Russian soldiers 'had to drink urine to survive' after being abandoned by commanders, POWs say

Russian troops were left with no food, water, or ammunition and had to drink their own urine to survive after being abandoned by their commanders, POWs captured by Ukraine have said.

The claims were made in a video published by Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps, which captured the Russian soldiers during Ukraine's "Operation Vivaldi," an ongoing successful counteroffensive against the Russian salient to the north of the city of Lyman, which has seen months of Russian offensive progress reversed in a matter of weeks.

The Kyiv Independent cannot independently confirm the claims by the Russian POWs in the video, which were made in military captivity, but at least some appear to have been corroborated by several Russian milbloggers who have independently described severe shortages of water, food, communications, and logistics in the Lyman sector.

The video shows approximately 50 Russian prisoners being addressed by 3rd Army Corps' commander, Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi.

"You have drawn a lucky ticket," Biletskyi can be seen saying to the soldiers, adding that "captivity is the best thing that could have happened to you."

The captives claim they were left without food, water, and medical care, and in some cases, soldiers had to drink their own urine and from muddy puddles and streams to survive.

One soldier, who identified himself as the deputy commander of the 3rd Assault Company of the 283rd Regiment of Russia's 144th Motor Rifle Division, part of Russia's 20th Combined Arms Army, claimed he had "lost more than 60 kilos in six months," and that "guys were dying at their positions because we couldn't even get food to them."

Another soldier was suffering from such acute starvation that he died soon after being captured by the Ukrainian military, Biletskyi claimed.

The captive soldiers, many of whom also identify themselves as members of the 144th Motor Rifle Division, also claim their commanders lied to them about the scale of the Ukrainian assault.

"The 66th was coming in from the north," another soldier says, "3rd Assault was going around us from the south. And the command saw all of this perfectly well, they knew all about it. We were constantly lied to," the soldier says.

"Our officers simply ran away, turned off the radio, said 'Take up an all-round defense and hold'," another soldier says. "That's it, the radio was switched off."

Recent posts by Russian milbloggers echo the POWs' comments.

"These guys have been sitting for days without water; many have already tasted their own piss, and I'm not exaggerating," one Russian military blogger, writing under the nom de guerre of "Management Speaks," posted on Telegram.

"Do you know how many guys have already been captured?," the blogger continued. "Not because they're scared, but because there's no communication, logistics, or drones that could at least drop food and water to their positions," he said.

Russian milbloggers also claim Russian commanders lied to both their soldiers and their own superiors in the Russian chain of command, leading to the Russian General Staff not knowing the scale of the Ukrainian offensive until too late.

"A stream of false information continues to be publicly released from this direction, aimed at misleading their own command and the country's leadership, as has already happened with Sviatohirsk, Kupiansk, and Borova", another Russian blogger known by the nom-de-guerre "Military Informant" complained, commenting on the publication of apparently faked footage of Russian troops occupying the settlement of Novoye, a settlement north of Lyman that was recently liberated by 3rd Army Corps.

The false reporting has led to significant embarrassment for Russia's political and military leadership.

Russian President Vladimir Putin faced public embarrassment when he claimed on Sept. 1. that Russia had captured the town of Sviatohirsk, only for Biletskyi to record a video of himself touring the town less than a week later, where he mocked Russia's leaders.

"I want to address the Russian military and military-political leadership. Take off your clown noses and multicolored wigs. Don’t make fools of yourselves. The 60th Mechanized Brigade of the Third Army Corps has full control of the city. In fact, this is our rear area," Biletskyi said, in a video recorded in Sviatohirsk.

Ukrainian mappers and OSINT analysts were asked by 3rd Army Corps to delay publication of maps showing Ukrainian advances, in order to not warn the Russian General Staff of the scale of their offensive. This tactic has not gone unnoticed by Russian commentators.

"Interestingly, Ukraine is conducting its offensive near Krasnyi Lyman in complete silence: no victory reports, no showboating," Oleg Tsaryov, a former Ukrainian MP who defected to Russia in 2014, wrote on Telegram on Sept. 12, when details of Ukraine's counteroffensive were still largely confined to rumours on social media.

3rd Army Corps claim Ukraine inflicted more than 2,000 Russian losses and captured more than 250 Russian prisoners of war during the "third season" of the Vivaldi counter-offensive.

While exact numbers of casualties or captured Russian soldiers cannot be independently confirmed by the Kyiv Independent, footage released by the Corps has shown substantial numbers of Russian prisoners in Ukrainian custody.

Russian sources have also confirmed significant numbers of Russian soldiers were captured by the Ukrainians and have demanded answers from the Kremlin.

"People can survive military failure", Tsaryov wrote on Telegram. "It's time to tell the truth. Admit that the situation in the area differs from the latest official report. Declare that we are seeing the footage, studying it, verifying the number and names of prisoners and the circumstances," Tsaryov continued. "If this is a real failure, it must be acknowledged and explained."