Major Vitaly Dubinyak and his battalion crossed the Russian border in the early hours on Monday.
“We had to fight back without fuel or ammunition for two weeks. We were running of food and did not have even packed lunches left. The soldiers were more exhausted by hopelessness and desperation than by fire,” Dubinyak, who is staying at a temporary camp in Rostov regions together with his soldiers, said.
The major said the only instruction they kept receiving from the central command over the past few day was to hold on. “It seems they have already buried us. We had to abandon our weapons and hardware and leave it on the other side of the border. The most important thing was to save my men,” Dubinyak stressed.
A total of 438 Ukrainian troops, including from the 72nd motorized brigade, as well as the Ukrainian border service, asked Russian border guards to let them cross into Russian territory. The Russians opened a safe corridor for them.
Dubinyak was surprised by Russians’ good attitude to him and his subordinates.
“Honestly, we did not expect such an attitude to us. They treated us like brothers so to speak. Those who issue us orders at the top are lying when they say that we are fighting against Russia. None of the Russians did even frown upon us. They understand that we are in trouble and that we are just the hostages of this situation,” the Ukrainian commander said.................http://en.itar-tass.com/world/743493
4/8/14
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More than 400 Ukrainian government soldiers have asked for asylum after crossing the Russian border, Russian security officials have said....
ReplyDeleteThe soldiers, including 164 border guards, requested refuge after crossing the Gukovo checkpoint into the Rostov region, Vasily Malayev, head of the Federal Security Service’s border directorate, said Monday.
Malayev said all the soldiers, who crossed from eastern Ukraine’s breakaway Luhansk province, would be handed over to Ukrainian officials.
He added that one soldier is seriously wounded and still being treated in Gukovo.
The group, from the 72nd brigade, asked for a humanitarian corridor after running out of ammunition and retreating towards the border, according to an earlier statement from Ukrainian army headquarters.
Local media reports suggested the men had been part of a unit cut off by separatists and had stayed behind to provide covering fire while their comrades escaped before heading for the border when their ammunition ran out.
According to the United Nations, at least 1,100 people have been killed since the Ukrainian army launched anti-terror operations against pro-Russian separatists in April.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/news/368576--ukrainian-government-troops-seek-refuge-in-russia