Commentary by Russian military journalist in italics.
According to the Russian ministry of defense, this narrative was taken from the Facebook page of purported Ukrainian volunteer Sergiy Gnezdilov.
Ukrainian military journalist Yuri Butusov confirms the story.
[ColonelCassad] The realities of the battles for the village of Peski. View from the Ukrainian side of Peski.
What to lose, what else can be taken from me on the sixth day of my personal hell, in Peski, a kilometer from the first street of Ukrainian Donetsk? The bodies of those who were dearer to me than relatives are lying under the heat in trenches cut with 152mm caliber. As I wrote earlier, 6,500 shells per fucking village in less than a day.
There have been six days of such attacks, and it doesn’t fit in my head how at least some of our infantry remains alive in this flurry of fire.
No, I don't whine.
Two mortars 82mm and 120mm are working from our side.
Sometimes he wakes up and “sneezes” two artillery barrels towards Donetsk.
We hardly answer. There is no counterbattery fire, from the word at all, the enemy, without any problems for himself, puts an artillery shell in our trenches, dismantles very strong, concrete positions in tens of minutes, pushing through our defense line without a pause and minimal rest.
The day before yesterday, it broke down, and dead/wounded poured in. I do not publish any statistics, it is prohibited in our country, but you can’t even imagine the number and percentage of losses.
This is a hell of a meat grinder, where the battalion simply holds back the invasion with their bodies.
For almost a week we have been waiting for at least some help that would hit the enemy artillery, we, I repeat, are being burned with impunity with everything that the Russian military system is rich in, aviation was working today.
I am proud of the leadership of the battalion, which remains here with us. The battalion commander is with us, everyone is with us, shell-shocked, light wounded, having bandaged, they return to their positions in a couple of hours, if you can call these bottomless funnels that way.
There is a war going on.
But without a counterbattery fight, it turns into a senseless meat grinder, where a frantic amount of our infantry is ground in a day.
Are you sure you want the truth? Here it is, the naked truth.
The reserve goes to the position, close the breakthrough with itself, and after five minutes out of 15 people only one remains intact.
The bodies are lying. If it's a lightly wounded, maybe you'll be lucky, you'll stumble, and you'll go out on foot, you'll get there.
They took only wounded. He shouted all the way: - Where is the support? Where is the artillery? Why were we abandoned? Why didn't anyone cover us?
I don’t know, my friend, why no one covered us ... he screams, And I’m ashamed that I’m still safe and sound, only a couple of times I got pretty deaf.
Vomited, pissed off, sorry, and back in the ranks.
All reserves will disperse, military equipment is on fire, the enemy approaches and takes our positions without any problems after another barrage of artillery.
Right now we are losing the Peski, all our human and material possibilities are almost exhausted.
Denis, a resident of Mariupol, who told me, "Well, I believe Arestovich, we will return everything back very soon" is dead. He was wounded twice, they bandaged him right in the trench, they told him, Denchik, go to the evacuation, but he answered, "Guys, I won't leave you."
Arestovich is a Ukrainian video blogger, and former Ukrainian military.
And he was wounded for the first time, and after the second wound he continued to shoot back.
We haven't recovered his body yet. On the ruins of the Peski, he lies with his arms outstretched, and his gaze is fixed. He asks for revenge. How can I refuse his latest request? How can we all leave Dan?
I believe that Dimka survived after all. Because he couldn't die, having recently returned from the hospital, just proposed to his girlfriend. They say that after one of the parishes, he simply disappeared. Covered with earth. But, I believe that this is a mistake and he is alive. Foolish hope and expectation.
I know my state doesn't like thinking out loud. But, I was not left with a choice among victory rage and arrest. The truth should sound, not whispered conversations in the kitchen. Of course, for this message will fly separately, because how; So, is the state really lying to its own citizens?
I won’t be surprised if someone says today: “Kremlin agent Sirozha blabbed about the ingenious plan of the winner on the Donetsk front. We’ll hang him on Myrotvorets.”
I've been trying to say that everything is under control. Now in Peski everything is not fucking under control, but for some reason the situation is hushed up.
Ring the broken bells while we cover Peski with bodies.
From the translation of Butusov's account, the ending:
We need artillery.
Give us something here to hold on to.