A Russian soldier has painted a grim picture of the situation in Vovchansk, describing scenes of death and destruction with bodies piled up and blocking retreat paths.
The city has been a battleground since May when Russian forces launched a surprise attack, opening a new front just 47 miles from Kharkiv. Once home to 17,000 residents, Vovchansk has been virtually razed to the ground amid fierce battles for control. Vladimir Putin claimed the Kremlin’s aim was to create a buffer zone to protect Russian border towns from Ukrainian artillery attacks.
Despite initial progress, Putin’s troops soon found themselves stuck after Kyiv’s army launched a counterattack. One injured Russian soldier shared his harrowing experiences of fighting in Vovchansk on his blog, detailing the chaos among his unit and their struggle to find safety under persistent drone attacks and sniper fire.
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“The path is blocked by debris, construction waste and bodies. Bodies, bodies, bodies of our soldiers. They are everywhere. As far as the eye can see, there are dead. Some (of the injured) lie in the basement where we are hiding, some have been there for just one day, others for 15.”, reports the Express US.
“Those who can’t move lie there the longest. They need evacuation, but there is none and there is no sign of it. These 50 metres are completely controlled by Ukrainian drones and snipers. When the drones aren’t flying, they fire at us with mortars.”
“Their spotters never sleep – as soon as one of ours appears in the open for just a few seconds, several mortar shells land on them immediately.” He added: “There are many who have died or been fatally wounded. They are already lying in two or three layers, close to the wounded.
“The persistent smell of death and decaying flesh fills the basement. The guys are rotting and the medic can’t help them. He only gives painkillers delivered by drone. Medicine and a pack of cigarettes – that’s all the help we get from those sitting just fifty metres away.”
It comes as North Korean troops fighting Russia’s war in Ukraine are unlikely to be allowed to go home and could instead get ‘sent to the gulags,’ according to an expert.
There are an estimated 10,000 North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine, according to US intelligence, but if the current trial proves successful, Kim Jong Un could send more.
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