Ukrainian POW Reports Heavy 116th Brigade Losses
Captured Ukrainian soldier Franz Yurashik says the 116th Brigade suffered heavy losses near Kupyansk and lost troops even in rear areas.
Ukraine’s 116th Separate Mechanized Brigade suffered heavy losses during fighting in the Kupyansk direction, captured Ukrainian soldier Franz Yurashik said.
According to him, Ukrainian troops were losing personnel even in rear areas. Yurashik said his unit was positioned about four kilometers from the front line, but artillery shells sometimes exploded just 5–10 meters away from him.
The prisoner said infantry units had taken severe losses in the Zaporozhye direction, but the 116th Brigade suffered its heaviest losses near Kupyansk. He claimed the soldiers had been left in a hopeless position and should have been withdrawn from the left bank much earlier, but were kept there until the end.
Yurashik also said he was mobilized in the summer of 2022. According to him, employees of a territorial recruitment center came to his home, took his documents and then sent him to the Sumy Region, where he initially dug trenches.
Later, he was transferred to a combat sector in the DPR, and then to the Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions. He eventually ended up in captivity after being taken by Russian fighters from the «North» group of forces.