How did they get encircled?

They spent more than a week near Ilovaisk. Despite expecting to serve at checkpoints in Mariupol, the soldiers say they were sent, for unclear reasons, to where the fighting was most intense. The Kherson special police battalion is now back home. Unfortunately, some of its members are not. Of the 50 volunteers, 3 were killed, 6 wounded are now in hospitals, and 3 more soldiers are missing. The rest have returned to Kherson, their native region.

They were warmly greeted by residents of the region’s capital city. Over  500 people gathered in Svobody Square to greet the countrymen on their return. They long waited for the buses carrying the lads and showered them with hugs, flowers, sweets, and complimentary shouts as soon as they left the vehicles.

“We heard nothing from them for five days, while the lads who were fighting nearby said that they were being bombed. We were very concerned about their fate. When we saw in the news that many guys were calling home and saying they were going to return, we became even more agitated. We were in a cafe when he called and said they were on the way. I cried with joy and a female bartender who had understood the gist of our conversation joined me in it,” Aliona Pavlova said, whose brothers Oleksii and Serhii are both with the battalion.

According to deputy head of the Kherson Regional State Administration Dmytro Ilchenko, the key question which the administration will bring up with military leadership is clarification of the circumstances under which the battalion, not intended for frontline service, got encircled near Ilovaisk. “We will clearly define the legal status and basing of the battalion Kherson, to prevent them being ever sent to the anti-terrorist operation area as they were this time. We believe that they should continue to serve in Kherson region, for they were trained for protection of public order in the liberated cities,” Ilchenko commented.

The soldiers themselves were moved by the crowded homecoming. Some did not hide the tears. It was noticeable that recent events had strongly united them. They say they are ready to go into battle again, but demand proper weapons for it.

“We arrived in Mariupol and then got to Ilovaisk. We arrived together with the battalions Donbas and Dnipro. Early on, we defended the city with some success, but then the enemy started to shower us with mortars, forcing us to take cover, and volleys of Grad rockets started hitting us. We realized that the Russians had encircled us, and when we were leaving the city via a ‘green corridor,’ Russian military took well-aimed shots at us, and a lot of guys did not come out alive. Russian soldiers were there waiting for us,” the Kherson’s Yehor Nevtis commented for The Day. “Of course, we are very glad to be back home and grateful for the great homecoming event we saw. We do not know what is next for us, as there have been no new orders so far. Personally, I do not refuse to stay in service, but I would rather not fight tanks with assault rifles. The enemy has powerful modern weapons, so we have to respond in kind.”