Afrasianet - Ukraine 's military command on Friday fired the commander of a military unit on charges of "concealing the truth of the situation" after photos of emaciated soldiers left starving for months at the front without adequate supplies of food and water, sparking outrage across the country.
"We lost a number of sites and a series of errors occurred in the estimation of soldiers' supplies," Ukraine's General Staff said in a social media post, noting that "a problem with the food supply of one of the sites was detected."
A woman, believed to be the wife of one of the soldiers in the unit, posted photos showing three soldiers with long beards, losing a lot of weight and protruding their ribs.
The unit has been stationed in the Kharkiv region in the northeast of the country since August 25, where supplies have been arriving. "God willing," Anastasia Selchuk wrote on social media, adding, "Almost every 10 to 15 days without water or food."
She revealed that the soldiers drank rainwater and melted the snow during the winter.
Military journalists and Ukrainian public figures greeted the news with great anger.
Reporter Anna Kaliogna wrote on social media: "I never imagined that our military leadership and our army would reach such a shame.
The unit is fighting battles around the Oskil River in the Kupiansk region of northeastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military command said: "Supplies are being transported to the forces on that front using drones and boats, to cross the waterway that is under Russian fire."
It reported that the unit had been supplied with food, adding that "if conditions allow, the forces will be evacuated immediately."
The unit's new commander made online contact with the soldiers after his appointment, vowing to "relieve them of duty as soon as the weather permits."
One soldier told him in the call, which was broadcast by Ukrainian media: "Help us withdraw from here, and everything will be fine."
