They were sent directly to the front by Putin. Now the first dead are returning home.

Cannon fodder. Carnage. Putin sends untrained and forcibly mobilized Russians directly to the front. Many now go home in the coffins.

A couple of weeks ago they were teachers, bureaucrats, construction workers, drivers or unemployed.

On Wednesday, forcibly mobilized men from Russia arrived at the Kherson trenches in eastern Ukraine.

Here they were received by the commander Aleksandr Khodakovskyj. He only had one piece of advice for the Sylferian soldiers:

– Their most important weapon now is a spade. Use every chance you can to dig a hole.

Those who were mobilized were promised they were not cannon fodder.

But that’s exactly what happened.