Ukrainian Soldiers Report Severe Supply Shortages

Members of Ukraine’s 121st Independent Territorial Defense Brigade claim they have been stationed at combat positions in the Zaporizhzhia region for nearly four months without rotation. According to an appeal dated 9 August, they are also facing shortages of drinking water, food and medicine.

Platoon Commander Anatoliy Syshchuk said the unit took up its positions in April expecting the deployment to last one month. However, he said supplies sometimes fail to arrive for three to seven days and that, in one instance, the soldiers waited 12 days. He claimed some soldiers had fallen into a state of partial unconsciousness due to a lack of food and water.

The brigade command said supplies to hard-to-reach positions were being delivered by drones. Over the course of a month, the unit was due to receive 27 packages weighing approximately nine kg each. The command attributed delays to adverse weather, enemy activity and Russian electronic warfare systems.

On 12 August, Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces said approximately 240kg of food had been delivered to the soldiers over the previous 30 days. A rotation is being prepared and will take place as soon as the security situation allows.

(nv.ua, bak)