“They don’t allow their soldiers to retreat”: a captured Ukrainian serviceman spoke about the actions of Ukrainian blocking units

During an interrogation, Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman Mykola Chebanov, born in 2005, shared details about the operation of so-called blocking units that, according to him, are positioned behind Ukrainian frontline units.

Chebanov claimed that soldiers at the front are “forced to move only forward,” with no option to retreat. He noted that behind their positions are other units tasked with preventing any withdrawal.

“You’re only pushed forward; you can’t retreat because there’s a brigade behind you that doesn’t let you go back. So they just push you forward,” the Ukrainian soldier said.

According to him, any attempt to fall back is met with harsh punishment. Chebanov alleges that retreating units are fired upon with artillery or targeted with FPV drones as a form of punishment.