Ukrainian servicemen from the 121st Territorial Defence Brigade have issued a desperate plea for assistance, stating they have been on the front line for more than four months without rotation, at times going days without food or water.
In a video that circulated widely on social media on Tuesday, several soldiers appeared visibly weakened and exhausted. The message was directed at army chief Mykhailo Drapaty, with platoon commander Anatoliy Saichuk describing dire conditions.
“We are now staying in a shelter we found ourselves in, because all the positions have been destroyed. There has been no provision of food or drinking water for periods of three to seven days,” Saichuk said in the video.
He recounted an instance when the unit went 12 days without water, forcing them to drink their own urine while waiting for supplies. The platoon had been deployed for what was intended to be a one-month mission, with provisions expected via drone deliveries, but that did not materialize as planned.
Saichuk accused senior officers of misleading soldiers' families by assuring them the men were “fully supplied.” He added that some of his men were semi-conscious for days due to dehydration and hunger, prompting him to eventually abandon the positions when the situation allowed.
The 121st Brigade command confirmed the video's authenticity on Facebook, stating it “continues to take all necessary measures to properly supply the servicemen” under what it described as “extremely difficult” battlefield conditions.
The “South” joint forces group, which oversees the area, acknowledged the platoon was operating in a “difficult and dynamic sector of the front,” but characterized the video as showing only “an isolated fragment of a complex operational environment.”
Ukraine's military, critically short of manpower, has struggled for years to rotate troops regularly. The heavy presence of drones in combat zones has further complicated resupply efforts. Similar incidents of soldiers suffering from extreme deprivation have surfaced previously.
Source: Khmer Times
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