moon
Satire for Sanity
Ukraine troops complain of lack of support
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Ukraine's forces are taking heavy casualties in Donbas
Since Russia invaded in February, one of the overwhelming narratives in the Western media has been that of low morale among its troops.
The Ukrainian armed forces, on the other hand, have been portrayed as being highly motivated to fight to defend their country.
But that may not be the whole picture. In an article in today's Washington Post, two officers leading a company of volunteers describe their concerns about lack of support from senior commanders on the front line.
Company commander Serhiy Lapko says: "Our command takes no responsibility. They only take credit for our achievements. They give us no support.”
They are refusing to continue to fight, and face arrest and court-martial.
The Post also includes a video by a group which says it is part of the 115th brigade, 3rd battalion fighting at Severodonetsk. They say they are refusing to serve because they have "no battle commanders, no equipment, no respect".
"We have been waiting for reinforcements for two weeks now," one serviceman says. "We are being sent to certain death."
Cases of Ukrainian volunteers refusing to fight have been rare, and another group of fighters in the same battalion have countered with a video of their own, describing them as deserters who abandoned their colleagues.
"They thought they were on holiday," a service member says in the video.
Rumblings of dissatisfaction do appear to have become more common, though.
Members of a territorial defence battalion from the central Cherkasy region said that though they were willing to fight, they lacked the heavy weaponry they needed for combat.
The video, which has the address of an unofficial military channel on Telegram, was posted by a pro-Russian blogger in recent days.
The channel says there has been a sharp rise in the number of similar videos since the beginning of May.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-61593803
How quickly the tide of propaganda ebbs as fortunes change .