LUGANSK, August 17. /TASS/. The heavy losses incurred by Ukrainian forces are being compounded by bottlenecks in the medical evacuation of the wounded from their frontline positions, Roman Levko, a soldier from Ukraine’s 81st Airmobile Brigade taken prisoner near Belogorovka, Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), by the 2nd Army Corps of Russia’s Southern Group of Forces, said.
"There was no day without an artillery bombardment. Many were wounded, most of them seriously. There was practically no evacuation. Those who did not survive had to be buried there (on the battlefield - TASS) and declared missing in action. That's what the commanders were telling us to do," he said in a video shared with TASS by the 2nd Army Corps’ civil affairs team.
Levko said that his unit was constantly short of food rations. And, on hot days there were problems with bringing in water. There were food and ammunition shortages, as well. He testified that the paratroopers of Ukraine’s 81st brigade were armed with Soviet-made weapons.
"Maybe some did have foreign weapons, but in our unit all weapons were Soviet-made. <...> The mercenaries had foreign armaments, which they brought with them. We were not given this equipment," he said.
Levko said he had surrendered to Russian forces voluntarily after Ukrainian officers sent his group to storm their previously lost positions near Belogorovka without ground reconnaissance or artillery support.
"The assault began without fire support or reconnaissance. We started the assault and requested fire support from our command with artillery and mortars, but got nothing. We were spotted by a quadrocopter. Then the [Russian] artillery and something else started to shell us. Four people in our group were killed instantly. I was more fortunate; I surrendered," he said.