A Russian soldier has described apocalyptic scenes of death and destruction in Vovchansk, with dead bodies piled layer upon layer and blocking paths of retreat.
Fierce battles have raged in and around the city since May, when Russian forces launched a surprise attack across the border, opening a new front.
Located just 47 miles from Kharkiv, Vovchansk used to be home to just 17,000 residents.
Vladimir Putin claimed that the Kremlin was trying to create a buffer zone to protect Russian border towns from Ukrainian artillery attacks.]
Initially making good progress having caught the Ukrainians by surprise, Putin’s troops soon became bogged down after Kyiv’s army launched its own counterattack.
The two sides have since been slugging it out for control over the city, that has been literally razed to the ground.
One Russian soldier has published an account of his experiences of fighting in Vovchansk, painting a hellish picture of death, destruction and chaos among his unit.
The soldier was injured by a sniper and found himself holed up in the basement of a bombed-out building with other men from his unit, sheltering from persistent drone attacks.
The only route to safety was along a 50-metre path under the fire control of Ukraine’s army.
“Fifty metres, no more say those who managed to cross that distance in our direction,” he wrote in his blog.
“The path is blocked by debris, construction waste and bodies. Bodies, bodies, bodies of our soldiers. They are everywhere. As far as the eye can see, there are dead.
“Some (of the injured) lie in the basement where we are hiding, some have been there for just one day, others for 15.
“Those who can’t move lie there the longest. They need evacuation, but there is none and there is no sign of it.
“These 50 metres are completely controlled by Ukrainian drones and snipers. When the drones aren’t flying, they fire at us with mortars.
“Their spotters never sleep – as soon as one of ours appears in the open for just a few seconds, several mortar shells land on them immediately.”
He continues: “There are many who have died or been fatally wounded. They are already lying in two or three layers, close to the wounded.
“The persistent smell of death and decaying flesh fills the basement. The guys are rotting and the medic can’t help them.
“He only gives painkillers delivered by drone. Medicine and a pack of cigarettes – that’s all the help we get from those sitting just fifty metres away.”
