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Παρασκευή, 29 Μαρτίου, 2024

Ukraine War Diaries: Military volunteer reveals horror of fierce fighting in Bakhmut |

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Russian forces in Bakhmut have killed Ukrainian soldiers with axes before photographing their dismembered bodies and sharing the images, according to one military volunteer.

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Seva Koshel, who has been delivering supplies to the frontline since the beginning of the war, this week returned to Bakhmut – the eastern Ukrainian city Russian forces have spent months trying to take.

Speaking in the latest episode of the Sky News Ukraine War Diaries podcast, Seva details graphic stories told to him by Ukrainian military personnel embedded there.

Warning: This story contains distressing details about dismembered bodies

“I have heard many stories directly from guys who are participating in this combat in Bakhmut and it was very difficult to listen [to],” he explains.

“I believe them. And from what I have heard, these guys from private companies, Wagner – this Russian private company – and from Russian army… when you are in close fighting, they find some wounded guys or guys who are without weapon.

“Then, they don’t take them as prisoners of war. They just kill them. But the biggest issue and the biggest problem, and the most difficult part is that they [do] not just shoot them… they took axes, they cut their legs [off], they cut their arms [off].

“And [in] one case, they just have cut some heads off our guys and have found their phones and they just have sent pictures to their relatives with cut heads of our guys…”

Image:
Ukraine War Diarist and military volunteer Seva Koshel

Bakhmut, in the disputed Donetsk region, has been the scene of fierce fighting for months. Both sides are suffering heavy losses, as Russia continues to try to reassert itself on the frontline.

This week, Russia’s Wagner mercenary group declared that it has stopped recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine. The group has been spearheading the assault of Bakhmut.

In December, reported that the US intelligence community believes Wagner had 40,000 convict fighters deployed in Ukraine, making up the vast majority of the group’s personnel in the country.

“I believe the next two weeks will be very difficult because Russia wants to attack more and more,” continued Seva, but on the other hand, he said “I believe we will get much more help from our allies”.

For more on Seva’s story and those of fellow diarists, Oksana and Ilyas, listen to the latest episode of Ukraine War Diaries: Barbarity in Bakhmut, bedding parcels & Kharkiv buyer’s guide.

From the creators of Sky News’ award-winning StoryCast, Ukraine War Diaries is a weekly podcast following those living on Europe’s new frontline, and those who have escaped it.

Click to subscribe.

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