Alex Babenko/AP Photo
- A Ukrainian soldier says troops are ordered into missions at a key river crossing for little gain.
- Ukraine claimed modest successes in crossing the Dnipro during its 2023 counteroffensive.
- But soldiers have suggested the efforts are more political than strategic.
A Ukrainian soldier said troops were being thrown at enormous cost into missions that showed little gain at a key point of the country's counteroffensive.
The soldier, identified only as Dmytro, told The Washington Post that he felt "tossed like a piece of meat to the wolves" when he and fellow troops were instructed to cross the Dnipro river and hold land on the east bank.
His account, which Business Insider has not independently verified, is one of several that contrast with the official version of events amid an ongoing desire from Western allies for signs of progress.
Dmytro described being tasked with crossing a marshy series of islands and reinforcing a position at the fishing village of Krynky, about 20 miles upriver of Kherson.
The location has been seen in international media as a bright spot in Ukraine's struggling counteroffensive since, on November 14, Ukrainian officials announced that troops had established a "foothold" there. It came amid reports that they were attempting to connect up various landing sites.
But in Dmytro's telling, soldiers had been drowning in the dangerous crossing, and some bodies from earlier efforts had still not been retrieved, The Washington Post reported.
One 22-year-old marine told the paper: "We simply lose people, but there is no result."
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Marine Corps declined to comment about the Dnipro campaign, The Washington Post reported.
Dmytro, who was highly skeptical of the mission's planning, told the paper about setting out to cross the river, lugging enough supplies to last a few days. They reached a series of marshy, reed-filled islands which Ukrainian forces had earlier cleared of Russian fighters, he told the paper.
But when they reached the east bank, they had much less cover and were immediately targeted by Russian shelling — a problem worsened by having lost contact with the mortar team that could have answered the salvos. Two of Dmytro's team died, the paper reported.
Dmytro said that they waited eight hours in a trench amid shelling before receiving reinforcements and setting out for Krynko. But despite an earlier reconnaissance team assuring them the way was clear, they were attacked, the paper reported.
After they finally arrived, Dmytro said five further men had died and 20 were injured, and he received shrapnel wounds from a grenade, the paper reported.
His is one account among several that have emerged describing low morale among troops and disorganization within leadership at that juncture of the counteroffensive.
In December, a soldier identified as Oleksiy told The New York Times that the crossing at Dnipro was a "suicide mission," contradicting official reports that Ukraine had a solid hold on the east bank. A further unnamed soldier told the BBC that some recruits arriving to cross the river had little training and couldn't even swim.
The real situation was being "hushed up," he told the outlet, adding that many soldiers think their missions "had more political than military significance."
Throughout 2023, pressure ramped up on Ukraine to show results from its counteroffensive, which has broadly not been assessed as a success. Meanwhile, Western commitments of military support show signs of dwindling. In December, President Joe Biden urged lawmakers to approve a further $60 billion in aid to Ukraine as the previous package was all but used up.