Russia has reportedly begun forcing wounded soldiers to continue fighting on the front lines as its army deals with a growing number of casualties on the battlefield in the war with Ukraine. Those who suffered injuries during combat have asked their superiors and government officials to receive proper medical treatment or be discharged, however their pleas have been ignored.
As the Telegraph reports, Russian forces has experienced an average of 1,000 deaths per day over the past two months, with that number showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. While many are killed in combat, others are injured and simply left to die by their own army.
In one video obtained by the outlet, a group of wounded soldiers address the issue. "We are in the Special Military Operation zone in [Luhansk]," they explained. "More than 50 people have arrived from hospitals. These are the remnants of three companies. Our command took us to the location and sent us in groups to combat tasks, even though everyone here needs surgery and hospital treatment."
One of the men claimed that field medics "shrug their shoulders" when requests for aid are made, despite the fact that they all have documents showing that they "have been given leave due to injury." He said they were all in need of "further treatment and rehabilitation," but that not only "none of this is being fulfilled," the injured soliders are actually being ordered to continue fighting.
In their video address, the men called on the military prosecutors' office, the Ministry of Defense, and Vladimir Putin himself to "take urgent measures in accordance with current legislation." They stressed that once recovered, they would gladly go back out onto the battlefield.
As the Telegraph reports, while some soldiers in the "meat wave" were suffering from shrapnel wounds, others were amputees or used crutches.