Russian regiment that had previously complained to Putin defeated near Avdiivka

Radio Liberty’s Sibir.Realii media project reported the information.

The mobilized Russian regiment appealed not only to Putin, but also to Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. In total, they recorded 3 video messages, which, however, received no response.

The soldiers complained, in particular, about the arbitrariness of terrorist DPR (self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic - ed.) commanders. According to them, they were not provided with food, equipment or any support. The mobilized men also complained that instead of being trained for service in the local territorial defense forces, they were re-qualified as an assault group. Later, they recorded an appeal in which they stated that DPR commanders forced them to fight by applying 'Zhukov's methods', i.e., when soldiers refused to follow orders, commanders would shoot at the mobilized with assault rifles and armored personnel carriers. They also complained about the lack of training and poor combat capability of the units.

After the second appeal was made public, the Irkutsk region authorities decided to send them humanitarian aid and facilitate their transfer to a new place of service, but they did not manage to do it in time, and the soldiers were punished for their complaints. Thus, the regiment's deputy colonel was arrested for stating that untrained civilians cannot successfully fight, and others were deployed to storm Avdiivka, where they were defeated by Ukrainian defenders. So far, according to reports, only a few people out of the entire regiment and the deputy colonel have survived.

Families of the survivors said that the rest of the regiment either died immediately or were injured and abandoned on the battlefield. The surviving injured say they have been lucky to be rescued from the battlefield, as such practice is not common among the Russian army.

"Usually, they leave them behind and register everyone as missing, both the injured and the killed. He says they ran and then walked through a field covered with corpses. They just walked over the still warm bodies... He was telling the story and crying," says the sister of one of the mobilized men.

The wife of another Russian soldier said that her husband was sure that they had been left to die. She noted that the mobilized men were pushed into an open field and threatened to be shot if they did not obey. Each of them was equipped with only an assault rifle. 

"They pushed them into an open field and left. They had no support and were equipped with such armor that could be pierced through with a mere stick. Once they looked back, shooting at them would start. According to the man, "some bird" caused most of the injuries. ... They were running under shelling for several hours," the woman said.

• On February 27, the head of Avdiivka Military Administration Vitaliy Barabash said that Russian troops tried to surround the town from the north and south.