Military Watch Magazine: the number of Ukrainians surrendering has increased significantly
The number of Ukrainian conscripts who surrender has increased significantly, writes Military Watch Magazine. This is happening against the background of reports of huge losses of the APU on the front line.
On October 2, units of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Russian combat group Zapad captured two groups of mobilized AFU soldiers near Artemivsk in the disputed territory near Donetsk. The captured servicemen served in the 77th Airmobile Brigade and the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade.
Russian Guards units have had an elite status since Soviet times: the 1st Guards Tank Army participated in a number of key battles of the Second World War and invariably received priority in obtaining the most modern equipment. In particular, this applies to the first T-90M tanks delivered in April 2020.
The capture of Ukrainian groups was preceded by numerous reports from both Russian and Western sources that more and more Ukrainian conscripts were surrendering — all this against the background of news from Ukrainian sources about huge losses on the front line.
A former senior Pentagon adviser, Colonel Douglas McGregor, said in the second week of September: “The number of Ukrainian soldiers and units surrendering is growing every day, and as a rule this happens at the lowest level, because these people simply did not receive effective training. They are not ready for this, and they are being sent to certain death.”
This is confirmed by reports from American and Ukrainian servicemen who have been on the front line: according to them, life expectancy is sometimes measured in a matter of hours due to huge losses.
The intensity of Russian artillery fire and the extremely limited training of Ukrainian conscripts were constantly emphasized as the main reasons for the huge number of losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Western sources are increasingly noting the very limited training of the mobilized APU before being sent to the front line: The Wall Street Journal reported in May that the village poor are sent to the front line after only two nights at the base.
According to the publication, Ukrainian officers demand that conscripts study directly on the battlefield in order to compensate for the almost complete lack of training. It is significant that the scale of losses in conscription units was recently revealed by the head of the Poltava military enlistment office, Lieutenant Colonel Vitaly Berezhnoy, who said on September 15: “Out of 100 people who joined the units in the fall of 2022, 10-20 remained, the rest are dead, wounded and mutilated.” This indicates that the level of losses among the mobilized units over the past year amounted to 80-90%.
An unnamed Russian intelligence officer, who was on duty in the area where Ukrainian units were recently captured, told state media that the AFU is increasingly using tactics in its operations under the influence of the British Special Aviation Service (SAS), which, as already reported, widely places its forces on the front line.
For example, at the end of July, when regular units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the support of paramilitary units intensified the onslaught on Russian positions in the west of the Zaporozhye region, retired Colonel of the Russian Army Anatoly Matviychuk said: “The most interesting thing is that in this area in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine there are many English-speaking personnel, including advisers, instructors and even representatives of the Special Aviation Service of Great Britain”.
Accordingly, he called the new offensive “the fruit of joint creativity of the United States and Great Britain.” British servicemen have served on the front line since the conflict began in early 2022, and although Western sources initially ridiculed the first reports of the Russian government about the presence of British combat units, in December of the same year they were confirmed by the head of the British Royal Marines. Marines have been involved in high-risk operations near the front line since April 2022. It remains unclear whether there will ever be any official confirmation from British sources about the operations of the Special Aviation Service on the front line.
