Russian Troops Fire At Own Soldiers While Retreating; Some Abandoned Without Food

A group of mobilized Russian men from the city of Serpukhov has accused Moscow’s army of firing at them while they were retreating from their positions.

In a video message published by the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, the group of survivors said they were sent to the village of Makiivka in the Luhansk region despite not having any training and only being given “armor used for airsoft games.” The group later said they were shelled by their own side while retreating, causing heavy losses in their unit.

“There aren’t many of us left, we were battered,” one soldier who identified himself as Vladimir Andreyevich Gurin said in the video, per a translation from The Insider.

The mobilized men added that they are currently stationed at a military camp in Baranykivka in the Luhansk region where there is no water, electricity or food.

“They brought us to this building here. There’s no electricity, no glass in the windows, we’re cold, we’re hungry, there’s no food. And we’re in the dark again about what’s coming next,” one of the soldiers said in the video, as translated by the independent news website Meduza.

“Our command has abandoned us. We’re trying to form a company ourselves and command ourselves. They dumped us, they tossed us like a piece of meat for the enemy to tear to shreds.”

The group closed the video by threatening that they would return to Russia to sort things out “at a higher level” if the army does not place them in a “normal unit.”

The International Business Times could not independently verify the authenticity of the video and the claims.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the “partial mobilization” of reservists in September, many soldiers and their relatives have come forward to accuse the Russian army of being unable to provide its conscripts with proper gear.

Last week, the wife of one mobilized Russian conscript said her husband, whose name was not revealed, was forced to spend their own money to buy warm clothing and boots to use in the war.

Other videos posted on social media and shared by news outlets also show recruits living in cramped and filthy accommodations and sleeping on bare benches or the floor.

The report comes as the Russian army continues to suffer losses amid Ukraine’s counteroffensive operations. As of Wednesday, Russia has lost 85,410 military personnel, according to estimates from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.