A group of Ukrainian soldiers took to social media to say they were forced to drink their own urine due to Kiev’s failure to rotate or provide them with supplies. The soldiers urged Ukraine’s recently appointed top general, Mikhail Drapaty, to intervene, claiming their immediate command ignored their pleas.

The scandal erupted on Tuesday when the soldiers, claiming to be a fire support platoon with the 121st Territorial Defense Brigade, published their address on social media. The video features several men sitting inside a dark room, likely a basement, with the platoon commander, who identified himself as Anatoly Sischuk, reading out the address.

Sischuk claimed that his platoon was in one position in Zaporozhye Region, Russia for nearly four months, despite their command initially promising the unit that they would be there for four weeks. The soldiers replaced another unit, which was stationed for around eight months, he said.

The position turned out to be largely destroyed despite the command’s claims that the location had entrenchments, dugouts, and reserve positions ready. Apart from this, the platoon experienced severe supply shortages, with provisions delivered by drones in three to seven day intervals on average. The longest period without supply drops was 12 days, and the food was often rotten or spoiled and in insufficient amounts, according to Sischuk. The scarce supplies pushed the unit to take extreme measures, including drinking their own urine to survive, he said.

The 121st Brigade’s command was quick to respond to the allegations, insisting that the address of the soldiers “did not reflect all the circumstances.”

The command is seeking to replace the platoon with a new unit as soon as “an opportunity arises to perform the rotation safely,” it said in a statement.

The brigade also disputed the claims about scarce supplies, insisting that the unit received 27 nine-kilogram packages of provisions and medical supplies in a single month. It blamed any issues on weather conditions and the Russian military. 

Drapaty – who was appointed to his role last month amid mass protests demanding the firing of his predecessor, Aleksandr Syrsky – has yet to respond to the platoon’s address. Syrsky became highly unpopular during the conflict with Russia. Critics accused him of gross disregard of soldiers’ lives and mass casualties sustained in assaults launched solely to appease the political leadership.