Starving, Freezing, Getting Shot At By Their Own Regiment—No Wonder These Russian Draftees Surrendered
David Axe | Nov 14, 2022 | 08:00am ESTRussian draftees after surrendering near Svatove.VIA SOCIAL MEDIAThe 92nd Mechanized Brigade is one of the best and, for the Russians, most dangerous formations in the Ukrainian army. So you can’t blame the gaggle of under-trained, under-equipped and badly led Russian draftees for surrendering the first chance they got when the 92nd and other Ukrainian brigades attacked them near Svatove in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region on Nov. 7.
The surrender could be a sign of things to come as Ukraine’s eastern counteroffensive barrels into its third month, and the Russian army shoves more unready draftees to the front in a desperate—and so far failing—bid to slow the Ukrainians.
It doesn’t appear the deepening winter is going to help the Russians, either.
A video that circulated online on Sunday depicts at least 21 middle-age Russian draftees—presumably some of the roughly 300,000 men the Kremlin forced into military service starting in September—after they surrendered on the previous Monday. “The command is giving up,” one draftee says, his hands bound. Their officers “threw them out to the slaughter.”
The draftee describes dire conditions for the Russian regiments—reportedly including the 346th Motorized Rifle Regiment—occupying Svatove, a town with a prewar population of 16,000 that abuts the P66 highway, which itself threads through the forest and fields to Severodonetsk, one of the bigger cities in Donbas.
The Ukrainians held Severodonetsk until July. Liberating the city is a top priority in Kyiv. Approaching the city from the north means going past Svatove. It’s not for no reason the Ukrainian eastern command has assigned the 92nd Mechanized Brigade to that sector. If any formation can get the job done, it’s the 92nd. . . .
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2022/11/14/starving-freezing-getting-shot-at-by-their-own-regiment-no-wonder-these-russian-draftees-surrendered/
The 92nd Mech Brigade
is bad ass.