It is difficult to know the extent of the losses suffered by the Ukrainian army, but the testimonies of wounded and military psychologists defying the ban lift the veil as the war drags on the harsh reality and horrific reality of soldiers at the front.
The French magazine Le Point, through its correspondent in Ukraine, Boris Mapierre, tells what the soldiers Sergei and Stanislas, who introduced them under pseudonyms, told him, where he met them in a break that they had been waiting for months before returning to the front north of Bakhmot, describing their condition and their fear that the picture he takes of them will be the last picture of them together. "The more time passes, the less likely you are to have a vacation," says Sergey, adding, "We are eaten by exhaustion, we live dead waiting for salvation. The best thing that happens to one of us is a wound that takes them away from the front."
"We must tell the truth; there are large numbers of dead, wounded, men who refuse to go to fight and who can no longer participate in the war, but neither Ukrainian soldiers nor doctors are allowed to mention casualties, and the situation is more ambiguous on the Russian side," the soldier said.
Although any brigade that loses 40 percent of its soldiers is turned back in order to dismantle and rehabilitate it, Kiev sends us new recruits, Sergei says, so that we do not reach the threshold that requires our dismantling, and thus we always stay on the front."
Lack of qualification
The correspondent explains that the two soldiers are fighters of the 115th Battalion (pseudonym), which was originally created in the Kiev region to maintain order and control the checkpoints responsible for it, but its mission changed with the withdrawal of the Russians to redeploy to eastern Ukraine and push it to the front, first in the Kharkiv region and then in very exposed positions on the front line in Donbass, that is, in hell, says military psychologist Sergei who works there.
Sergey, who holds the rank of officer, notes the deteriorating health of the troops at the front and the gradual decline of his battalion, and he sees that only 10% of the fighters at the front are qualified to fight, most of them with hearing loss and concussion, and explains that this concerns all Ukrainian forces on the front, predicting the worst on the Russian side.
Sergey believes that 5% of men have no place on the forehead because of their health condition, and they must be dismissed or treated immediately, "but we keep them because there is not enough number," and adds that there are those who suffer from severe deafness, loss of balance, constant headaches, speech problems associated with frequent concussions, in addition to post-traumatic stress syndromes with various symptoms, and that 60% of the men in the battalion suffer from hearing problems, and everyone in the battalion suffers from stress. severe and real physical and moral exhaustion, which affects their cognitive abilities and making the right decisions."
Ukrainian soldiers on the front are in an unenviable position (Anatolia)
A terrifying dream haunts me
Andrey, a soldier from the same battalion who left the clinic where he was treated for several months, explained to the reporter his deafness, insomnia, interrupted sleep, nightmares, fear of noise and crowds, and the terrifying dream that haunts his nights, where he found himself in the foreground, so much so that when one of his comrades was injured and when he came to his rescue, he discovered that he had the features of his wife.
However, Andrey has no regrets about choosing to join the regional defense, and even wants to return to the battalion, but he knows that he will not be able to work on the front line because his memory loss and cognitive problems make him useless on the front line.
"They are not bad companions, they are true patriots and volunteers who are ready to fight, but they want to be properly cared for, to be able to rest and see their families," he says.