Most of the draftees from the Irkutsk region of Russia, members of regiment 1439, who previously complained about being threatened by their “Donetsk people’s republic” (“DPR”) commanders, have been killed during the assault on the Avdiivka fortified area, relatives of two soldiers tell media outlet SibReal.
“My [husband] called me — wounded by shrapnel, he’s in a hospital. He says that nothing was left of the regiment. So far, there is only information about two injured, the rest [of the regiment] were either killed or abandoned there in hard conditions. He will be only given a week [off]! Then he will be deployed to the front again,” the wife of one of the draftees said.
Mobilised servicemen from the Irkutsk region appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin thrice: they recorded two video messages asking for his help; the third time, their wives filed an official inquiry with the online-reception of the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office.
The men claimed that commanders from the “DPR” were using assault rifles against them for refusing to become an assault team. In the video, they say that the “DPR” evacuation groups only rescue their own soldiers and servicemen with light injuries from battlefields. According to the draftees, severely injured and killed Russian soldiers are not evacuated because the commanders are “scared of losing equipment”.
On 1 March, media outlet Baikal People reported that the draftees had been sent to attack the Avdiivka fortified district.
