Fighters of the 72nd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told BBC journalists about their feelings during the recent retreat from Vugledar. According to them, the situation on the battlefield became so critical that the units decided to leave without an official order.
One of the two interlocutors, a machine gunner, said that in the last few days, Ukrainian fighters had to independently get out of Ugledar on foot.
According to the second interlocutor, Roman, many people were killed or wounded by Russian drones and artillery during attempts to leave the ruins of the city, and many are considered missing.
In the last days of September, the Russians were able to approach from the west almost close to the only remaining road that connected Vugledar with the rear, with the village of Bogoyavlenka, and the garrison was semi-encircled: the Russians shot everything that moved along this road with drones and artillery.
"They tried to bring it up, they sent evacuation crews to remove the 200s and 300s, but without success. We lost several cars, we decided to stop there," said Roman.
When the Russians entered the city, the Ukrainian units began to leave without waiting for an order.
"When the retreat is not organized, chaos begins, this is the natural rule of war," said the machine gunner.
According to him, some groups were disoriented because they lost radio communication, they had to make quick decisions on their own, and often it was a decision to retreat.
Roman explained that their fortified positions had been destroyed by Russian bombs, shells and rockets, and in this situation withdrawal from the positions was inevitable.
"How to fight when you are left alone in a position and everything is flying at you? Either die or leave," explained Roman.
But even getting out of the almost surrounded city, according to him, was extremely dangerous: during the day, such attempts were equivalent to a suicide mission.
For the most part, Ukrainian soldiers tried to walk at night, in addition to the minefields, following the marked tracks, so as not to go along the road, which is being shelled, to the Epiphany.
"Until recently, evacuation vehicles could drive in under the cover of darkness with their headlights turned off. But as soon as the Russian troops reached the center of the city, it became possible to escape only on foot," said Roman.
The military has criticized the command for not giving the order to withdraw from the city for a long time, even when it was in a de facto operational environment and it was clear that there was no way to hold it.
"I don't know what it was: the commanders' fear of the higher command or the order of the higher command to drag ordinary boys to the last blood. It is incomprehensible to all of us," the machine gunner admitted.
