- A Ukrainian soldier says more than 100 of his comrades were killed or missing in an attack, according to AP.
- His brigade was led to attempt to hold a position which had virtually no fortification.
- She had to retreat as soldiers struggled to build fortifications under Russian fire, AP reported.
A Ukrainian soldier fighting on a key front in the country’s east has described how more than 100 of his comrades were killed or missing as they struggled to build fortifications under heavy Russian fire.
The soldier, from Ukraine’s 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade, spoke to the Association Press on condition of anonymity to share the situation on the front line.
According to the news agency, its brigade was replaced in mid-March to occupy a position less than three kilometers from the strategic town of Chasiv Yar in Donestk.
Instead of the shelters, maze of trenches and firing positions he had imagined, the soldier found a series of pits barely large enough to hide in during artillery barrages.
“I would have a hard time describing them as ‘positions,'” he told the AP.
When the brigade was under fire from the Russians, “the soldiers would come out of the pits and start digging into each other so that there would be at least some connection between them,” he explained.
But the terrain was so sandy that defenses collapsed as soon as shells hit them, according to AP.
With nowhere to take shelter and no way to counter the Russian barrage, the soldiers were forced to retreat, according to the news agency.
More than 100 people were killed or missing, including department commanders, platoon commanders, company commanders and sergeants, the soldier told the AP.
“We lost the entire skeleton of the brigade,” he said.
The brigade was disbanded by the Ukrainian General Staff after its retirement in early April, with commanders saying they lacked the resources to succeed, according to AP.
The situation around Chasiv Yar became desperate for Ukraine, with Russia dropping glide bombs on Ukrainian positions to devastating effect and outwitting Ukrainian forces by a ratio of 10 to 1.
According to an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces are attempting to take advantage of a tactical breakthrough northwest of Avdiivka to create a wider gap and take Chasiv Yar before U.S. aid to Ukraine does not reach the front lines.
The ISW said any redeployment of Russian units to the region would put “increasing” pressure on Ukrainian forces.
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