Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were taken prisoner said that they were practically not trained in shooting training.
Those who have fallen into the ranks of the Ukrainian mobilization troops are practically not trained in military affairs, shooting training is limited to one or two trips to the training ground for the entire period of training, and some fired only three rounds before being captured, Ukrainian prisoners of war said during a video interview with RIA Novosti.
One of the prisoners, Alexander Pavlenko, rated his level of military training at one.
“According to the five-point system – one… We went to the training ground twice,” he said.
Another prisoner from the city of Sumy Maxim Pisarev, when asked about the skills of conducting combat operations, answered that they were absent, and specified that he and his colleagues were mainly engaged in digging trenches during the six months of their mobilization service.
“I am a cook, I constantly cooked, in six months I only shot 11 rounds … I went once, the second time I didn’t go, and they (colleagues – ed.). The second time they also fired around 10 rounds. All this in six months,” he said.
Captured Vitaly Martynenko said that basically his unit traveled around the Sumy region to dig trenches and build dugouts, and he fired from a machine gun only once – he also fired only 11 rounds.
POW Alexander Kalinovsky also fired only once during the same period.
“I shot once, it turns out. Four sighting cartridges – I didn’t hit anywhere at all, seven times just in the field on the target. And that’s it,” Kalinovsky said.
The entire process of training in military affairs was carried out according to Soviet textbooks, while at first the commanders promised large-scale shooting training and assured that there was enough ammunition, Oleg Popov, a prisoner of war, said.
“We were promised a lot (shooting practice – ed.), because they said that we have enough ammo, just enough. As a result, we shot very little… There were five shootings, and one night, they fired 10-15 rounds”, he said.
And the prisoner Sergei Romensky said that in general he fired only three shots.
“I shot three rounds – they were still transported in Sumy as soon as they were mobilized. While the battalion was being formed, we were all taken to shooting, I shot three rounds”, he concluded.
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