A new video published on social networks shows one of the moments that led to the destruction of a Russian marine unit in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

Footage taken by a Ukrainian army artillery drone during the battle for the town of Pavlivka shows a group of Russian marines trying to hide in a house before being hit by a shell.

Another video, which appeared a day ago on social networks, recorded another moment of this battle in the south-west of the Donetsk region, where the Ukrainians fired at a Russian armored column with artillery and anti-tank installations. passing me in the chaos of the battle.

But in the new video, the fighters of the 155th Marine Brigade, who died during the fighting here, were captured. Soldiers from this elite unit have sent a letter to the governor of the region where they are based, demanding an independent investigation into why they were sent into what they call “incomprehensible” combat.

Russian marines say they lost 300 men in just 4 days of fighting, more casualties than the unit combined in both Chechen wars in which it fought.

Their letter went viral on Russian social networks, with the military accusing the local command of sending them into battle only to receive awards and medals. Another Russian marine unit, the 40th Brigade, also suffered heavy casualties.

The situation was widely commented on by Russian military bloggers who have hundreds of thousands of subscribers on Telegram, who independently confirmed heavy losses during the battle for the village of Pavlivka.

The Russian marines were thrown into battle without a clear goal

Pavlivka is located in the southwest of the Donetsk region, why the Russian military decided to attack here is unknown. Almost 150 kilometers away in the northeast of the region, the battle for the strategic Donetsk Bakhmut, the only large-scale Russian military offensive against Ukraine, is taking place.

Marine infantry of the 155th brigade in its letter notes that in addition to a large number of dead and wounded, the unit also lost half of its combat equipment.

Despite the social media posts, the Russian Ministry of Defense denied this version of events, saying in a press release on Monday that the 155th Marine Brigade had lost less than 1% of its combat capability and only 7% of the unit’s fighters. were wounded during the battle.

For his part, Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorsky Krai, the Pacific Ocean region of Russia, where the unit is based, said that the information appearing on social networks about the losses was “greatly exaggerated.”

In their letter, the marines asked Kozhemyako to create an investigative commission independent of the Russian Ministry of Defense, claiming that one of the commanders who sent them into battle is a personal protégé of the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov.

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