By INTEL-DROP May 28, 2023

VIDEO

Ukraine Sent Poor, Untrained Men Into Bakhmut Meat Grinder to Save Better Forces for Counteroffensive

One man told The Wall Street Journal that he had never held a gun before he was sent into the battle.

By VT - Jonas E. Alexis, Senior Editor -May 27, 2023

Ukraine sent untrained recruits into the battle of Bakhmut to save its professional soldiers for an expected counteroffensive, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The Journal spoke with men who were part of a small group that was sent into Bakhmut, which became known as the meat grinder, just a few days after being mobilized.

Out of 16 men in the group of draftees, 11 were either killed or captured. The Journal described them as “mostly poor men from villages in the northeastern Kharkiv region, many of them unemployed, doing odd jobs as handymen or shift work at factories in the regional capital.”

Some of the men had military training years or decades ago, but none had combat experience. A few of them threatened to refuse orders when they were told they were being sent to the frontlines on February 21, citing a lack of training, but they ultimately went.

One man, Vladyslav Yudin, told the Journal that he told a sergeant major that he had never fired or even held a gun before. “Bakhmut will teach you,” Yudin was told.

The men participated in brutal house-to-house combat in Bakhmut. Many of them are presumed dead, but their families are still holding out hope that they were captured by the Russians and are still alive.

The men’s accounts match what Ukrainians fighting on the frontlines had been telling the media while the battle was still raging. They told stories of troops being sent in with little support, training, or ammunition.

The Washington Post spoke to a Ukrainian battalion commander in March who said he was being sent fresh recruits who didn’t want to fire their guns because they were afraid of the sound.

Despite Kyiv’s Western backers advising against expending resources on Bakhmut, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to hold onto the city for as long as he could, but it was fully captured by the Wagner Group and Russian forces this past weekend.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin estimated that 50,000 Ukrainians lost their lives fighting for the city, but the number is not confirmed. Prigozhin also said that he recruited 50,000 people from prison to fight in Bakhmut and about 20% of them were killed.

Military operation in Ukraine. Online

By © Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation / TASS - 27 May 2023

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the words of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milley, about the impossibility of Kyiv to return the land as a step towards understanding reality.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that the West is waging war against the Russian Federation on all fronts.

The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov, announced the defeat of the temporary deployment of mercenaries in the Kharkiv region.

The main events of May 28 are in the TASS online broadcast.

Top new11:20

The mayor of Kiev Vitaliy Klitschko explained the night tremors and vibrations in the city with the transfer of new weapons.10:34

The mayor's office of Stakhanov reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired at Almaznaya twice in 10 minutes.

"According to preliminary information, on May 28, 2023, at 15:18 and 15:27 Moscow time, the territory of Almaznaya was shelled. The Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the private sector," said an employee of Stakhanov's mayor's office.

Details of damage and casualties are being clarified.10:30

The representative office of the DPR in the JCCC stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired 18 shells from 155 mm caliber guns in Donetsk in 25 minutes.

According to the representative office, from 15:30 to 15:55 Moscow time, the Ukrainian army shelled the Petrovsky, Kirovsky, and Kyiv districts of Donetsk. The Armed Forces of Ukraine used 155 mm artillery, firing a total of 18 shells.10:04

The representative office of the DPR in the JCCC reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired 10 shells from the MLRS in Donetsk.09:11

Renat Karchaa, the adviser to the general director of the Rosenergoatom concern, commented on the Ukrainian intelligence statement about a provocation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.09:00

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko believes that a clash with Ukraine was inevitable.08:30

The former commander of the International Security Forces in Kosovo under the auspices of NATO, Fabio Mini,  does not believe in the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and sees a threat in the irrationality of the West.08:09

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more than 30 soldiers in the Kupyansk direction. 08:08

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost up to 10 military personnel in the Kherson direction in a day.08:07

Konashenkov announced  the defeat of the command and observation posts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the DPR and the Zaporizhzhia region.08:06

The Russian Defense Ministry reported  the destruction of up to 340 Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk direction. at 08:06

The RF Armed Forces destroyed  over 100 military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Yuzhno-Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia directions.08:05

Konashenkov stated that air defense systems intercepted three Storm Shadow cruise missiles.08:01

The official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov, announced the destruction of the ammunition depots of the territorial defense of Ukraine and the foreign legion.08:00

The Russian Defense Ministry announced the destruction of up to 65 military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Krasnoliman direction. at 08:00

The Russian Defense Ministry announced  the defeat of the temporary deployment of mercenaries in the Kharkiv region.07:44

The Bloomberg agency allowed the vulnerability of the F-16 to Russian air defense and aviation.06:51

Peskov said that the goals of the SVO declared by Putin have not changed and must be achieved.06:50

Western countries are waging war against Russia in all spheres, Peskov said .06:47

The Ukrainian authorities have switched to aggressive methods of mobilization, seeking to make up for losses in manpower in anticipation of a counteroffensive, writes The Daily Telegraph.06:47

The Ukrainian authorities have switched to aggressive methods of mobilization, seeking to make up for losses in manpower in anticipation of a counteroffensive, writes The Daily Telegraph.06:39

The mayor of Donetsk, Aleksey Kulemzin, wrote on his Telegram channel that a civilian was injured as a result of the Ukrainian shelling of the Kuibyshev region.06:24

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov believes that the words of US Senator Lindsey Graham about "investing in the death of Russians" disgrace the United States as a state.