Video Shows Russian Soldiers Abandoned Without Enough Food, Left As 'Cannon Fodder'

KEY POINTS

Russian soldiers were allegedly abandoned in Ukraine for at least three days without food, water and tents
They claimed to have been told they needed to sign papers to make it appear as if they "never even came" to Ukraine
The men said they were waiting to be transported over the border, but their current status is unclear

An entire unit of Russian soldiers was allegedly abandoned in Ukraine for several days without any food or water.

"These are the guys who were thrown into Ukraine as cannon fodder," one of the unit's members claimed in a video uploaded by the state-funded news agency National News Agency of Ukraine (UATV).

The Russian soldiers, who were dressed in their combat uniforms, had been stranded for three or four days, during which they did not have a "decent meal," after they entered their western neighbor for what they were allegedly told was a "drill," the man recording the video said.

An extended version of the video shared by Georgia-based journalist Neil Hauer via Twitter showed soldiers who claimed that the unit had been sleeping on the ground without tents, food or water.

"This is where we slept. Here. Our feet are all soaking. We don't know what to do," one soldier said, according to a translation provided to Hauer's post.

Additionally, one of the men claimed that no one was “[taking] the bodies away.”

The soldiers have allegedly been told that they will be fired and that they needed to sign papers.

"Now, they're saying [it will be] as if we never even came here. It's like we were left behind," one soldier said in the video.

The men claimed they were waiting to be transported over the border, but their current situation is unclear.

A video apparently showing a large group of Russian soldiers deserting in Ukraine. They say they have not eaten for 3-4 days and that their commanders have not organized their documents. https://t.co/KWKsIAm81c
— Neil Hauer (@NeilPHauer) March 3, 2022

Some Russian soldiers deployed in the ongoing conflict were reportedly unwilling to join the fight, and Ukrainian authorities have posted several videos of purported Russian prisoners of war admitting that they were lied to.

Ukrainian authorities invited the mothers of captured Russian troops to collect their sons in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and take them home.

At least 498 Russian troops have died since the start of the war, while another 1,597 personnel have been injured, according to Russia's Defense Ministry.

These figures differed from those provided by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, which claimed in its most recent report that Russia has suffered around 9,000 combat losses between Feb. 24 and Friday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials have repeatedly emphasized the death toll of Russian soldiers since the start of the invasion, with the head of state expressing empathy for them and their families back home.