Ukrainian volunteer fighters in east were 'living on one potato a day' in sobering account of invasion

In a glimpse of Ukrainian struggles on the front line, Ukrainian civilian volunteers fighting Russian forces in the country’s east say they feel abandoned by their superiors and are struggling to survive.

Ukraine’s fierce resistance against the much larger Russian army has been used to project an image of “military invulnerability” by both local authorities and international media. The fabled “Ghost of Kiev.” The Snake Island boys. The sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of Russia’ Black Sea.

The Russian military has been portrayed as bumbling and incompetent, plagued with logistical problems and low morale that sometime spilled out as retaliation toward their superiors.

But as the invasion drags into to its fourth month, Ukrainians on the ground are trying to remind the outside world that the war is still ongoing and paint a more realistic portrait of the conflict.  

The Washington Post spoke to two frustrated officers whose battalion of civilian volunteers was deployed to one of the most dangerous front lines in Luhansk province, east Ukraine, after being trained how to fire an AK-47 rifle for half an hour.

“Our command takes no responsibility,” said commander Serhi Lapko, whose company of 120 was whittled down to 54 over the last three months from deaths, injuries and desertions.

“They only take credit for our achievements. They give us no support.”

Lapko and his top lieutenant, Vitaly Khrus, agreed to speak on the record – a move that could get them court-marshalled – to underscore their seriousness of the company’s struggles.

The pair said they were expected to hold the front lines with only their rifles, hand grenades and “a handful of rocket-propelled grenades” – which they were never trained to use – against Russian infantry, armored vehicles and artillery.

Ukrainian forces kept their tanks, artillery and mortars behind Lapko’s company to provide cover. But his troops prayed they would stop firing because it gave away their position to the Russians.

“They [Russians] already know where we are, and when the Ukrainian tank shoots from our side it gives away our position,” Lapko said.

“And they start firing back with everything — Grads, mortars. And you just pray to survive.”

The company was deployed for weeks at a time with rations that only lasted days. Lapko said that one time when supply lines were cut, they company had to do with one potato per day.

Ukrainian authorities told The Post that all volunteers were being taken care of.

“They have enough medical supplies and food. The only thing is there are people that aren’t ready to fight.” said Serhiy Haidai, head of the local regional war administration.

But this is not the only time volunteers have complained about lack of proper weapons or support. Another volunteer platoon based nearby in the besieged city of Severodonetsk uploaded a video to Telegram on May 24 saying they would no longer fight because they were “being sent to certain death,” reports The Post.

Both Lapko and Khrus expect to die on the front lines. That is why Lapko says he carries a pistol.

“It’s just a toy against them, but I have it so that if they take me I will shoot myself,” he said.