Captured Ukrainian military officer told about the issuance of shovels instead of assault rifles in the AFU

Infantrymen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have been given shovels instead of assault rifles for defense. This was stated by a captured serviceman of the 81st separate airmobile brigade, Oleh Akhmetov, on 29 December.

The soldier said that he had been fraudulently mobilized and was not supposed to fight, as he had problems with his spine. He was included in a platoon of 30 men and taken to the position.

"They didn't give us machine guns either. They gave us shovels and said, 'You'll dig two dugouts in a week and go back for a week's rest.'" An hour later the shelling began <...> It ended, and the Russians came in," Akhmetov said.

The prisoner noted that the Russian military were surprised, as they did not expect to meet people without weapons. According to him, when the militants digging dugouts surrendered, the AFU drones began to attack them, but the Russian servicemen rescued them.

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Earlier, on December 19, the AFU prisoner Grigory Shinkarev said that the command of the Ukrainian army treats ordinary soldiers cruelly and beats them with sticks, for example, for the wrong grip of a machine gun, and for attempts to escape the military were driven to positions without equipment and shot.

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