RUSSIA RECRUITING ‘SUICIDE BATTALION’

Mine-riddled sea off limits at sun-kissed Ukraine beach Ragtag group of reservists sent on ‘one-way mission’

RUSSIA is sending a ragtag “suicide battalion” of former police, sailors, reservists and volunteers into the bloody Ukraine invasion.

The hastily recruited mob replaces a section of Moscow’s invasion force almost entirely massacred early in the war.

Out of 648 troops from the 200th Motorised Rifle Brigade, 645 were killed.

Just three men returned home, two wounded, from the bungled operation.

It is believed the recruits have been lured with short-term contracts.

One western source told the Daily Mirror: “This is more like a suicide battalion. They are likely to be sent into the grinding battle in the east.”

Ukrainian military officials believe some 36,000 Russian troops have died in the war since it began on February 24, leaving Moscow desperate.

Bruce Jones, an expert on Russia’s military, said: “For many volunteering this will amount to a one-way ticket, a suicide mission. And the recruiters know this.

“The groupings are composed of those who are desperate for cash or irrationally patriotic. They are seen as barely suitable, inadequately trained and poorly equipped.”

The move comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his hollow congratulations to troops after they took the city of Lysychansk. It marks Moscow’s domination of the Luhansk territory and leaves just Donetsk as the remaining city of the Donbas region that Russia is eyeing.

But one adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed: “This is their last victory on Ukrainian territory.”

Neil Melvin, of the UK RUSI think-tank, said: “It’s a tactical victory for Russia but an enormous cost. It’s likely that we’ll see momentum swing to Ukraine.”

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the first group of up to 10,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK to join a basic soldier training course.

He revealed it includes “weapons training, first aid, fieldcraft, patrol tactics and training on the law of armed conflict”.

DANGER ZONE A couple soak up the rays next to net and, right, a woman gazes out to sea SUNSEEKERS relax on a beach in war-torn Ukraine beside nets erected to protect them from Russian mines. Authorities have blocked access to the Black Sea and posted warning signs at Odesa’s Great Fountain seaside area. ALERT Signs on post warn of mines risk

BLAST Russian vehicle in flames