In mid-July, a video of a soldier from the “Storm” detachment of former prisoners went viral on social networks. In the footage, the man, with tears in his eyes, talks about the results of yet another assault: according to him, only 30 people out of 46 returned alive from this combat mission.

ASTRA verified his identity – man in the video is Yevgeny Zarubin from Kursk. In a conversation with ASTRA, he confirmed that he recorded this video and said that he had previously served in the Wagner PMC, and now trains and leads former prisoners in assaults.

“Dear ones, relatives, who is in touch, who asked about their fighters, their husbands, fathers, sons. 138th brigade, “Storm” detachment. Not all of us made it out. Out of 46, I got 30 people out. Many brothers fell. 200s, 300s [meaning dead and wounded]. I myself – 300. Forgive me, forgive those I did not save. Not all of us have made it out yet. I’m dragging out more people,” Zarubin says in the video.

At the time of publication of this article, dozens of messages about the search for soldiers missing after the assault on Volchansk continue to appear in Telegram chats of relatives of soldiers from the 138th brigade.