Ukrainian Volunteer Soldiers Fighting In The Country's Civil War 'Paint' A Dismal Picture Of The Conflict

A Pro-Russian separatist walks past a destroyed tank at Savur-Mohyla, a hill east of the city of Donetsk, August 28, 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

28 Volunteer Soldiers Trapped In Ukrainian Town By Separatists Escape, Officials Say -- Washington Post

MARIUPOL, Ukraine — A group of Ukrainian volunteer soldiers managed to escape Saturday from Ilovaysk, a southeastern town that has been besieged by pro-Russian separatists for almost a week, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine’s interior minister, Arsen Avakov, announced that 28 of the more than 200 fighters trapped in the town had escaped, but the military did not explain how that had been accomplished — or offer details about plans to evacuate the rest of the troops.

“There’s an operation to withdraw our military from there,” spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said Saturday. “The major task now is to evacuate our military with the least losses.”

The soldiers have been cornered in the town since Monday, surrounded by separatists they say have been freshly supplied with troops and high-tech weapons from Russia. Food and ammunition have dwindled, and the death toll has been mounting.

The soldiers’ plight and their apparent dispatch into battle with little training and inadequate equipment has sparked scorn across Ukraine in recent days. Volunteer commanders venting on Facebook have denounced what they say is the government’s neglect, and protesters have gathered in the capital, Kiev, chanting “Weapons for patriots.”

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My Comment: These kids are now realizing what war is all about .... more to the point .... they are now probably horrified to find themselves fighting a civil war where the local population hates you, the people you are fighting against are not only determined to kill you but are well equipped to do so, that you and your fellow Ukrainian soldiers are under-equipped and poorly trained, and .... throw in the Russian army .... you are now facing a professional army that has the capacity to completely destroy you if they want to. This is where terms like "canon-fodder" can be easily applied to this mes. As to the 28 volunteer soldiers who escaped .... they are very lucky.