Written off in advance How an untrained and unarmed ‘platoon’ of new conscripts from Moscow was decimated near Svatove

On October 8, a group of new conscripts from the Moscow region recorded an understated but still urgent video, in which they hoped to tell the civilian audience about their circumstances. Their platoon of 30 was about to be sent to Lyman, to take part in a Russian offensive there. The soldiers, dressed in rag-tag uniforms each of them had to put together around retail shops, said that they were going to the front without any training, and with weapons that were “rusty, stuck, or jammed.” With only a day’s worth of firing practice, and no acquaintance at all with the vehicles some of them would have to drive, they felt completely unprepared to be sent to a war “hot spot.” The day after recording the video, the platoon of 30 was sent to the Luhansk region. By October 17, when the video was first published on YouTube, only 13 men were left in the unit. The rest of them were either dead or missing. Here’s what happened to the platoon, based on an extended investigation published recently by Mediazona and the videos recorded by the soldiers — one of them still unpublished.

Most of the men who appeared in the published video (which has now been removed from YouTube) had been drafted on September 23–25 — that is, in the very first days of mobilization, which started on September 21.

According to his sister, one of them received a draft letter on September 22. On September 25, he was sent, straight from the draft office, to the army base in Alabino, a village on the outskirts of Naro-Fominsk, a town in the Moscow region. Over the several days he spent there, he was able to buy himself a uniform and all the other essential gear.

From Alabino, the conscripts were taken to a camp near the village of Nikitovka in the Belgorod region, which shares a border with Ukraine. From there, via a village called Khokhlovo, they were sent to the Luhansk region. In all that time, they got nothing that would even resemble adequate training. The mobilized men were assigned to the First platoon, Second company of the Fifteenth motorized rifle regiment within the “elite” Taman Division, stationed in Naro-Fominsk.

By October 9, they had arrived in the vicinity of Svatove, a Ukrainian city in the Luhansk region. There, the command deposited them in a “small grove,” leaving them with a non-working radio, so that the troops had no communication “either with the headquarters, the commander, or the Second or Third platoons.” All in all, there were 30 of them in position, including one BMP mechanic-driver who had never seen his combat vehicle.

In one of the two videos they made, the soldiers explained that they were barely armed. They had machine guns, but no hand grenades, and no rounds for the RPG launcher. One of the machine guns was broken. Soon the company commander ordered the platoon to “meet the enemy column.” The soldiers objected that they’d never fired an RPG, to which the commander replied: “Why don’t I send you ahead to the first line, and you’ll warm up your weapons right there.”

In the evening on October 12, the platoon’s positions came under Ukrainian artillery fire. An hour later, they saw a group of 30–40 Russian troops moving towards the front line.

We came up to those guys, asking what was going on, whether the village had been surrendered. They answered: “The battle is lost, we were beaten with mortars, we’re retreating.” There were about two companies there, the Fifth and Sixth companies, conscripts exactly like ourselves. One of them said that there would be a tank battle soon.

Shortly afterwards, four Russian tanks drove past the First platoon’s positions, in the direction of the frontline, with the headlights on. 20 minutes later, the men heard artillery fire, and soon the tanks came back, at a low speed, with all the lights turned off. “We all jumped up, gathered our guns and bulletproof vests, got our bags, and just followed the tanks,” said one of the conscripts. Their officers tried to stop them from retreating, but when artillery shells began to strike nearby, “they all scattered like cockroaches,” jumping into their vehicles and leaving. Weekly newsletter

The tank drivers asked the First platoon for a “spare machine gun” and a walkie-talkie — they, too, had no communication with their command. The platoon continued to retreat for another 20–25 kilometers (12–15 miles). By the time they reached a checkpoint set up by fighters from the self-proclaimed “LNR,” there were only 15 of them left. That night, they had come under artillery fire, and knew nothing of what happened to those who didn’t make it to the checkpoint. The “LNR” men took away their weapons, bulletproof vests and helmets. Members of the platoon told them to “do what you want, just f*** off.”

On October 14, the group left the checkpoint. After walking a while, they met with a Russian armored vehicle, whose crew agreed to give them a lift to Svatove. There, they found an empty building and hid there, for fear that they might be ordered back to the front line. While at the “LNR” checkpoint, they’d overheard that officers often rip up the soldier’s military IDs when sending them ahead, writing them off as dead or missing in advance.

By the time the platoon’s remainder left Svatove together with the other retreating Russian units, there were only 13 of them left. On October 23, Mediazona was able to reach one of the First platoon soldiers, named Vladislav. He told the journalist on the phone that the remainder of the platoon has made it to the army base in the Belgorod region. He also said that the Attorney General, the FSB, and “lots of others” were investigating what had gone wrong in the Taman division.

Vladislav said that he was hopeful about punishing the commanders who sent untrained and practically unarmed new conscripts to the front line. He thought that around 200 other people had filed similar complaints with the Attorney General.

Later that evening, Vladislav told the same journalist that he and his fellow troops “were going somewhere again.” Since then, his phone isn’t answering.

Where is all those incessantly spammed out day after day after day Ukraine ‘winning!’ articles and threads at?!

Bakhmut hello?
Kherson hello?
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“The Nazi command has deployed Right Sector units to prevent the Ukrainian Armed Forces from retreating from Artemivsk (Bakhmut). Up to 200 Right Sector fighters have been deployed in this direction and have been ordered to stop the retreat of units of the 93rd Army Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces”
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/14075
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“Ukrainian paratroopers singing ‘Our father is Bandera, our mother is Ukraine.’
Bandera was the leader of Ukraine’s Nazi organization and murdered over 100,000 Poles and Jews in 1943-1944.
Just in case you still think the Ukrainian military and government isn’t filled with Nazis!”
https://twitter.com/historyoarmani2/status/1582458713222262784
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“There was an incident in the Limansk direction.
After several unsuccessful attempts to go on the attack, the mercenaries from among the Poles refused to tempt fate and go forward.
Representatives of the national battalions came to them for analysis - the conversation did not work out and the Poles disposed of Bandera lovers.
Now there is planned a massacre between foreigners and Nazis.”

‘Battle erupts between Polish mercenaries, Ukrainian nationalists near Liman — LPR official’
https://tass.com/politics/1527599
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“The 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine paid dearly for yesterday’s attempt to attack. The situation is close to rebellion, they refuse to go forward.
Berislav direction.”
https://t.me/voenacher/31151
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“The average lifespan of a Ukrainian mobilized recruit now is approximately 10 days — from the time he is grabbed off the street to the time he falls on the battlefield.
Foreign mercenaries—which by and large have become regular Polish and Romanian (and other NATO countries’) troops masquerading as “volunteers” — loath the idea of being used as cannon fodder and behave as regular colonial expeditionary forces.”
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/17146
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“The Ukrainian command continues to throw its soldiers into new suicidal attacks in the area of the Donetsk airport.
As a result of the competent actions of the scouts of the DPR special forces battalion, the enemy suffered heavy losses,
and now the approaches to our positions are literally strewn with the bodies of destroyed Ukrainian militants.”
https://t.me/intelslava/40211
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“A Ukrainian servicewoman has praised our mobilized soldiers’ fighting ability and criticizes the Ukrainian side for underestimating them:

Schmucks, eh?
Bums, eh?

Are you civilians and all the rest of you fools or what?
Do you really think that our people are dying at the hands of inept mobilised troops,
that our people are so degenerate that in some areas they are almost dying by the company at the hands of inexperienced mobilised troops?

You’re really f**ked up…”
https://nyka.livejournal.com/22943000.html
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“BEFORE THE FALL

Get ready for a nearly certain, major Russian offensive when wintry weather follows the rains.
Russia is making slow/steady gains all along the frontline watchtowers: Lyman, Donetsk, Bahkmut.
Virtually every Ukrainian attack on the Kherson front is - effectively - repelled.
The frontlines are stable. Ukrainians suffer wave after wave of casualties + loss of equipment.
There are a few rumbles across the collective West pointing towards negotiations - to stop the meat grinder. But not from the psycho War Controllers. At least not yet.
The Fall of the Western Empire is at hand - right in front of everyone.”
https://t.me/rocknrollgeopolitics/5342
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“Col. Macgregor: NATO Clueless in Ukraine. US Army Collapsing Due to Discrimination Against White Man”
https://rumble.com/v1qd5nr-col.-macgregor-nato-clueless-in-ukraine.-us-army-collapsing-due-to-discrimi.html
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‘Routine Demolition of Woke NATO’s Electric Grid In Former Ukraine’
https://rumble.com/v1qdv95-routine-demolition-of-woke-natos-electric-grid-in-former-ukraine.html
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“Killing Woke NATO in Former Ukraine - Update Oct 28, 2022”
https://rumble.com/v1qdzeb-killing-woke-nato-in-former-ukraine-update-oct-28-2022.html
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“For the moment, Washington remains blind to these developments. Whether in print, radio, television, or online, the narrative is clear:
despite horrific losses—at least 400,000 Ukrainian battlefield casualties including 100,000 soldiers killed in action—Ukrainian forces are winning.
Moreover, the narrative says, America’s financial and economic dominance will ultimately overwhelm the deceptively weak Russian economy.

The Ukrainian-victory narrative admittedly benefits hugely from Western media that actively “tune out” opposing views
and depict Russia and its armed forces in the worst possible light. The fact that nearly half a century of the Cold War
conditioned Americans to think the worst of Russians certainly helps.”

“War and Regrets in Ukraine”
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/war-and-regrets-in-ukraine/
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“New Atlas LIVE: Ukraine, China, Iran & More”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoeAWDMU5jQ
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‘How The U.S. Learned To Love Neo-N@zis In Ukraine’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRi-A4WskYI
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‘Pandora Papers Reveal Offshore Holdings of Ukrainian President and his Inner Circle’
https://www.occrp.org/en/the-pandora-papers/pandora-papers-reveal-offshore-holdings-of-ukrainian-president-and-his-inner-circle

I know roughly how many Ukrainian wives and families are crying and weeping, Canuckistan inhabitant.....

“The irretrievable losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as of October 20, 2022 amounted to 402,000 people , of which 387,000 were killed . Losses among mercenaries and volunteers from Poland, the Baltic States, Romania amounted to 54,000 of them killed 31,240 people. These are the OSINT data , calculated using reports from funeral agencies, extracts from mortuaries, as well as the results of an analysis of the radio, cellular and satellite exchange of forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The media also report that the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of Ukraine allegedly prepared more than 320,000 appeals “about the fate of the missing soldiers”, but the SBU banned them for national security purposes......”

https://t.me/nologica/5535
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So many that:

“Bring a friend and get 20 thousand hryvnia.”

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine continues to look for ways out of the acute shortage of recruits, now offering to actually sell friends for the needs of the front.The Ukrainian authorities are giving a reward of 20,000 hryvnia if someone brings a “friend” to the front.”

https://t.me/Slavyangrad/16616

For as long as there have been cannons, these untrained and poorly equipped troops being sent into battle as sacrifices were known as “cannon fodder”. Not good for the morale of the folks back home, either, as there was probably not enough left to ship back home for a funeral, if any body parts were recovered at all, let alone identified.

Battles used to be fought with the strong man at the lead of the charge, and his royal loyal close guard made up his army. When it was strong man against strong man, these battles were immensely bloody, but the outcome was almost always quickly decided. Last man standing was declared new strong man of both factions.

If there were any factions left when the remaining strong man got back to headquarters.

To prevent this potential exodus, the idea of conscription came up, with every “able-bodied” male, and sometimes females as well, included, so everybody had some skin in the game.

Except for many of the conscripts, it wasn’t just a little bitty patch, it was the whole hide.

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