Russian military authorities admit troops dying in the Donbas

The leadership of Russia's military has admitted to the relatives of paratroopers that their loved ones are not on training exercises in Rostov-on-Don but are dying in the Donbas. A spokesman for the Kostroma Airborne Division confirmed that information at a meeting with military families, reports Ukrainska Pravda, August 27, citing Echo of Moscow. According to the RBC news agency, cited by Echo of Moscow, a colonel who introduced himself as Oleksandr Khotulev told his paratrooper friends that two soldiers had been killed and about a dozen people injured and taken to the hospital in Rostov-on-Don. Nine soldiers, who have already been named by Ukrainian authorities remain in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the wife of one of the detainees told Echo of Moscow that three paratroopers  from Kostroma had been killed in Ukraine. The parents of the soldiers have been assured that negotiations for the release of the detainees in Ukraine are being conducted at the highest level. However, they were forbidden to record any conversations with the military authorities, Echo of Moscow reports. According to RBC, the families of the soldiers thought their loved ones were on training missions. Apparently, the soldiers thought so themselves. Before leaving for the Rostov Oblast, they told their families their mission would last until winter and asked for warm clothing. As previously reported, Ukraine's  National Security Council has announced  the detention of Russian paratroopers in the Donbas and released video recordings of their interrogation. Russia explained that its elite units had simply gotten lost near the border. A number of Russian journalists have asked Russian authorities to clarify if Russia is at war with Ukraine and warned that the authorities will have to answer for the deaths of soldiers in the Donbas.

photo: Russian soldiers detained in Ukraine (Security Service of Ukraine) [hr] Pravda, translated by Anna Mostovych