Russian barrier force 'stood in way of retreating soldiers'

Members of a recently formed Russian assault unit say their commanders deployed troops to stop them retreating and threatened them with death after they suffered “huge” losses in eastern Ukraine.

- Pjotr Sauer

In a video addressed to President Vladimir Putin, a group of about two dozen men in military uniform say they are the remnants of Storm, a unit under the defence ministry.

“We sat under open mortar fire and artillery for 14 days,” Alexander Gorin, a Russian soldier, is heard saying in the appeal, which first appeared on Friday on Russian Telegram channels. “We took huge losses. Thirty-four people were injured and 22 died, including our commander .”

Another soldier said the unit initially comprised 161 men at the start of the operations.

Gorin said his men made the decision to head back to the Russian army headquarters but were denied evacuation by their superiors.

“They placed barrier troops behind us and weren’t letting us leave our position,” he said. “They are threatening to destroy us one by one and as a unit. They want to execute us as witnesses of a completely negligent criminal leadership .”

Barrier troops or anti-retreat forces are military units positioned behind front-line forces to maintain discipline and prevent soldiers from fleeing.