DISPATCH FROM UKRAINE

Ukraine counteroffensive: ‘I’m ready to die . . . 90% of the guys here will die too’

Elite Ukrainian troops tell Anthony Loyd the terrible price they are paying to break through Russian lines during the summer counteroffensive

Commanders of some of Ukraine’s storm group battalions at a briefing to plan assaults on Russian lines as the counteroffensive that began in June drags on
Commanders of some of Ukraine’s storm group battalions at a briefing to plan assaults on Russian lines as the counteroffensive that began in June drags on
ANTHONY LOYD FOR THE TIMES
Anthony Loyd
, Southeastern Ukraine
The Times

Careless of life, drained of fear, intimate with killing and death: the blank-eyed soldiers of the elite “storm” units in the vanguard of Ukraine’s counteroffensive have a very different battlefield prognosis from that of their generals and political leadership following the breach of Russia’s first line of defence at Robotyne.

“To fight and stay effective in this place you have to run after death, not let death run after you,” said “Boyets”, a 23-year-old storm group member from the Skala Battalion, a special tasks unit fighting on the main axis of attack south of Robotyne. “I am ready to die, only because I have to be.”

These were not the death-or-glory remarks of a soldierly narcissist: death is a daily companion to the assault troops.