Soldiers of the 1st Guards Tank Army units of the Russian Zapad Battle Group have captured two mobilized military units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) near Artemovsk (Bakhmut) in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), a Russian intelligence officer on duty in the area told Sputnik.
"Two enemy groups, all mobilized, were seized on positions to the northwest of Artemovsk," a scout said.
He specified that the captured soldiers belong to the 77th Airmobile Brigade and the 56th Separate Motorized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF).
'Stationed in the Trenches With Our Fallen Fellow Soldiers'
Ukrainian servicemen are ordered to hold the positions near Artemovsk, where the bodies of their dead comrades were left behind, said Vitaly Melnichenko, a captured soldier of Ukraine's 56th separate motorized brigade.
"When we got to the trenches, there were decomposing bodies of Ukrainian soldiers that were killed three, maybe four months ago,” said Melnichenko.
The prisoner believes that neither Ukrainian, nor Russian troops were set on taking these positions due to their poor location. However, the determination of the Ukrainian military leadership to send their troops there remained unyielding, as their goal was to demonstrate their firm grip on a vast expanse of the region.
"Why did they put us there? Just to secure more land?" speculated Melnichenko.
They Finish Off Their Own Soldiers
A training officer of the Yug battle group, code-named Aid (Hades in Russian), told Sputnik that the UAF is trying to kill its own soldiers, who are believed to have been captured by Russian troops, before they [the Ukrainian fighters] even cross the front line. The aim is to prevent a possible data breach.
"They try to finish off their own prisoners, who are to be taken in [by the Russian military], so that none of them say a word," a training officer shared.
The Russian intelligence officer noted that the Ukrainian army has recently made extensive use of British SAS (Special Air Service) tactics.