DONETSK, March 8. /TASS/. Five Ukrainian servicemen were machine-gunned by their fellow soldiers when they tried to lay down their weapons in the city of Maryinka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the only survivor from the group has told TASS.
Oleg Bilenko told the agency that he, along with four other mobilized servicemen, arrived in Maryinka in early January, as part of Ukraine’s 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade. They were tasked with holding a local house, transformed into a fortified post. On January 16, the post was destroyed by a direct hit of a tank shell. Five servicemen, who were in the house at this point, received fragmentation wounds and tried to surrender.
"However, we were machine-gunned from a neighboring house. They [Kiev troops] clearly saw that we were on their side, that we needed help," Bilenko said.
As a result, four servicemen were killed immediately. Bilenko, the only survivor, managed to take shelter in a safe area, but was heavily wounded. He is now receiving medical treatment in the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Maryinka is located west of Donetsk. Acting Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said earlier said that Ukrainian troops were putting up fierce resistance in that area. The remnants of a Ukrainian battlegroup have entrenched themselves in the residential sector on the town’s outskirts while all the high-rise buildings are under the Russian army’s control. The control over Maryinka will open the way for Krasnogorovka, from where Ukrainian troops have been shelling Donetsk.