UKRAINIAN MILITARY UNITS CONTINUE REBELLING AGAINST THEIR COMMANDERS

When I wrote this piece initially last week, I identified 6 Ukrainian units that filmed themselves rebelling against their chain of command. These “rebellion” videos came on the heels of the surrender of more than 2500 members of the AZOV battalion at Mariupol. Now the number is 12–that is 12 different units in the Donbas. They all voice the same complaints about their chain of command for not properly supplying them with the weapons and equipment they need to fight. This is not your normal troop bitching about conditions. All soldiers in all wars throughout history have passed the time complaining about lousy food, terrible weather, inept commanders and stupid decisions. What you see below is unprecedented in my memory.

These soldiers still believe in fighting for Ukraine but are not keen on being used as a Russian punching bag. They believe their commanders are asking them to commit suicide. Below you can watch videos of soldiers from 12 units presenting a formal demand to President Zelensky and the Ukrainian General in Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This is appearing on Ukrainian social media. It is not a Russian propaganda piece. Here are the units:

13th Battalion of 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade 2nd Company of the 46th Rifle Battalion 3rd Platoon of the 46th Infantry Battalion 115th Brigade 3rd Platoon of the 115th Brigade 71st Jaeger Infantry Brigade Ukrainian 14th Brigade: 6th Battalion, 4th, 5th, and 6th companies Cherkasy Territorial Defense 95th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade 30th Mechanized Brigade 3rd Battalion 9th Company 57th Motorized Brigade 18th Marine Battalion of the 35th Brigade

UKRAINIAN MILITARY UNITS CONTINUE REBELLING AGAINST THEIR COMMANDERS 28 May 2022 by Larry Johnson 31 Comments

FacebookTwitterEmailShare When I wrote this piece initially last week, I identified 6 Ukrainian units that filmed themselves rebelling against their chain of command. These “rebellion” videos came on the heels of the surrender of more than 2500 members of the AZOV battalion at Mariupol. Now the number is 12–that is 12 different units in the Donbas. They all voice the same complaints about their chain of command for not properly supplying them with the weapons and equipment they need to fight. This is not your normal troop bitching about conditions. All soldiers in all wars throughout history have passed the time complaining about lousy food, terrible weather, inept commanders and stupid decisions. What you see below is unprecedented in my memory.

18th Marine Battalion of the 35th Brigade I know this is a ton of material. Those of you who believe this is all stage managed by the Russians need to explain why this is being posted on Ukrainian social media accounts. These are real Ukrainian soldiers and they are taking major risks in speaking up. This is not just one or two disgruntled privates bitching about cold chow. The members of each unit clearly felt the need to be seen supporting their spokesman.

If you took the time to watch each one you come away with enormous respect for the courage and integrity of the men speaking. I believe they are patriots who have been deceived into fighting for a false cause. But they are brave, honorable soldiers.

Being brave and honorable does not immunize one against thermobaric and conventional artillery blasts pounding the ground around your fox hole or trench. We are not talking metaphor. The blast waves pummel the body and brain of those subjected to these barrages. It is because to the stepped up Russian offensive that these Ukrainian troops are speaking up. I think the Ukrainian expression is, “Черт, нет, мы не пойдем” (i.e., Hell no, we won’t go).

At a minimum, I think this may account for rumors about coup plans to oust Zelensky. Zelensky clearly is losing critical support among the Ukrainian troops. I think it is only a matter of time before commanders start to follow.

“A rebellion is when the troops stop believing in the cause and want to leave the fight and perhaps even surrender to the enemy.”

You mean like this?

Kotsnews
⚡️Representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are conducting secret negotiations with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the burial of their dead. And about surrender. The negotiations were successful. The “O” group reports:

“I will not repeat that this has already become the norm for the Kiev regime and they operate on the principle: “no body, no business.” I want to talk about something else here.

I tried to write this post for a long time, something kept stopping me. Probably did not want one of its participants to repeat the fate of Sergei Lapko (company commander who received a term for showing the plight of the Armed Forces of Ukraine).

So, after the liberation of another settlement from the Nazis in the Donetsk region, we went to the enemy command (fortunately, intelligence works well and their call signs with the frequencies on which they work are well known to us) and offered them to pick up the bodies of their dead comrades, naturally with a complete cessation fire from our side and unimpeded passage of the car to the designated place.

After a short conversation, they received a categorical refusal and a request not to disturb them anymore on this occasion (this is a literary language, there was a long stream of obscene expressions). Toward evening they were all buried. (I’m not attaching a photo, I’ll explain further).

In the middle of the night, they come to me on the radio from the checkpoint and ask me to urgently arrive. Understanding nothing, I am undermined, I leave for the post. On the spot, they tell me that a fighter came from the other side, calls your call sign, said he will only talk to you. I go into the room, a young guy is sitting, the uniform is dirty, shabby. Showed documents. And he began to say: “I’m the commander of a platoon of those boys whose bodies you proposed to take today, I couldn’t get on the radio, my own people would be immediately decided. Bury my soldiers, please, and tell me where, I will tell their relatives the location. The command flatly refuses inform families about the dead and wounded, so as not to cause panic among relatives. We are now called up only because otherwise we will go to jail, and here we can’t retreat, cadre or nationalists are behind us, we will get a bullet from them.

He told how they were prepared in training before being sent to the front end. “For two weeks we studied the charters, 30 parthorons for shooting training and on the road.” All his words were confirmed by photographs. He says: “Fortunately, they don’t take away phones, we record everything.”

They talked for a long time, spoke about the mood in the units: “everything is sad, everyone is afraid, and those who are in front and those who are behind.” But he came not only with this request. “My main task,” he continued, “is to save the lives of my fighters. Tell me how we can surrender. We don’t want to fight for the oligarchs who are sitting abroad and our corrupt government! Why is it possible for Azov, but not for us?” .

After receiving all the instructions, he left, left with the hope that his remaining subordinates would remain alive. A day later, after the start of the assault on the next settlement, the platoon of this commander surrendered in full force, as he promised. Now their lives are not in danger.

Summing up, I want to ask only one question. When will the population of Ukraine realize that their president, a drug addict and boy-loving Arestovich, does not care about the lives of the citizens of his country!? They calmly surrendered the Azov in Mariupol, declaring that this was an evacuation, and they will continue to do so. Until the last Ukrainian... I wanted to briefly, but it didn’t quite work out.”

In all likelihood, no matter what anyone thinks of the merits of either side, more surrenders are likely coming. When troops have little food, water, ammunition, or training, and there is no air cover, reinforcement, and very little leadership, constant pounding and encirclement will make the choice simple for these men. They can surrender and choose life, or they can die. Most people here don’t realize that most of the AFU “soldiers” left in the Donbas are “territorials”. They have little to no training and are often conscripts. At this point, it appears that the UFA has neither a plan nor the resources for dealing with the Russian units in the Donbas. Moreover, the AFU’s ability to get the new donated weapons from the West to the front is almost nil, and there is no ability to train these frontline soldiers on their use when a few get through. As a result, the complaining AFU soldiers rightly feel that they are being used as cannon fodder. It’s a hideous situation for these men. Probably the only defensible line for the AFU is at the Dnieper. If the AFU is made to continue on as it is currently, I believe that the AFU will be destroyed bit by bit.

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