“The Russians send their soldiers like cannon fodder. They don’t consider them human and just send them in waves to the slaughterhouse. The man, who goes by his pseudonym Petrohka, Sergeant of the 58th Brigade of the Ukrainian Army, describes a horrific situation at the front. The fierce fighting around the small town of Bakhmout, where every meter is fought fiercely.
A bloody battle, the longest and deadliest since the beginning of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Brawls behind which the Wagner group maneuvers. A video was released in September showing a leader of the Wagner paramilitary organization recruiting soldiers from a Russian prison to fight in Ukraine. “Cannon Fodder” is now deployed on this front.
The sergeant continues: “There were times when we used all our ammunition against the Russian soldiers and killed them all. But we’re not sad for them. There are former prisoners and mobilized soldiers. After they are all killed, the lifeguards arrive. That’s their tactic. »
A few kilometers from the front, the civilians left Bakhmout. The city had a population of 70,000 before the fighting. Today, 17,000 remain, surviving despite bombing and shortages. Ms. Kharchenko just got a call from her sister-in-law. His house was bombed. Still smoking at home, a huge green shell in the middle of the living room between the sofa and photos. “We’re kind of used to conditions like that, it’s scary when it’s quiet, it’s scary. But when there are grenades, you can hear where they’re going.” The pensioner continued: “For all normal people, it’s scary. It’s scary”.