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War in Ukraine: the anger of Ukrainian soldiers at the front
Audio 01:36
Unit of Ukrainian soldiers returning from Sievierodonestk © Sébastien Németh/RFI
Text by: Sébastien Németh Follow |
Jad El Khoury
4 mins
For several weeks, the Russian army has been throwing all its forces to take total control of Donbass, in the east of the country.
For several days, the big city of Sievierodonestk has been continuously bombarded by Russia.
In this most active part of the front, located in the Luhansk region, the Ukrainian army is on the decline.
And a movement of discontent is being born among the soldiers, who complain about the lack of means and the lack of support from their hierarchy.
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of our special envoys in Ukraine,
Installed in the heights of Lyssychansk, the soldiers of the 3rd brigade of the 20th infantry battalion are resting after returning from the front.
Below, you can see the Severski Donets River, a strategic watercourse, difficult to cross and which serves as a natural barrier;
farther on the columns of smoke rise above Sievierodonestk.
The Ukrainian soldiers describe it as a hell on earth: “
The Russians are bombing and firing mortars 24 hours a day. It's non-stop.
When you engage your men in there, after two minutes of combat, you already have plenty of wounded that you must evacuate.
The new ones arrive and a few minutes later they are dead
,” confides a Ukrainian soldier.
unbalanced forces
According to several sources, the Ukrainians are now fighting outside the city now controlled by the Russians.
Soldiers on the retreat, in particular because of an imbalance of forces between the two camps.
Sergeant Roman Ilchenko, 32, explains that “
the Russians have artillery, armored vehicles, and their forces are five to six times greater
”.
Faced with this firepower, the Ukrainians note with bitterness the weaknesses of their forces.
T-shirt and bandana color lattice around the skull, Volodymyr Kharchuk, 33 years old and member of the 20th battalion recounts his last mission in which he was responsible for protecting the retreat of the airborne troops: “
We only had machine guns and AK47s.
RPGs from 1986. A Degtyaryov machine gun from 1943. And a Maxim machine gun from 1933. And we also have a Swedish NLAW man-portable anti-tank missile, but the battery didn't work.
That's all we had
."
He points out that none of his men had received night vision goggles, or even binoculars.
"
We had to bring home models that are usually used for hunting
," says Volodymyr Kharchuk.
The mission he describes ended badly.
Once the airborne troops had been extracted, the men of the 3rd Brigade moved towards the bridge over the river, but it was destroyed.
The soldiers therefore recount having had to cross on foot, fighting against a strong current.
“
Our equipment is heavy.
So we used our ropes to be able to cross.
All this under mortar fire.
Our evacuation was successful.
But knowing that we were on the other side of the river, the command accused us of being deserters.
They threatened us with prison.
While they were the ones who ordered us to leave the city
, ”explains Volodymyr Kharchuk, adding that his superiors then denied having ordered them to leave Sievierodonestk.
The Luhansk region in the Donbass, still controlled by the Ukrainian army, is constantly bombarded by the Russians.
© Jad El Khoury/RFI
illogical orders
A member of the same unit, Roman Ilchenko specifies that a new task has been assigned to them.
Defend the last bridge connecting Sievierodonestk and Lyssychansk.
An order which, for him, has no logic.
“
It's officially to prevent the Russians from getting through.
Except that the bridge is already destroyed.
It makes no sense to defend him.
The Russians can attempt to cross the river anywhere else where it is shallow.
My men are ready to fight, but we need equipment, and artillery.
Our soldiers are not demoralized, they want to fight.
But we no longer believe in our superiors
,” he said bitterly.
“
We fight with patriotism and it is insufficient to defend against such firepower
,” adds the “bat” commander.
“The Russians will crush us”
Faced with such means deployed by the Russians, the men are unanimous: Sievierodonestk is already lost and we must react at all costs.
Andrei Shevchenko, a 39-year-old soldier, believes that if the Ukrainian army does not reinforce its artillery, it will not be able to do anything.
“
You can't fight with only AK47s.
The Russians are going to crush us.
They bombard us from the air, with mortars, we cannot respond with simple Kalashnikovs or short-range rocket launchers.
»
So will the Ukrainian army lose the battle of Sievierodonestk?
“
The city is already lost
,” replies the soldier with a gloomy expression.
According to him, if nothing changes,
the whole Donbass
will sooner or later fall into Russian hands.
►
To read: "In Ukraine, we are witnessing lethal and non-lethal genocidal acts"
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