Governor of Russia’s Primorsky region Oleg Kozhemyako has posted a video on his Telegram channel allegedly showing marines from the 155th brigade and Tigr battalion fighters who are currently near Pavlivka in Ukraine.
The servicemen in all videos say that they are “doing well”, the fighting is tough, there are human losses and injuries, but the soldiers continue to “put pressure on the enemy” despite these conditions.
“We learnt today about reports spreading that the 155th brigade of our detachment does not exist anymore. We’d like to say that the detachment is holding the line, the brigade is fighting. Unfortunately, we’ve suffered losses,” a soldier says in one of the videos.
“We went online and learnt that you are worried about us. There’s information about heavy losses in the fight for Pavlivka. It’s tough here in Pavlivka, there are losses and injuries. But we continue to put pressure on the enemy,” other servicemen say in a different video.
The soldiers’ faces are blurred and their voices are distorted in two out of three videos.
On 6 November, Russian war correspondent Alexander Sladkov and blogger Anastasia Kashevarova reported that marines of the 155th brigade sent a letter to Governor Kozhemyako, demanding that an independent commission be sent to the frontline.
The servicemen complained about losing up to 300 fellow fighters during the assault on Pavlivka and about those in command.
Kozhemyako gave instructions to check the reports about the marine losses near Pavlivka. He later said that he had contacted the commanders of the 155th brigade marines.
“We contacted the commanders. Yes, there are losses, the fighting is fierce. But they are not as bad as this appeal portrays them,” he said.
The Russian Defence Ministry also denies this information.
“Due to smart actions of the unit commanders, the marine losses over the given period do not exceed 1% of the forces and 7% of those injured, while a significant part of them is already back in formation,” the ministry claims.
