‘Ready to Throw Anyone to Slaughter’ – Russia Sends Women to the Storm as Losses Mount Near Pokrovsk Atesh Says

Russia’s command is forming assault companies of women to offset heavy losses near Pokrovsk (Donetsk region), according to the Atesh partisan movement.

Atesh agents embedded in Russian forces report that the command of the 506th Motorized Rifle Regiment has begun recruiting women into assault units due to severe personnel losses.

“This shows that the occupiers have exhausted their pool of mercenaries and contract soldiers and are ready to throw anyone to the slaughter, turning women into cannon fodder,” the report on Telegram says.

Atesh adds that, beyond assault roles, women are used for infiltration missions. If an assault fails, they are ordered to change into civilian clothes and conduct reconnaissance, posing as locals.

“Our sources confirm that there is no way back for these women. Their lives depend solely on the ‘mercy’ of their commanders, which can be earned only one way. The Russian army has completely lost any moral compass,” the report continued.

The General Staff of Ukraine reported 120 combat clashes in the past 24 hours, with Russia most active in the vicinity of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces repelled 39 assaults near 13 settlements.

Recently, a Russian sabotage group infiltrated central Pokrovsk, killing several civilians before being eliminated by Ukrainian troops at a railway station. Despite ongoing shelling, civilians remain in the city, local officials said.

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The 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade released a video on Monday, Oct. 20, showing the elimination of two Russian women sent to storm Ukrainian positions. Kyiv Post could not independently verify the footage.

Trigger warning: Footage contains sensitive content.

“Russians throw women into the storm. The 110th together with our comrades from the 154th Motorized Rifle Brigade recorded and eliminated two female occupiers,” the post reads.

The soldiers were neutralized using drones. The location of the incident was not disclosed.

Similar incidents were reported in July and August, when Russian women were spotted storming positions near Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar.

Notably, as early as late May 2024, Russia released a group of women from prisons to participate in hostilities in Ukraine, The New York Times (NYT) reported in June 2024, citing former inmates who remain in contact with those still imprisoned.

According to their accounts, military recruiters took several women from a prison near St. Petersburg. However, it was unclear whether their release was an isolated incident, a pilot program, or the beginning of a broader recruitment campaign.

The report stated that recruiters began touring women’s prisons across the European part of Russia in the fall of 2023, offering inmates one-year contracts to serve as snipers, combat medics, and frontline radio operators.

The NYT reported that only about 40 of the colony’s 400 prisoners agreed at the time. They were promised a pardon and a salary of around $2,000 per month – roughly ten times the minimum wage in Russia.

Former prisoners said that many women chose to go to the front partly because of the harsh and inhumane conditions in Russian prisons.

In late 2024, then-spokesman for the Khortytsia operational-strategic grouping of troops, Nazar Voloshyn, confirmed that Russia was forming reserves to intensify combat operations in the Kurakhiv, Vremiv, and Pokrovsk vicinities, involving women who had previously served prison sentences in assault operations.