied to Kiev, something President Vladimir Putin has warned could escalate the war into a global conflict.
Russia says it is open to dialogue based on the “new reality” it has created on the ground, where its armed forces control about 18% of Ukraine. Kiev says peace can only be based on a complete withdrawal of all Russian forces and the restoration of its territorial integrity.