Russia’s Ministry of Defence has refuted the claims of big losses among the soldiers of the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade in the offensive near the Donetsk region village Pavlivka, the ministry proclaims in a statement.
“Due to competent actions of divisions’ commanders, the losses among marines at this stage do not exceed 1% of the personnel; while 7% were injured, a major part of them has already returned to service,” the Defence Ministry claims.
The ministry also states that the 155th Brigade has been “engaging in effective offensive actions” for more than ten days in Vuhledar (city in the Donetsk region — translator’s note) direction and has moved “into the depth of Ukrainian positions” up to five kilometres.
Earlier today, 7 November, the Primorsky region governor Oleg Kozhemyako ordered to check the messages about the losses suffered by the naval brigade near Pavlivka. Later in the day, he said to have contacted the commanders of the 155th Brigade. “Had contact with the commanders. Yes, there are losses, the fighting is heavy. But [the losses] aren’t as big as the message said,” he claimed.
Yesterday, 6 November, Alexander Sladkov, war correspondent for the state-owned Russian Television and Radio, and blogger Anastasia Kashevarova reported that marines from the 155th Brigade had written a letter to Kozhemyako, demanding he send an independent commission to the front. The soldiers claimed that up to 300 fighters had been lost during the Pavlivka offensive and complained about the actions taken by their commanders.
“Once again, we have been hurled into an unclear offensive by general Muradov and his mate Akhmedov for the purpose of Muradov earning bonuses from [the chief of the General Staff] Gerasimov, while Akhmedov was promised the Hero of Russia [honorary title] by Muradov. As a result, marines from Kamchatka and we are advancing on Pavlivka. As a result of the ‘thoroughly’ conducted offensive by the ‘great commanders’, we have lost around 300 people in the last 4 days, counting the killed, the injured, and the missing. Fifty percent of the equipment [has been lost]. These are only [the losses] of our brigade,” the version of the letter published by Telegram channel GREY ZONE reads.
“How were they planning to capture the settlement, while jumping through the positions in which the enemy was still present, the enemy which is now eliminating our [fighters] along the paths used for evacuation of the injured and shipment of ammunition. Besides, Pavlivka is below Vuhledar, from which we are being fired at. When will mediocrities like Muradov and Akhmedov [stop being the ones] to plan military operations for their reports and awards, the cost being the lives of so many. They don’t care about anything, except for showing themselves off. They refer to people as meat,” the letter also states.
War correspondent Semyon Pegov also said in a post on his Telegram channel War Gonzo yesterday that “in Pavlivka, everything is objectively going badly.”
The “DPR” East Battalion commander Alexander Khodakovsky confirmed the information on the difficult situation in the village yesterday as well. “I consider this offensive premature. And the point isn’t Pavlivka, where we ended up in a fire bag and are suffering losses, but the approach taken, which is typical for the majority of the representatives of this ‘lost generation’,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
