Russian soldiers in the 155th Brigade of the Russian Pacific Fleet Marines and stationed in the Donetsk region have claimed that they were were thrown into an "incomprehensible battle" according to a letter sent from the front lines to a regional governor in Russia.
"Once again, we were thrown into an incomprehensible battle by General Muradov and his brother-in-law, his countryman Akhmedov, so that Muradov could earn bonuses to make him look good in the eyes of Gerasimov [Russia's Chief of the General Staff]," claimed the letter, which was revealed by media on Tuesday.
Muradov is Lt.-Gen. Rustam Muradov who is the commander of Russian forces in the Eastern Military District, most of whom are currently fighting in Ukraine.
"As a result of the 'carefully' planned offensive by the 'great commanders,' we lost about 300 men, dead and wounded, with some MIA over the past 4 days," the letter said. "We lost 50% of our equipment. That's our brigade alone. The district command and Akhmedov are hiding these facts and skewing the official casualty statistics for fear of being held accountable."
"As a result of the 'carefully' planned offensive by the 'great commanders' we lost about 300 men, dead and wounded, with some MIA over the past 4 days. We lost 50% of our equipment. That's our brigade alone. The district command and Akhmedov are hiding these facts and skewing the official casualty statistics for fear of being held accountable."
The men of the 155th Brigade of the Russian Pacific Fleet Marines
The letter, published on Monday by Grey Zone, a prominent Russian military blog, was sent to Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the far eastern region of Primorye Krai.
"How long will such mediocrities as Muradov and Akhmedov be allowed to continue to plan military actions just to keep up appearances and gain awards at the cost of so many people's lives?" the letter asked, referring to Governor Kozhemyako.
Kozhemyako appeared to acknowledge the legitimacy of the letter but said it exaggerated the scale of the actual losses.
"We contacted the commanders. Yes there are losses, there's heavy fighting, but they are far from what is written in this appeal," he said in a video statement on his Telegram channel.
Russian Ministry of Defense refutes claims
The Russian Ministry of Defense, according to RIA, did not deny that the letter was actually sent from the front, but claimed that the losses in the unit were much smaller than those claimed and that no more than 1% of the soldiers in it were killed and 7% were injured, "many of whom have already returned to active duty."
Contrary to what the letter claimed, the Ministry of Defense claimed that in the course of 10 days, the unit had advance five km. (more than three miles) into Ukrainian defensive positions. The statement specifically denied that the brigade's commanders had shown incompetence.
President Zelensky claims Russians are dying "by the hundreds"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the Donetsk region remained the "epicenter" of fighting in the war, with hundreds of Russians being killed every day.
"The Donetsk region remains the epicenter of the greatest madness of the occupiers," Zelensky said in his nightly video address. "They are being killed in their hundreds every day. The ground in front of Ukrainian positions is littered with bodies of the occupiers."
The towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka are the focal points of the heaviest fighting in the Donetsk region.
Moscow's unusual denial
The unusual denial on the part of Moscow perhaps indicates a high sensitivity when it comes to claims of military losses and defeats on the battlefield in Ukraine, against the backdrop of growing criticism from hawkish nationalists in Russia, supporters of the Putin regime, about the way in which what the Kremlin calls the "special military operation" is being managed.
This criticism increased as Russia continued to suffer setbacks on the battlefield, including the humiliating retreat from the Kharkiv region during the summer and the rapid advances Ukraine is now making in the Kherson region, from which Russia itself has performed panicked evacuations.
Reuters contributed to this report.