A Russian marine who survived bitter fighting in Vuhledar says soldiers left alive are being treated like deserters: 'It would have been better if I had been captured'

• A Russian marine who survived a major battle in Vuhledar said survivors are treated as deserters.
• "It would have been better if I had been captured and never returned," he said.
• There were just eight survivors in one company, he told Russian media outlet 7x7.

A Russian marine who lived through recent fighting in Vuhledar said that survivors are being treated like deserters.

The marine, part of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, told Russian media outlet 7x7 that "it would have been better if I had been captured and never returned."

Fighting has been raging over the eastern Ukrainian town for months, with renewed efforts to capture it launched by Russia at the end of January.

Bitter fighting around Vuhledar is ongoing.

The unnamed marine told 7x7 that his brigade joined the fighting on January 23.

He estimated that around 500 people in the brigade had been killed, according to The Moscow Times' translation, with just eight left alive in one of its companies.

The marine added that so many people in his unit were being killed that "new ones were always brought up."

Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi, head of the united press center of the Tavriskiy District of Ukrainian defense forces, told Politico on Sunday that almost the entire brigade of 5,000 had been destroyed near Vuhledar, with troops killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

According to the Institute for the Study of War think tank, the brigade's losses were likely the result of dysfunctional tactics indicative of the fact that the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade is "likely comprised of poorly trained mobilized personnel."

It said that the brigade had already been restaffed three times, after the battles at Irpin and Bucha.

It it unclear if the unnamed marine is still taking part in the fighting in Vuhledar.

The battle for Vuhledar is being seen as one of the first moves in Russia's new offensive, and its performance there could hint at how successful its military is elsewhere.

So far things have not gone to plan, according to Russian military bloggers, Ukrainian officials, and reports of the battle.

Ukrainian official Dmytrashkivsky told Politico on Sunday that Russia was losing 150 to 300 marines a day near Vuhledar.

Meanwhile, Russian military bloggers are livid after seeing video footage of the failed assault, and have said that it shows that Russia's military is making the same mistakes as last year, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

One blogger called for public trials of high-ranking officers who repeatedly lost on the battlefield, it said.

Ukrainian military drones have also captured the scenes of chaos, including Russian tanks running into minefields and being blown up, CNN reported.

The UK Ministry of Defence on Sunday highlighted the high levels of Russian casualties at Vuhledar, saying it's likely due to a range of factors "including lack of trained personnel, coordination, and resources across the front."