Ukrainian troops, especially conscripts, suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Bahmut, which has recently become the epicenter of the fighting between Kiev and Moscow forces in the Ukraine War. An extensive report published by the New Yorker documents the experiences of the soldiers of a Ukrainian infantry battalion in the last months of the battle, when that unit was almost annihilated in the battles with the Wagner mercenaries. The city of Bahmut was finally captured by Russian troops the other day.
If you want to live, dig in – is a common expression on the Ukrainian front that becomes more respected the longer you survive as a soldier in this war. An expression also used by the Ukrainian soldiers of the 28th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, a unit that has been on the front line of the battles since the beginning of the war and which was also involved in the campaign last fall, which led to the liberation of Kherson from Russian occupation.
For six months since the start of the invasion, the Russians have subjected the brigade’s soldiers to a continuous artillery barrage and aerial bombardment, causing a “devastating” number of casualties, which Ukrainian officials are still keeping secret.
Wagner mercenaries ‘like zombies’: ‘It didn’t matter how many died, they kept coming’
Eventually, the Russians withdrew from Kherson, and the soldiers of the 28th Brigade were among the first troops to enter the liberated city.
Before fully recovering their strength and getting enough rest, the military was sent nearly 500 kilometers northeast to the outskirts of Bahmut.
About 600 fighters from a battalion led by “Pavlo” (a 39-year-old lieutenant colonel in the Ukrainian army) were positioned on the outskirts of a village south of Bahmut. The village was defended by Wagner mercenaries.
“They were like zombies. They were using the inmates (those recruited by Wagner) as a wall of meat. It didn’t matter how many died, they kept coming,” Pavlo told the New Yorker.
“Wagner tanned our asses”
After only a few weeks of fighting, the battalion was nearly annihilated: entire platoons of Ukrainian infantrymen were wiped out in close-quarters combat, and around 70 Kiev soldiers were “surrounded and massacred”.
The few survivors became “useless” as they were completely “exhausted”.
In January, what was left of the battalion led by “Pavlo” was withdrawn from the line-up near that village and occupied a defensive position at the edge of a forest and in an agricultural field located approximately 1.6 kilometers west .
“Wagner tanned our asses,” said the Ukrainian officer.
Before the withdrawal of the Kiev troops from Bahmut, Pavlo’s battalion had suffered such heavy losses in battle that 80% of its soldiers were newcomers (recruits). “They are civilians with no experience. If I get 10, I consider myself lucky if 3 of them can fight,” said the Ukrainian serviceman.
Editor: Mihnea Lazar
