Russian soldiers say blocking units placed behind them to stop the retreat

• Members of Russia’s recently formed “Storm” unit made a video appeal to Vladimir Putin.
• In the video, a soldier said they were sent into combat with other units tasked with preventing them from escaping.
• Another soldier said that the officers asked for bribes and would send those who were not paid to the front.

Russian soldiers made a dramatic video call, complaining that they were being sent into combat with other units specifically tasked with preventing them from escaping.

Members of Russia’s so-called stormtrooper unit posted the footage, directed directly at Vladimir Putin and circulated on Russia’s Telegram channels, and said they had suffered huge losses.

Describing their recent efforts around the village of Vodani, they said so-called “blocking” units had been sent after them to prevent them from escaping the fighting.

Private Aleksandr Gorin said in a video that the unit suffered heavy losses in eastern Ukraine, citing 34 injuries and 22 deaths, including the company commander. Another soldier said it was there 161 times.

Koren said his soldiers decided to withdraw after their losses, but were prevented from evacuating. He said their commanders responded with interception units.

“They put blocking units behind us and wouldn’t let us out of our positions,” said Gorin, according to a translation from the independent project. Translation of war.

“They threaten to destroy us one by one and as a unit,” Goren added in the video.

A soldier claimed in the video that members of the unit were threatened with being shot if they did not move forward.

Blocking units, also called barrier forces or anti-retreat forces, are units placed behind the main forces to prevent soldiers from fleeing or withdrawing.

The Red Army used them in World War I and World War II, during which Russian forces suffered heavy losses.

Last March, a The member of the Ukrainian Parliament alleged that Russia was using Chechen forces as blocking units in the invasion of Ukraine, and assigned them to shoot the deserters. In November The British Ministry of Defense made a similar assessment.

Watchman She identified eight men in the video, confirming that three served in the unit. The newspaper said it had verified the accounts they gave in the clip.

These men asked not to be identified, saying they have since been evacuated, according to the newspaper. The Guardian reports that most of the men in the video are Russian war veterans who fought in Ukraine in 2014.

One of the soldiers in the video also alleged that members of the unit were “systematically” forced to bribe their commanders, with those who refused to pay the “tax” being sent to the front.

He also claimed that wounded soldiers were removed from hospitals without medical assistance, as some were brought back to the front line with shrapnel still in their bodies.

The title of the video to Putin is one of Several videos which has It appeared during the war in Ukraine of the forces He begs the leader of Russia for help.