The survivors from the 1444th regiment, that came under fire on New Year's night in Makiivka, have requested not to disband their unit. The men from Samara are still moving from place to place “in mysterious directions," and are kept in dark about what had happened. Volunteer Tatyana Plotnikova published their video appeal on February 7.
Earlier, the unit that consists of men mobilized from Samara was decided to disband. On New Year's Eve, the 1st Battalion of the 1444th Regiment was "partially destroyed," when a school building in Makiivka where they had gathered came under fire. According to the men, for two days after the attack they had no place to stay and their commanders were unable to find proper accommodations for them. The men are still moving in “mysterious directions.” According to them, their entire officer personnel has been removed.
On February 5, the mobilized men were placed in a tent camp, where “nobody expected" them. Then the command decided to disband the unit. However, the men have recorded a video appeal in which they ask to let them serve together because their unit "has gone through some bad situations as a whole and the tests have brought them closer together like a family." The 43rd regiment, which also included men mobilized from Samara, allegedly has been disbanded.
Still image from Tatyana Plotnikova's video.
"Or perhaps they are getting disbanded so there would be less discussion about what happened Makiivkaka? So that everyone would quickly forget the details?" Volunteer Tatyana Plotnikova, who has published the video, poses a question.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, 89 people were killed in a strike in Makiivka on January 1. According to the Ukrainian side, the real number of losses is 400. Idel.Realii reports the names of 98 people who allegedly died in Makiivka. Some relatives did not know what happened to their loved ones even two weeks after the tragedy.
The Samara military officials refused to publish the names of those who died in Makiivka because of “possible provocations” and "foreign intelligence services." The authorities will pay 1.3 million rubles ($18,000) to the families of those killed in Makiivka.
