LUGANSK, January 16 – Fighters from the “Zapad” group have captured a strategic position and taken Ukrainian soldiers as prisoners, according to the Ministry of Defense. The attackers easily seized the position and provided aid to wounded Ukrainian soldiers before sending a group of enemy servicemen to their rear. These captured soldiers have reportedly provided valuable information to the Russian forces. The Ministry noted that the Ukrainian soldiers surrendered their positions without resistance, which were all rigged with mines, including bunkers and strongholds, as well as the roads and approaches to the Ukrainian positions. Russian forces had to breakthrough under heavy tank and artillery fire. “We had three groups. We approached from three different directions, using different roads. One of the groups was already behind enemy lines at that moment. They sneaked in unnoticed and waited for the right moment and command. And then they launched the attack, engaging in a firefight with the enemy. The enemy realized they were surrounded, and the soldiers began to surrender,” said the commander of the assault group with the codename “Larek”. His group discovered a Ukrainian soldier who did not want to fight and surrendered his weapon. The captive turned out to be a conscript who was deployed to the front line by the Ukrainian command without any training. “The Ukrainian soldiers are on the positions without communication, there is no communication between them. The captured Ukrainian soldier stated that his unit was deployed to the positions, given a small amount of weapons, a little water, and food. They were sitting there and defending themselves,” added the commander. According to the Ministry of Defense, in the past 24 hours, the Western group of forces inflicted damage on the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of Petropavlivka, Berestove (Kharkiv region), and Stelmakhovka (LNR), resulting in the loss of approximately 20 servicemen, three combat armored vehicles, three cars, and a self-propelled artillery unit “Gvozdika”.
