Part 1: https://justpaste.it/2d3xy
Part 2: https://justpaste.it/7l2r1
Previously...
Ukrainian army continuously shells our positions with mortars, artillery, Tochka-U's. I have no idea where Ukraine got so many Tochka-U's from. But in Izyum our anti-aircraft was taking down many of them every day. That's what they said. In general, speaking of our division, our anti-aircraft was the best-working, most combat-ready unit, as I understood.
Tankmen had huge losses... Our tanks were hit in dozens during attacks and while marching... Just in general we have immense vehicle losses, both BTRs and BMPs, trucks, engineering vehicles... But the most terrifying thing is the amount of people dying every day, are made disabled, and how many are captured...
Part 3.
I consider it important to say how the humanitarian aid collected for our army is distributed. Even back home I suspected that very little reaches the frontline directly. Back in my unit in Valuyki I found that conscripts who were delivering humanitarian aid to our unit in Ukraine stole from it three crates of canned meat and sold it in our unit for 70 rubles each. They also stole three crates with cigarettes. Cigarettes that normally cost 187 rubles, they were selling for 100. I also personally saw how in the regiment's headquarters, a woman who worked there was eating "Roshen" candy from a big crate. As far as I understand that was meant to go straight to the frontlines, but it never did. One can only wonder how many crates like that with sweets, canned food, condensed milk are stolen in the Valuyki unit by every man and his dog... People who saw it also told me how in Izyum, those who always stayed in the rears jumped like jackals at crates with aid from some Russian regions. This aid was also meant for the frontlines. They pulled out and gutted everything - they took all the chocolate, canned foods, good cigarettes, all the good clothes - they left out all the worst and unneeded, including the worst cigarettes. In the end, from a whole truck only three crates survived - one was sent to our 752nd regiment, another to Bogychary, and they shoved the last one somewhere... Those who saw these rear bastards going through items said it was a very disgusting thing to see from outside...
I was at the frontline. Thank God, we always had food, but never had good cigarettes. They simply never reached us. We didn't have basic raincoats, either. Once it rained heavily for three days and we all were soaked, we slept soaked, we stood guard soaked...
It's important to note another tragic issue. Many volunteer guys had scattered around the forests after those insane assaults by our unit. They fled because they were immediately thrown into battle and they didn't even know each other all that well. I've heard they now wander in the forests in small groups, not letting anyone approach them. If someone yells at them - 'We're yours!', they start shooting anyway. What was it like for these people? Wandering around these forests, cold and hungry, always afraid of getting into the hands of these Ukrainian subhumans... Who will answer for this?
In early May I found that one of our PMCs (Private Military Co) had an objective of collecting such people in the forests and fields of our area (Well, this probably is an accompanying task for them; aside from that I think their main objective is fighting Ukrainian saboteurs). They picked up two of our guys in shrubbery near Suligovka... They fed them, gave them new uniforms, since after two weeks in Suligovka their uniform completely worn out, and brought them to Izyum.
Another thing. In early May two FSB officers came to us. A Major and a Lieutenant. I believe they were from the FSB department for armed forces. I don't know if they belong to this division or not. They were very polite. They tried very politely to return us to the frontline. I said that we are basically thrown into a senseless slaughter. The Lieutenant said they knew of all this. I said it wasn't just us who refused to assault Dolgen'koye, the spetsnaz also refused to assault this village. He answered that 'They know and they are working on it as well'. He said 'We do not judge any of you (who refused)'. He said it multiple times. Then, on 6 May the FSB Colonel arrived. One fella said that he heard him talking about us: 'Groups of 20 people are thrown into attacks like meat'. I just don't understand how this makes sense - if FSB knows about all this, why aren't they taking any measures to root out this horror?! Or is that considered normal?! Or is it just, how it often happens in Russia, everyone's covering each others since they are all friends, comrades, relatives, drinking buddies, co-thieves?! For instance, this FSB colonel's daughter could be married (or in a relationship) with my former division commander's son. So the case is not moving... It's all sad, of course...
It's also important to note, I have personally heard, how in the regional contract selection office one of the instructors was blatantly lying to a grown man that they needed a driver to chauffeur the division commander, having previously found whether he had a B or C driving license level. He did it because no one wanted to be a driver since they were very often killed. Also, speaking to guys from other regions of Russia I found that many were told in the enlistment offices that they would not be serving on the frontlines, but will be the second echelon troops guarding checkpoints, escorting convoys, guarding cities and villages in rears already taken by us. Although, I clearly realised I could end up on the frontline, including in the assault group... Also some (myself included) were told we will be in Ukraine from two weeks to a month, and then we'd be taken out to Russia for 10 days to rest. But that also was a lie. Specifically in our division there was no rotation. Volunteers on a contract who entered Ukraine on 24 February are still there and never left to Russia. Same for us - if we stayed, we would be there until the end of our contracts, so for half a year until September.
Those volunteer contractors who came after us, many of them (if not all) did not even pass the medical examination. When I came back home I watched a few videos with Igor Strelkov. He spoke in particular about the criminal mobilisation that was conducted in LPR and DPR when people without any proper training or coordination were sent into battle. He said they did not even do this in the first, most difficult months of the Great Patriotic War - people were given at least a bit of time to train and get to know each other... at least one week! Since if it's not done, this leads to massive losses... And this lead to large losses of the mobilised in Donetsk and Luhansk, Strelkov said. For a mobilisation like this, those in the leadership who allowed it must be shot, Strelkov said. He also said that such mobilisation kills the 'Golden fund' of Russia since those who did not hide from enlistment officers are the most decent and honest people... He also said that this treatment where people are sent into slaughter ruins all the motivation for people to serve and help motherland in the future... As I realised, we were unlucky as we ended up in the most brutal unit which was always thrown into hell. It's important to note I often spoke to, and saw in Suligovka the motorised regiment from our division (252nd) which, however, was based in Boguchary in Voronezh Oblast. My opinion is that regiment was 2-3 times more combat-ready and trained than ours. Why so? I don't know. That regiment's losses were 3-4 times less than ours. 80% of all volunteers, as I understood, were thrown into our regiment due to the fact that we've had huge losses and always had an acute shortage of people.
Also, one good contractor guy from that regiment (also named Viktor) said that our division has a messed up artillery. I asked why is our artillery so ill-prepared? He said - 'Photo reports. They don't shoot properly, just take photos and write that all is well, all the targets have been successfully hit'.
Also, another guy from reconnaissance talked how they spotted in Suligovka area a Ukrainian howitzer which was shelling Suligovka. It was spotted in the morning. Its precise coordinates were provided. The scout said that 'It was shelling Suligovka the whole day and not a single scum from our artillery hit it, even though there's plenty of our artillery stationed among shrubbery'. It was exactly during the days when I was in Suligovka. I also remember one time when we were shelled throughout the whole day, but our artillery was silent. How so? I don't know. Perhaps no one had ammunitions. It's important to note that our helicopters helped us a couple of times. On two occasions they suppressed enemy mortars that were very close to us (around 1,5 kilometers away), who hit us when we were in Suligovka. The same scout was saying that we often don't have proper communication and interaction between battalion and regiment, and regiment and division. If true, this is horrible, of course...
Our division's zampolit once spoke to us after we refused to go into assaults. He tried to persuade us to go back to the frontlines and attacks. Do you know what struck me? He was confident we all came to fight in Ukraine for money, and that if any of us was making more than 120,000 rubles a month in Russia, then we wouldn't come here. What can be said about this? It is of course sad when there are zampolits like that in Russia who are confident that people can have no motivation other than material benefits. In fact, as I understand this is what all the high-ranking officers in battalion, regiment, division believed (apart from company commanders who went into attacks with us on the frontlines). Well, they probably judge by themselves as I see it. In reality, there is nothing surprising about it. This has been going on for a while in the Russian society - on the first place for the vast majority of the people in Russia are material goods - flats, cars, cottages, cruises abroad. Even though I was a child I very well remember how the people were in the early 2000's - it was a different society in Russia, there were many times more kind, humane, sincere people... These days you can be incredibly kind, decent, honest and sincere, but if you have no money, no success, then you are seen in the Russian society as a nobody...
End of Part 3.
- translated by @mdmitri91