Gabe Lackmann
Diamond Member
- Jun 5, 2021
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Some hard truths from the mouths of Ukrainian troops on the ground.
It is hard, if not impossible to find such honest reporting in the western press but this article most certainly provides that.
"Ukrainian leaders have projected and nurtured a public image of military invulnerability — of their volunteer and professional forces triumphantly standing up to the Russian onslaught. Videos of assaults on Russian tanks or positions are posted daily on social media. Artists are creating patriotic posters, billboards and T-shirts. The postal service even released stamps commemorating the sinking of a Russian warship in the Black Sea...
...Ukraine, like Russia, has provided scant information about deaths, injuries or losses of military equipment. But after three months of war, this company of 120 men is down to 54 because of deaths, injuries and desertions...
...“Our command takes no responsibility,” Lapko said. “They only take credit for our achievements. They give us no support.”...
...And in recent weeks, he said, the situation has gotten much worse. When their supply chains were cut off for two days by the bombardment, the men were forced to make do with a potato a day.
They spend most days and nights in trenches dug into the forest on the edges of Toshkivka or inside the basements of abandoned houses. “They have no water, nothing there,” Lapko said. “Only water that I bring them every other day.”
It’s a miracle the Russians haven’t pushed through their defensive line in Toshkivka, Khrus said as Lapko nodded. Besides their rifles and hand grenades, the only weapons they were given were a handful of rocket-propelled grenades to counter the well-equipped Russian forces. And no one showed Lapko’s men how to use the RPGs...
...The final affront arrived last week when he arrived at military headquarters in Lysychansk after two weeks in Toshkivka. His battalion commander and team had moved to another town without informing him, he said, taking food, water and other supplies.
“They left us with no explanation,” Lapko said. “I think we were sent here to close a gap and no one cares if we live or die.”
So he, Khrus and several members of their company drove the 60 miles to Druzhkivka to stay in a hotel for a few days. “My guys wanted to wash themselves for the first time in a month,” Lapko said. “You know, hygiene! We don’t have it. We sleep in basements, on mattresses with rats running around.”
A very good read that reminds me of what accurate news reporting used to be. The truth of the matter is that Ukraine IS losing horribly. Sanctions are NOT working, and the west is cutting off their nose to spite their face.
Ukrainian leaders are inept, greedy, and cowardly.
So wave those Ukrainian flags as food becomes too expensive to buy, and fuel too expensive to drive to work...fools.
It is hard, if not impossible to find such honest reporting in the western press but this article most certainly provides that.
"Ukrainian leaders have projected and nurtured a public image of military invulnerability — of their volunteer and professional forces triumphantly standing up to the Russian onslaught. Videos of assaults on Russian tanks or positions are posted daily on social media. Artists are creating patriotic posters, billboards and T-shirts. The postal service even released stamps commemorating the sinking of a Russian warship in the Black Sea...
...Ukraine, like Russia, has provided scant information about deaths, injuries or losses of military equipment. But after three months of war, this company of 120 men is down to 54 because of deaths, injuries and desertions...
...“Our command takes no responsibility,” Lapko said. “They only take credit for our achievements. They give us no support.”...
...And in recent weeks, he said, the situation has gotten much worse. When their supply chains were cut off for two days by the bombardment, the men were forced to make do with a potato a day.
They spend most days and nights in trenches dug into the forest on the edges of Toshkivka or inside the basements of abandoned houses. “They have no water, nothing there,” Lapko said. “Only water that I bring them every other day.”
It’s a miracle the Russians haven’t pushed through their defensive line in Toshkivka, Khrus said as Lapko nodded. Besides their rifles and hand grenades, the only weapons they were given were a handful of rocket-propelled grenades to counter the well-equipped Russian forces. And no one showed Lapko’s men how to use the RPGs...
...The final affront arrived last week when he arrived at military headquarters in Lysychansk after two weeks in Toshkivka. His battalion commander and team had moved to another town without informing him, he said, taking food, water and other supplies.
“They left us with no explanation,” Lapko said. “I think we were sent here to close a gap and no one cares if we live or die.”
So he, Khrus and several members of their company drove the 60 miles to Druzhkivka to stay in a hotel for a few days. “My guys wanted to wash themselves for the first time in a month,” Lapko said. “You know, hygiene! We don’t have it. We sleep in basements, on mattresses with rats running around.”
A very good read that reminds me of what accurate news reporting used to be. The truth of the matter is that Ukraine IS losing horribly. Sanctions are NOT working, and the west is cutting off their nose to spite their face.
Ukrainian leaders are inept, greedy, and cowardly.
So wave those Ukrainian flags as food becomes too expensive to buy, and fuel too expensive to drive to work...fools.