A platoon commander of the 121st Territorial Defense Brigade of Ukraine publicly denounced the military high command for the critical situation his soldiers are facing on the front line, where they have gone months without receiving adequate supplies of water, food, and medicine.
On August 9, Lieutenant Anatoli Sashchuk posted a dramatic video on his social media directed at the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Mikhail Drapaty, in which he reveals that he and his men were sent in April to replace soldiers who had gone eight months without rotation. The mission was supposed to last one month, but four months later they are still in the same positions and in increasingly precarious conditions.
“We were promised that the positions would be prepared and that supplies would be delivered by drones. None of that turned out to be true. Now we are in an improvised shelter because all the positions were destroyed,” the soldier recounted. According to his testimony, they can go between three and seven days without receiving any water or food, and on one occasion, his personnel went 12 days completely without supplies.
“To maintain our bodies, we drink our own urine and wait for them to throw us something,” he denounced.
Saschuk detailed that while other groups receive nine-kilogram packages, his men are only sent three kilograms of food and three bottles of water. Their Starlink communication equipment was destroyed and they were only able to replace it thanks to acquaintances who bought a new one, although it took weeks to receive it. Medication orders also do not arrive on time or do not arrive at all.
“Several of my soldiers were in a semi-conscious state for days due to a lack of water and food. I have decided that as soon as conditions are favorable, we will leave the position without waiting for a replacement, because we do not have the strength to remain here,” the lieutenant warned, requesting a safe corridor to evacuate. “Every authority we turned to ignored us. You are our only hope. We do not know if we will survive until we can get out,” he concluded.
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Command response
In turn, the command of the 121st brigade responded to the video by stating that the soldiers operate under the subordination of another unit of the Defense Forces and that they continue to take measures to ensure supply. According to their version, during the last month they sent 27 packages of approximately nine kilograms each via drones.
However, the brigade acknowledged that “the situation in this direction is extremely complex”. They attributed the supply problems to adverse weather conditions, constant enemy actions, and electronic warfare that prevent shipments from being delivered on time and without damage.
The command indicated that the brigade commander maintains direct contact with the soldiers and is aware of the situation, although they considered that “the information in the video does not reflect all the circumstances”. They promised to carry out the rotation “as soon as possible, when it can be done safely for the personnel,” and asked not to jump to conclusions or spread information without the full context.
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Troop shortages and forced mobilization
Amidst the advances of the Russian Army in various directions of the special military operation, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are facing a major shortage of troops, exacerbated by the systemic problem of desertion.
At the same time, more and more citizens are becoming victims of forced mobilization, which is commonly known in the country as ‘busification‘. Images regularly appear online of military commissars forcibly recruiting men on the street, on public transport, in hospitals, or even blocking them in their cars while they are driving.
Occasionally, clashes with crowds are also recorded, while many citizens resist mobilization. Faced with the brutality of recruiters and the growing danger of being sent to the front, young people continue to devise all kinds of schemes to escape the country.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that Moscow is committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis. The leader pointed out that it is necessary to guarantee Russia’s long-term security and eliminate the root causes of the conflict, including the expansion of NATO —which Moscow considers a threat— and the violation of the rights of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine.
- The Russian proposal envisages that Kiev completely withdraw its troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as from the Zaporozhye and Kherson provinces (incorporated into Russia after popular referendums in 2022) and that it recognize those territories, along with Crimea and Sevastopol, as part of the Russian Federation. Furthermore, the neutrality, non-alignment, denuclearization, demilitarization, and denazification of Ukraine must be guaranteed.
