"Commanders Call People Meat"... Letters from Russian Marines in the 'Ukraine War' Spread

Russian Ministry of Defense Issues Statement Refuting "Fake News"

Oleg Kozhemyako, Governor of Primorsky Krai, Russia
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] A letter criticizing the incompetence of commanders by Russian marines deployed on the eastern front of Ukraine, stating "They call people meat," is spreading on social networking services (SNS). In response, the Russian Ministry of Defense has labeled the letter's contents as "fake news."

On the 8th (local time), according to foreign media including the US NBC, a public letter reportedly written by soldiers of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Russian Pacific Fleet is circulating on Telegram and blogs.

In the letter addressed to Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Primorsky Krai, the marines claimed, "We were attacked near the eastern Ukrainian city of Pavliuka, resulting in 300 soldiers killed, wounded, or missing," and "We were ordered to capture Pavliuka, but about half of the unit's equipment was destroyed within four days."

They further criticized, "They (the commanders) care about nothing but showing off," and "They call people meat."

The soldiers also appealed, "Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the Russian General Staff, and Rustam Muradov, commander of the Eastern Military District, are guilty of hiding the actual scale of troop losses," and "We ask President Vladimir Putin, the Supreme Commander, to order an independent investigation into the military failures."

Governor Kozhemyako posted a message on his Telegram channel stating, "I have contacted the marine brigade commanders," and "While losses did occur, the scale is not as large as stated in the letter." He also shared a video of a marine saying, "We are doing our best to carry out the mission."

In response, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a rebuttal denying the contents of the soldiers' letter entirely. The Ministry stated, "Thanks to the commanders' competence during the 10-day offensive near Pavliuka, marine casualties did not exceed 1% of the total forces, and the wounded were less than 7%," adding, "The unit advanced up to 5 km into Ukrainian territory."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.