Marines from the Far East fighting in Donetsk complain to their governor about hundreds of casualties
Service members from the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet sent a letter to Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorye region, complaining that their commanders’ actions had allowed for heavy losses.
The complaint was reported by several pro-Kremlin Russian sources, including state broadcasting company “war correspondent” Alexander Sladkov. The text of the letter was published in full on the Telegram channel Grey Zone; the text’s authenticity has not been independently verified.
According to Grey Zone, the marines wrote that over the course of four days they lost “around 300 men – dead, wounded, and missing” during an “incomprehensible offensive” in the village of Pavlivka, near Vuhledar in the Donestk region.
According the letter’s alleged authors, their commanders – “General Muradov and his compatriot and buddy Akhmedov” – planned the offensive so that the former would “earn a bonus in front of leaders of the General Staff,” and the second would be awarded the title Hero of Russia. “They don’t care about anything except decorating themselves. They call people meat,” the letter says.
How were they planning to capture a settlement by passing through fields where the enemy remained, and who is now destroying us as we evacuate our wounded and bring in ammunition? Besides that, Pavlivka is below Vuhledar and they’re hitting us from there.
The marines are asking Kozhemyako to request that the Commander-in-Chief send an “independent” commission, not affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, says the letter.
The Governor of Primorye at the time of publication had not confirmed receipt of the letter.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported reaching the southern outskirts of Pavlivka on October 30. On November 5 and 6 the ministry reported inflicting “defeats to Ukrainian Armed Forces units” near the village. However, there have been reports of problems with the Pavlivka offensive – among others, Alexander Khodakovsky, the military leader of the self-proclaimed DNR, wrote about them.