Families with Russian soldiers deployed along the front lines of the war in Ukraine have accused the Russian military of sending their loved ones into battle without proper equipment or support, according to reports cited in the recent assessment by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
According to a report from the independent Russian news outlet Astra, the wives of Russian troops deployed along the eastern bank of the Dnipro River claim that their husbands lost "everything" in the flooding following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam this month. The women claimed that after the devastation, service members of the regiment "were transferred to another direction and, without giving a rest, they were immediately sent into battle on the first line."
"Already in the first day, they were smashed," a woman told the outlet, adding that their relatives were "without walkie-talkies, uniforms, aviation and artillery support."
Concerned loved ones also brought an appeal to the head of the region, Stavropol Krai Governor Vladimir Vladimirov, reported Astra, urging him to address their family members who need medical attention. In response, however, Vladimirov said that "much" of the appeal from the wives was a lie and that he had the "situation under control."
"Don't let the villains from [the Ukrainian Center for Information and Psychological Operations], these Nazis, take advantage of the situation, stay calm," Vladimirov said, according to a video of the governor that was posted to Telegram by Astra.
The report from Astra comes at the same time that videos of wives and mothers of Russian soldiers have circulated on social media, pleading for additional support for their loved ones along the front lines.
In a video compiled by Twitter user Dimitri of the WarTranslated media project, an independent endeavor dedicated to translating various materials about the Ukraine war, two groups of women representing Russian soldiers from several different regiments voiced their concerns. They claimed that their relatives are fighting on the front lines without heavy artillery or proper military vehicles, leaving them without an option to retreat or seek medical assistance.
"We're asking for help," said one of the women in the video, according to Dimitri's translation. "We appeal to [the Russian Ministry of Defense], the President of the Russian Federation [Vladimir Putin], asking to pay attention and help our defenders with vehicles and heavy artillery."
Russian soldiers have complained in the past about receiving inadequate training or lack of artillery support before being deployed to fight. In another video shared by WarTranslated on Thursday, a group of Russian troops declared that they were refusing to continue to fight along the front lines after suffering heavy casualties.
The complaints from soldiers follow a week of turmoil for the Kremlin after Putin faced a direct challenge from Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin over the Russian military's handling of the Ukraine war. In response, reports have surfaced of the Kremlin "purging" its military leadership and troops of any potentially disloyal members.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.
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Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more
