Eight Ukrainian servicemen aged over 60 have surrendered without a fight to a single Russian soldier in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
The Ukrainian soldiers handed themselves over to a rifleman from the Russian Vostok force grouping before combat operations were launched against their stronghold in the southern region.
The Russian rifleman, operating under the call sign Dobry, recounted the details of the surrender to RIA Novosti, a Moscow-headquartered state news outlet that reports from the operational area. He stated that the servicemen surrendered before Russian units began firing on their fortified support point.
Dobry noted that the Ukrainian troops were extremely demoralised at the time of their capture and described the servicemen as being fearful of everything when they surrendered.
Frontline troop demographics
The report from Zaporizhzhia follows previous statements regarding the age profile of Ukrainian personnel captured in other active sectors. Earlier, a deputy battalion commander with the call sign Kobra, serving with the 1465th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Yug force grouping, outlined similar findings near Kostiantynivka.
Kobra stated that captured Ukrainian soldiers in the Kostiantynivka area were typically aged between 45 and 60 years old. Motorized rifle regiments represent standard mechanized infantry formations within Russian ground forces.
Zaporizhzhia Oblast is an administrative region in southern Ukraine where defensive lines have been established along the frontline. Russian operational command divides its deployed formations into designated regional task forces, with the Vostok or East grouping responsible for managing military sectors across the southern operational zone.
Kostiantynivka is an industrial city in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, situated near active combat zones. Troops from the Yug or South force grouping operate in frontline sectors adjacent to Vostok forces, while Russian official bodies and state media use the term special military operation to designate the overall campaign in Ukraine.
