ChrisO_wiki- Russian wives appeal to Putin
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin]! We appeal to you from Svirsk, Irkutsk oblast. You are our last hope. Help, save our men! They have been called up for mobilisation several days ago as part of military unit 95380, regiment 1439, motorised riflemen.
They were sent to the village Opytne, Avdiivka direction. They did not get in touch for several days. Just last night by some miracle they were able to reach us. Now they are under fire from the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an encirclement.
The command abandoned them to the mercy of fate, not responding to requests of fire support, forbidding them to leave their position. Our men stay for days without food, without water, with only automatic rifles, surviving under constant enemy fire.
There are the wounded, the dead, who don’t even have a chance to be evacuated from the battlefield. Help save those who can still be saved. Assist in sending additional forces or evacuation to the guys. We believe that only you can save our fathers, husbands, brothers, sons.
Help, please. Please help us, Vladimir Vladimirovich."
The wives' appeal is the latest in a series of appeals by or on behalf of the men, who say they have been forced into effectively suicidal attacks by their commanders, with no assault training and only light weapons.
The men recorded an appeal to Putin at the end of February in which they complained that they were being sent to "slaughter" with more than 20 casualties in only 2 days. They said that their commanders had shot at them to 'motivate' them.
Despite the appeals, they were reportedly sent into a fresh attack on 1 March. Judging from the latest appeal from their wives, it seems to have gone just as badly as the previous assaults.
The governor of Irkutsk, Igor Kozbev, wrote on his Telegram channel that he would be intervening. He provided an update on 3 March:
Representatives of the Government of the Irkutsk region, veterans and combatants in Afghanistan and Chechnya went to the zone of the special military operation. They will establish interaction on the spot with the regiment, which is based in the Donetsk People's Republic.
This work is coordinated by the Deputy Governor of the Irkutsk region Sergey Dovgalyuk and the head of the Irkutsk regional branch of the All-Russian Student Corps of Rescuers Yakov Mindrulev.
The regional government also sent parcels, food, clothing, drones and other equipment to the men. But it looks like it may have come too late to help them.