Russian military does not not feed mobilized convicts near Bakhmut making them go on assaults

Andrii Illienko, an officer of the Freedom Battalion, said this on Espreso TV.

He emphasized that inmates from Russian prisons near Bakhmut understand that they are cannon fodder.

“These are not, for the most part, some kind of trained soldiers. They have an understanding that they are being used. These prisoners do not expect to live long. In the conditions of the current intensity of fighting, it is a week or two at most. They will probably be lucky if they live for a couple of weeks. This is, in fact, before the first assault. They absolutely took them as cannon fodder,” Illienko noted.

In his opinion, no one is very worried that these convicts will die.

“Various methods are used to drive the assault waves. Barricading units shoot them for any attempt to escape, show unwillingness to go on the offensive, or run in the wrong direction. They may not be fed so that they are hungry and told to get food in battle. This is no different from World War II and penalty battalions.  Maybe even tougher,” Ukraine’s National Guard officer concluded.