“We are in a dreamy Ukrainian apartment and we are eating their jam. Everything is great. At the same time, we smoke our cigarettes, “says Anatoly Drjomov in one of the videos.
What Russia calls a “special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine,” and what the world sees as a barbaric war, has decided to film. And then he posted videos on the Telegram network.
So what does the fight with the Ukrainian Nazis look like? “This is our super fighter – a savage separatist!” Drjomov comments on his comrade-in-arms with a stolen wig in one of the conquered Ukrainian apartments.
Anatoly Drjomov published dozens of videos from March 7 to 15, when Russian troops advanced on the town of Popasna in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, while facing stiff Ukrainian resistance. “This may be my last report. We have a lot of people killed and wounded, “Anatoly describes in a tired voice.
“It’s March 9, 1 p.m. This is the third day we are trying to get to Popasna and break through the Ukrainian defenses. Everyone is trying to get to Popasna. We are moving forward slowly. It’s hard, but we believe. We have big losses, “Drjovov repeats information about the dead Russian soldiers. “Greetings to the 40th Brigade. We are all alive here, but we also have some losses. We stick. Don’t bury us too soon. We take our dead and wounded. I hope this is not my last video. “
Before the war, his social media pages were full of photos from trips and fun parties with friends. These have now been replaced by videos of stolen and destroyed Ukrainian houses.
“We attacked this village. We worked here with all the Ukrainians. We are closer and closer to victory. “
His Telegram channel, “God is with us!”, Has more than 35,000 subscribers.
One of his fans is Olga from Siberian Novokuznetsk. “Every morning I check if he’s alive or not. I’m looking forward to seeing him alive, praying for him. My son is 25 years old, just like him. I want him to enlist, “says Olga in the RFE / RL report.
Ukrainians, who are also among the customers, react completely differently to his contributions. In particular, on Drjomov’s instagram page, which is banned in Russia, they publish comments such as “burn in hell”, “save Ukraine” or the number 200, which is the Russian military code for a killed soldier.
The contributions of Russian soldiers on social networks are also monitored by human rights groups. They are looking for evidence of possible war crimes – similar to the ones in the Ukrainian cities of Buča and Irpin, where dead civilians were found with their hands tied behind their backs and mass graves uncovered.
But there are no such images on Drjomov’s telegram channel. “Images of military crimes do not appear on social networks intentionally. Such videos usually escape by chance or are shot by someone who doesn’t like it. But this rarely happens. It is also important for the army that the soldier does not disclose his position, which would allow him to find out where he is and what he is doing, “says data analyst Kirill Mikhailov.
Drjomov published one of its latest reports on April 21. Namely, that he needs to pull out his three teeth. In recent days, however, he is no longer very active on the Telegram and there are rather shorter text comments such as “I’m alive”.
Russia’s invading forces are continuing shelling in the direction of the villages of Slobožanske and Izjum in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Monday in its operational report. According to him, the attempt to attack in the direction from Izjum to Barvenkov and Slovjansk was repulsed by Ukrainian forces, and the attack on the village of Popasna in the Luhansk region continues.
The Ukrainian army warns that Russian invasion forces continue the offensive in the east of the country in order to fully control the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and secure a land route between these territories and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
War in Ukraine
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