Russians With "No Understanding of Where We Are" In Ukraine Plead For Help

After a year in which the Russian invasion has gone badly and public understanding of that is well known within the country, the amazing thing is that they keep showing up, are surprised by the way they are treated - and are too cowed to rebel. 

Their forefathers from 1917 would be disgusted. JL 

Brendan Cole reports in Newsweek:

In another video by disgruntled troops fighting for Moscow, troops drafted from the Moscow and Ivanovo regions listed a series of complaints, including not even knowing their exact location. The servicemen from the 21st Motor Rifle Brigade had not been shown any military orders and were not accompanied by any officers. "We have no understanding of where we are, except that we are in the Luhansk region We are not on the payroll of the Ministry of Defense. Many of us are not combat capable." Among the group were170 men who had been "forced to sign contracts with Wagner."

A group of mobilized Russian soldiers deployed to Ukraine has complained about not getting paid and a lack of leadership in another video by disgruntled troops fighting for Moscow.

Numerous videos have come to light since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched in February 2022 of Russian troops complaining about a lack of equipment, training and poor command structure.

In the latest clip, which was first shared on the Telegram channel of independent Russian-language news outlet Astra, troops drafted from the Moscow and Ivanovo regions listed a series of complaints, including not even knowing their exact location.

Relatives of the men told Astra that the soldiers in the video were among personnel who had been transported between the Russian cities of Kursk and Rostov-on-Don, supposedly for training and transfer to a local military unit.

 

But the servicemen from the 21st Motor Rifle Brigade had not been shown any military order and were not accompanied by any officers, according to one of the men

 

He complained they had their documents seized in Rostov before they were taken by cargo plane to the Luhansk region in Ukraine. He said the draftees don't know where they are, which units they belong to, who their officers are, and what their next steps are expected to be.

"Many of us are not combat capable," the soldier said, adding that the troops were "unable to complete combat assignments. Many need medical assistance that cannot be provided in field conditions."

"We'd also like to receive our documents with stamps and official names so we'd know where we are, who we're attached to and what functions we serve," he said.

"We have no understanding of where we are, except that we are in the Luhansk region," the man said. "We are not on the payroll of the Ministry of Defense."

The men have also complained that they were not receiving promised payments, had not been given any vacation and those with injuries were being returned to the front line.

"We have no understanding of where we're going since we have no representatives," said the man in the clip shared by War Translated, which tweets about the conflict in Ukraine.Astra had also reported that among the group transported to Ukraine from Rostov were around 170 men who had been "forced to sign contracts with Wagner PMC," referring to the mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, which has suffered huge losses in the battle for Bakhmut.