Captured occupiers told how they went to Pokrovsk

Three servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces - Artem Smirnov, Sergey Morgunov and Eldar Zakiyev - moved towards Pokrovsk as part of different small assault groups. The outcome for them was the same, and far from being the worst compared to their comrades - captivity.

According to them, at least 70 per cent of those who were sent by their commanders to certain death remained in Ukrainian positions. Others are wounded, their fate is unknown, and only a few were lucky enough to be captured by Ukrainian defenders. In this video, the occupiers recount in detail their march on Pokrovsk and speak of the brutal practices within Putin’s army.

When did the seventh company move towards Pokrovsk?

Artem Smirnov, a soldier of the 30th a Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the 7th Company:

On the 5th. July. About 50 people were supposed to leave Selydove gradually in fives, twos.

How many people were in your group?

A prisoner captured by the soldiers of the 425th assault regiment "Skala", a serviceman of the 30th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the 9th company, Sergey Morgunov:

The ninth company came out, two platoons, about 50 people in total.

How long did you march for?

More than two weeks. We reached Pokrovsk, as I heard on the radio, the area from where we entered Pokrovsk, we reached eight people at most.

Smirnov: We were walking through the forest belts, through the greenery, greenery, greenery. We moved and moved through this area. A lot of people were killed by 'birds'. A lot of were injured. More than 70% of three platoons left there. And now we were approaching Pokrovsk. I was with my platoon. There were three of us. There were two people from the second platoon. And probably two people from the first platoon. The rest were 200-300.

How were you entering into Pokrovsk?

A soldier of the 30th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, 9th Company, Eldar Zakiyev:

To Pokrovsk? We had a certain route marked on the maps. We went through the terricones, through the Industrial Zone. And in the end, we approached from the south. And the petrol station area. We were sitting in front of the road not far away in a forest belt. And then we went in. I can show you everything on the map. I just don't know the name of the village.

How were you entering?

From here, I guess. Here's the petrol station. We came through here.

Across the lake, right?

Here, along the lake we came through. We stopped here for a couple of nights. Here and in this bunker we slept. And here we passed through the terricone. Accordingly.

So you passed through Zvirove, through the terricones, and came to the lake, which is already in Pokrovsk?

Yes, that's right.

How long did it take you to enter into Pokrovsk from Zvirove?

If you start from Zvirove, then this is the first Terricone. A week away. We were walking slowly.

How much did you go through per day?

Maybe 2-3 points, a kilometre and a half. And that's it, and then we stopped.

Smirnov: Then, in front of Pokrovsk, where we passed these two ponds, in this greenery, it was after the 20th, we also spent five days in this greenery. Then we left. We were told to move towards the settlement. We were allowed to look for the house. That is, we had to avoid contact with civilians, go around them. If the enemy is there, it is better not to contact them. We had to go in the dark, in the quiet.

Very carefully. This green area where you have been, were there any positions, dugouts?

No, everyone dug themselves in. We covered ourselves with branches. Mostly with ponchos.

Tell me, what group were you entering into Pokrovsk with? You, directly.

Me. Finger. Verb. Ruda. Puzo. Bear. Kayf. Seven people.

And you seven moved into the city limits, right?

Yeah. I went with Finger, it turns out. Verb with Ruda. Puzo and Bear, Kayf, the three of them. Two days later, Verb and Ruda went out of contact. Then a few days later, a day or two, Finger was killed by a bird. Then I was left alone. I connected with three of them. With Puzo, with Kayf, with Bear. Then the next day, I did the same thing. Well, it's a day, 24 hours. Two days. That's it. Birds started bombing too. Kayf to one direction. We went with Puzo and Bear in another direction. Bear has disappeared, too. The birds must have bombed him. Then it was just the three of us. That's all. And here again a day or two. And Kayf. And Puzo too. Two hundred.

Zakiyev: When we were in a greenery, in front of Pokrovsk we had eight people. Gradually. We came in twos. Then the first twos was killed. The second twos fell.

And which twos were you in?

We were in the last twos.

And what about the ones in front of you?

Those? Those are two hundredths.

Are you sure about that?

At least, I didn't see it myself. They haven't contacted us on the radio anymore. I can take a risk to assume that they are two hundred.

And was a drone guiding you during that period when you were entering into Pokrovsk?

The drone guided us only up to the terricones. The commander guided us by a drone. Then we went on like that. We followed the map.

And at what point were there three of you?

Right now, my partner, who is sitting there, his partner was killed. He came back. And now there are three of us with him.

Where did you meet him?

We were still sitting in a greenery in front of the city. He came back to us.

Was it the first time you and Zarik were entering into Pokrovsk?

Yes.

Could you please tell us how it happened?

Morgunov: We crossed the road. We got the point where we needed to enter. We walked through the yards. We entered one yard. Zarik started reporting to the leadership, to the commanders, that we had reached a certain point. And they killed him. I ran away.

Well, how did the firefight happen?

He was looking for a radio connection. The guys came out. And... Well, it was very fast. I ran back across the road. I came back to where Kadi and Repa were.

Zakiyev: He came back, and there were three of us with him.

And you three went in the last foursome, right?

Yes, exactly.

Morgunov: They told me to go with them. Although I could not see well. I had lost my glasses. I mean, I have problems with my eyesight.

What kind of eyesight do you have?

Minus three.

In both eyes?

Yes.

How did you get through the private sector?

Zakiyev: We walked through the vegetable gardens. We went along the street somewhere. Where there was more greenery, we went into the greenery. And along the fences, we were stealthily passing.

And you didn't you meet any fire contact at all?

Absolutely not. There was no resistance.

That's incredible. So you already realised that you were in the city itself?

Yes.

And what did the command tell you? Did you get in touch every day, as you did?

Yes.

And how did you charge your radios?

They dropped power banks.

What else did they drop with drones?

Cigarettes, chocolates, that's all.

To keep you hold on, right? And what did you have in terms of BC?

BC was still in the remnant.

There was some left. That means you were shooting, right?

Basically, I dropped most of the BCs on the way. It was hard to carry a lot. Somewhere I shot at birds several times, and even missed. When I was fighting off the birds.

And in the city itself, where was your point?

The last point was where this house is. On Prokofiev Street. In this house.

Morgunov: We set up in the grounds. There was a shop under a shed. So we were sitting under the shed. At night, we planted four mines. We were spotted, they opened fire on us. Single gunshots rang out. I went to have a look. I said they were shooting at these mines. Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They wanted to blow them up. Then the shooting stopped. He said the mines were off. Then in the afternoon, Kadi and Repa opened fire at a passing car.

What kind of car?

A pick-up truck. I think it was grey. Grey.

At what point were you taken prisoner?

Zakiyev: I was captured on the sixth day, when we were in the house.

Have you been in the house for six days?

Yes.

We were just sitting there, observing the situation, reporting on the radio.

What did the command tell you?

He says stay where you are. In general, I was waiting for a rollback, because that was it, there were no more people, just two people left. One soldier left us. It's a stalemate. It's unclear what to do next.

How did he leave you?

He just left, he says, I'm going to take a shit, to put it bluntly. He's not there, not there, not there, not there. Well, it's dangerous to go and check too, you know, if it's a bird or not a bird.

Did he have a radio? No?

He left all his belongings.

Further fate, do you know?

Further fate is unknown. There, we were captured afterwards. Well, maybe an hour, maybe two hours passed. And then... the Ukrainian Armed Forces captured us.

Tell us more about how it happened.

I was sitting in the hall. Papus, my partner, was in the other room. I tried to roll something there, a piece of paper, a cigarette. There were no cigarettes. We didn't have enough drops. The supply was shit, to put it bluntly. I tried to smoke tea there. Well, I really wanted to smoke. People came in. At first I thought maybe this one was back, our partner. I hear voices. I realised that they were definitely not ours. I surrendered immediately.

Smirnov: During this time, I was wounded three times.

With a drone?

With drones, mostly, yes. They're dumpers or comedians. Because in houses, when you are sitting out, they start... Well, there's no point in sitting out in houses. It's better to hide somewhere in a greenery. And the last time when I was shot, I was running from a house to house. Houses were being set on fire. I even managed to run to the vegetable garden from the fourth house. I hid under a tree. That's it, no one got in touch anymore. I had been living under a tree for two days. Just in my underpants. Then in the building. The commanders got in touch with me, but I had not even heard from any of my men. They said the allies were far away, no one would come to you. Stay strong, there was water there. And on the sixth day, Ukrainian soldiers came in. I was already lying in my underpants without any weapons. I felt very bad. I was almost unconscious. That's it, they twisted me, tied me up. They took me prisoner. It was on 2 August.

Do you know who took you prisoner?

Morgunov: Yes. The guys explained everything to us. I mean, they didn't beat us, nothing. It was a unit called "Skala". His call sign was 13. He gave us a smoke. Because we had no cigarettes. We smoked tea leaves.

How did you get into the army?

Zakiyev: To the army? Through prison.

What article?

159-я. Fraud.

How long did you get?

2,7.

Smirnov:So it turns out that you had to sign I have article 159. Well, this is fraud, 2 articles. They should have put me in jail and alimony. Because of this, I had to.

Morgunov: I was looking for a job. Well, as required. I needed a job. In Moscow, near the metro station, there were floggers who offered work as builders and drivers, labourers in new territories. I was interested in working as a driver. Well, not interested. I agreed to work as a water truck driver.

So, how did you get there? You say you were applying to be a water truck driver, right?

Well, it was all from the Ministry of Defence, as they said. Oh, it was from the Ministry of Defence, huh? Yes, yes, yes. That it was from the Ministry of Defence. Everything is official. There are a lot of old people there. People who came as construction workers, that is, old people.

At what point did you realise that you were not going to be a water truck driver, but that you were going to be an assault rifleman?

When they brought me to Shyshovka and unloaded me from the car. They brought us to the location, where we were already lined up. And they announced that we'd got there and there. The thirtieth motorised rifle battalion. Well, I was still hoping for something. Maybe I would ride around the area, transport water there. Well, I was told that I would serve.

How did your training go?

Zakiyev: We were overcoming the tangle, the thorns. These training drones also dropped some kind of grenades on us, not grenades, nothing, just imitation.

Drops, right?

Yes, they did. Or comedians would crash into us to simulate it, to get a feel for our future journey.

How long did your training last at the training ground?

Smirnov: About a month, about three weeks.

What did the training consist of?

Mostly paintball. We shot with paintballs. Well, we ran in the trenches, of course. This one was a long campaign, 7 kilometres with backpacks.. Well, like to say it in a nutshell.

Did you play paintball?

Yes, we did.

Did you have many such training sessions?

About 4-5 times.

What else did you do in training?

Mostly, there was nothing like this. Mostly long hikes, like these hikes to the training ground. 7 kilometres with these backpacks, with bricks and 3.5 litres of water in backpacks. The bricks weighed 7 kilograms. It was purely endurance, so that the legs could work, because the hikes were long.

Zakiyev: We spent the day just going from point to point, using maps, navigating the terrain. We had an Alpinquest programme specifically for such things. We just went from point to point. You report the point on the radio, what point you are passing through. It was basically like that. It's like running in the open, slowly - in the greenery. We don't crowd, accordingly, some distance, something else there.

After the preparation, were there any nuances at the training ground? Were there any people who refused, maybe?

We had two self-shootings. One shot himself, one ran away, and one put a grenade under his armour.

A combat grenade?

Yes.

How did it happen?

I don't know, I was in the front of the line. We were walking, again, in the morning we were walking to the training ground. And I was walking ahead of this man. May he rest in peace. And I heard the explosion behind me. And I heard on the radio, that's it, we have 300, 300. And then 200 at all. As I had already understood. Well, we didn't stop, we were told to get further. We said we'll figure it out ourselves. Well, they bossed us around, you know.

And why did they make the self-shots?

Self-shots? Psychologically, I think they couldn't stand it. There is another nuance there, because there were already fewer of us in the area of Selydove, because two or three of us were simply eliminated. Well, they considered themselves to be an unnecessary burden. They were old people.

Old people? How old were they?

One was 65 years old. The other one was about 60.

How do people aged 60-65 get into the army?

And you know, the situation in Russia is such that many people are just there, roughly speaking, there are people who just like that, they have a drink with him, roughly speaking, he wrote something, that's it, you've signed the contract. And the person who slipped him the paper, he got 100,000 for him, well, roughly speaking, that's it, that's all, this one has money, and this one is done, he's gone under the contract, he can't refuse, he's already signed the papers. And there are a lot of people like this, in most cases, they get someone married, marry them off in such a way that it is a wife, a fake marriage, roughly speaking, they get married there, and that's it, then she ship him off to the army.

Oh, to get payouts later, right?

Yes, to get payouts for him later. A purely monetary motive.

And why is that, after such incidents, nobody refuses, deserts or runs away?

Well, you know, if they start running away, they will be shot by their own people. It's very difficult to run away.

And what kind of discipline do you have, for example, in a brigade, do you know what will happen if you refuse to perform a task? Your own men will come and kill you.

Bohdan Papadin