Captive Russian serviceman Sergei Galkin told about the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the occupying forces, Vladimir Putin, to seize Kyiv and free the population from the "fascist regime."
At a briefing at Interfax-Ukraine, Galkin said that on February 1, his brigade of 2,000 people and equipment was transferred to the Samara region. They stopped in the Bryansk region. There were brigades No. 30, 21, 385, and 92. Then the entire brigade moved to the forests of the Kursk region.
"We were there for about 3 days. On February 23, the brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Marushkin, informed us about the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to attack Ukraine, capture its capital Kyiv, and protect the population from fascism and tyranny in Ukraine, " – he said.
According to Galkin, they were told that these were exercises with Belarus, but then they started to bring ammunition. Personnel were instructed to hand in their documents and phones. About 15-16 p.m. they were ordered to get in vehicles, drive 5-6 kilometers on the road so that their equipment would not get stuck in the mud. At about 11 p.m., company commander Saraikin handed them red bandages to put on their left arms and legs, and medication. At 4 a.m. on February 24, they woke up and got into their vehicles. The brigade No. 21, armed with heavy weapons, had to go first and clear the road, destroying everything in its path.
"We understood that we drove into the territory of Ukraine. We drove along the highway, stopped for the night. Surface-to-air missile trawlers were pulling up there," - the occupier continued.
Ukrainians were shot at with howitzers, "Iskanders" of the brigade No. 92. During the movement to the Chernihiv region, the occupiers saw that instead of giving directions to the settlements they were being sent to f**k themselves. The trawl broke, the commander ordered the soldiers to guard it until they were sent for. While the occupiers were standing there, local residents came to them and asked them to go home, saying that there were no fascists there, there was no oppression of the people. The Russians could not fix the trawl in the following 24 hours. They heard that their brigade No.15 had been destroyed by Ukrainian troops after it got stuck in the swamp. The platoon commander decided to retreat and return to Russia.
"We left the trawl and headed east. We knew roughly which way we needed to get home. And we got stuck in the swamps. We tried to pull out our armored personnel carrier, but it got stuck. Then we decided to burn the car and heavy weapons, take our rations, and head east towards home, "the Russian continued.
After 2-4 days in the woods and swamps, the remnants of the occupiers’ brigade came to the settlement which was defended by its residents. There was a shooting, a Russian sniper opened fire. The platoon commander decided to negotiate with the armed local residents and surrender. The occupiers were handed over to the police station.
“We were fed, given water and accommodation. Everyone was civil, despite the circumstances. We were taken to the hospital, examined by doctors for wounds. We were always treated well, given food. When we were in the hospital, we constantly heard Russia’s heavy artillery firing, planes bombing, dropping their bombs on hospitals, schools, kindergartens, "- continued the occupier.