A Ukrainian soldier walks past destroyed Russian tanks in a field, as Russia's attacks on Ukraine continue, in Mykolaiv region, Ukraine June 12, 2022.
A Ukrainian soldier walks past destroyed Russian tanks in a field, as Russia's attacks on Ukraine continue, in Mykolaiv region, Ukraine June 12, 2022. Reuters / EDGAR SU

KEY POINTS

  • The newly-mobilized soldiers said they were yet to be assigned to a military unit
  • The mobilized soldiers said they suffered humiliation at the hands of their commanding officers
  • Some of the soldiers said the military has not provided them with helmets or armored vests

Hundreds of Russian mobilized soldiers in a southern region of the country protested against their poor living conditions and lack of military gear, according to a video.

In the video, around 500 Russian mobilized soldiers in the Belgorod region rebelled against the military over their intolerable living conditions and after having been given weapons from the 1970s.

The soldiers were yet to be assigned to a military unit and forced to spend a week living "like cattle." They said they had to spend their own money to buy food and equipment.

The man who took the video, whose identity was not revealed, also said many of them have suffered humiliation at the hands of their commanding officers. Other men who were captured in the video also said the military has not provided them with helmets or armored vests for the war.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization order in late September, multiple reports have pointed to equipment shortages for mobilized soldiers.

On Sept. 27, for example, a video showed a military unit representative telling conscripts to buy hydrogen peroxide, tourniquets and tampons to cover wounds they may sustain on the battlefield.

According to a Telegram post, Russian military registration and enlistment offices also issued a list of things they asked conscripts to take to the frontlines, including underwear, electrical tape, a bulletproof helmet and a bulletproof vest.

A Russian independent news agency, The Insider, also reported that it found a Telegram channel where the wives of mobilized Russians complained about having to spend $2,500 to equip their men for the war in Ukraine.

Apart from a lack of equipment for the mobilized, the Russian military has also been accused of sending troops to the war zone in Ukraine despite giving them no prior military training.

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"We were officially told there would be no training before we are sent to the war zone," a newly-mobilized Russian soldier said in a short video.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine began in February after Moscow launched its "special military operation" Since then, Russia has lost 61,000 military personnel, as per estimates from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

A military officer walks among the remains of a school that was destroyed during the fighting between Russian troops and the Ukrainian army, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the recently liberated town of Lyman
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