Russian Fighters Lament 'Suicide' Mission in Bakhmut

Mobilized Russian soldiers have said they refused to carry out "suicide orders" in the fiercely contested eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to a new clip.

In the video, posted and translated by a Twitter account linked to the WarTranslated project, a member of a group of Russian fighters said they had "been thrown to Bakhmut to unprepared unmined positions," acting as "simply suiciders."

"The company commander said we needed to complete the order ... We refused," he said.

The soldiers were not extensively trained fighters, the fighter told the camera, adding they did not have enough food, ammunition, evacuation plans, and did not trust their commanding officers.

Analysts have said throughout Moscow's invasion of Ukraine that its armed forces have been plagued with problems such as low morale, a lack of supplies, poor levels of training for mobilized fighters, the erosion of trust in the chain of command and few plans to recover vehicles or personnel from fighting.

The Donetsk city of Bakhmut has been an epicenter of bitter clashes for almost a year of the ongoing war, described as a "meat grinder" claiming many lives on both sides.

In the excerpt, one fighter described the fighters as part of the 85th Brigade, as well as a number of contractors. They had been deployed around the Luhansk areas of Kreminna and Bilohorivka for months "without fear," but after arriving in Bakhmut, they had put down their weapons "under threats of shooting, accused of betrayal, and threatened with imprisonment."

"Now, we've been thrown to Bahkmut to unprepared unmined positions, with a drunk company commander who led us to these positions," the fighter said.

"We're the mobilised, not stormtroopers or spetsnaz [special forces], without ammo, without food, without evacuation, without vehicles, we were thrown in like stormtroopers. We didn't reach those positions," the fighter added, saying they were making the video for their relatives who might be able to help them.

Wagner Group mercenaries battling on Moscow's behalf had played a key role in Russia's attacks on Bakhmut, but began withdrawing after an announcement from the organization's chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in May. Russian airborne troops and more elite units were sent in to replace these fighters, analysts have said.

Leveling an acerbic critique at the Russian commanders in Bakhmut, the fighter described the troops as "simply defeated psychologically by our command."

"We do not refuse to serve and complete combat tasks, just not in this direction, not on the first line, and not with these commanders," the Russian soldier continued.

The clip has surfaced shortly after a Russian commander in Ukraine said he was removed from his position after rising complaints, such as the lack of supplies sent to the front line soldiers in Ukraine, to officials at the "highest levels."

"It was necessary either to keep quiet and be a coward or to say it the way it is," Major General Ivan Popov, commander of the 58th Combined Arms Amy in Russia's Southern Military District, said in a message shared on social media by Russian Duma member and state media commentator, Andrey Gurulyov.

Russian paratrooper commander, Major General Vladimir Seliverstov, was also stripped of his post as head of the 106th Guards Airborne division, Russian sources reported on Saturday. The 106th has been fighting in Bakhmut, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank.

The Russian Defense Ministry "has begun to remove commanders from some of the Russian military's most combat effective units and formations and appears to be accelerating this effort," the ISW said on Sunday. "Insubordination among commanders appears to be spreading to some of their soldiers," the think tank added in its daily assessment.

Shortly after the aborted Wagner armed rebellion in late June, Moscow began a purge of its senior military ranks, analysts have suggested.

"The apparent Russian chain of command crisis threatens to demoralize the wider Russian war effort in Ukraine," the ISW evaluated.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.