A Ukrainian military drone unit near Stepove, a village just north of Avdiivka, where some of the most intense battles have taken place, shot the video this month.

It’s an apocalyptic scene: In two separate clips, the bodies of about 150 soldiers — most wearing Russian uniforms — lie scattered along tree lines where they sought cover. The village itself has been reduced to rubble. Rows of trees that used to separate farm fields are burned and disfigured. The fields are pocked by artillery shells and grenades dropped from drones. The drone unit said it’s possible that some of the dead were Ukrainians.

The footage was provided to the AP by Ukraine’s BUAR unit of the 110th Mechanized Brigade, involved in the fighting in the area. The unit said that the footage was shot on Dec. 6 over two separate treelines between Stepove and nearby railroad tracks and that many of the bodies had been left there for weeks.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    If the worst happens and Russia wins this war, its total scorched earth policy means it will be a pyrrhic victory at best. They will then have to spend an indefinite future defending huge swaths of useless land and destroyed cities from NATO troops on the border and guerrilla rebels among what’s left of Ukraine’s population. It will be far worse than the failed Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

    Putin doesn’t really win even if he wins at this point.

    • girlfreddy@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      7 months ago

      His itty bitty pieces won’t allow him to quit … yet. My guess is when he starts losing money, that’ll be the end of it.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        He must be losing money already. The Russian economy has gone belly-up and he probably has a lot of his accounts frozen because the money is in Western banks.

        • girlfreddy@sh.itjust.worksOP
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          7 months ago

          True, but he’s also been buddy-buddy with Xi, Kim and the UAE in public meetings … gaining support and trade deals from those nations.

          I honestly don’t think he’s personally lost much at all (yet). But it will happen sooner or later.