Russian Regiment Makes Video Appeal for Equipment: 'The Boys Are Freezing'

A Russian regiment has asked for more equipment and medical supplies for its fight in Ukraine in a desperate video appeal, as both sides prepare for a harsh winter struggle.

The commander of a group of mobilized soldiers from Russia's Kemerovo Oblast directed the appeal to the region's governor, Sergei Tsivilyov, saying that the men arrived nearly "naked."

"I'm a combat training instructor of the 247th regiment, Stavropol city. I'd like to appeal to the governor of Kemerovo region, Sergei Yevgenyevich," he began.

"The fighters that you sent to us to Stavropol Krai are almost completely naked. They have no medical supplies. The medical supplies they have is only one tourniquet," the commander said.

"Come here, any fighter," he continued, pointing toward the group of mobilized soldiers behind him. One took a few steps forward, and stood beside him.

"They have almost no protection, just two pieces of body armor. Everything else, the sides, are completely exposed. They have practically nothing else," the commander said.

"No thermal underwear, the boys are freezing," he added. "But to complete objective on the territory of Ukraine, it's quite cold there."

The commander concluded: "We would like to request help from you, for you to pay attention to this and take corresponding measures. Waiting for feedback from you."

The clip was shared by Twitter user Dmitri, who is with WarTranslated, an independent project that translates material about the war into English. The video has been viewed more than 400,000 times at the time of writing.

Russia first admitted it had issues with equipment for mobilized soldiers on October 26.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at the time that Russia didn't have enough equipment for the hundreds of thousands of soldiers drafted under Russian President Vladimir Putin's September 21 mobilization decree.

Peskov said a newly formed council created by Putin was working on resolving problems with equipment, and that regional authorities were working on providing "the missing gear."

Issues with equipment on the Russia side will likely place Ukraine in an advantageous position this winter, Max Bergmann, the director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), previously told Newsweek.

"What we're seeing is that the Russian conscripts that are being thrown to the front, many of them have very little equipment, they're sent without basic necessities like food," he said.

"[In] winter you need more gear, you need winter weather gear, you need the ability to stay warm. So, actually the demands on forces on the field increases, and my guess is that the Ukrainians are going to be quite well prepared for this, while I'm not sure a newly mobilized Russian force will be."

Russian media outlet Sota published a video on Monday that purports to show mobilized soldiers receiving New Year's gifts in boxes with the emblem of United Russia—the country's ruling party.

One of the gift boxes contained cigarettes, razors, tourniquets, a bandage bag, oatmeal, pasta, rice, and underwear.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.