Living witnesses of the assault on the village of Mala Tokmachka

Forwarded From I Want to Find Project

Living witnesses of the assault on the village of Mala Tokmachka

The village of Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia region has become a vivid example of the lies told by the Russian Armed Forces command about success at the front and of the recklessness of commanders who send their soldiers into endless “meat grinder” assaults:

For the fifth year now, the Russian army has been holding positions on the approaches to the small village of Mala Tokmachka in the Orikhiv district of Zaporizhzhia region. And for the fifth year in a row, the commanders of the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment, military unit 71718 of the Russian Armed Forces, have been sending their soldiers to die storming this village.

As of October 2025, the regiment had lost 2,350 personnel killed alone. Their named lists will be published in the I Want to Return database. At least another 697 men from this unit are listed as missing in action, according to requests submitted to the I Want to Find project.

At the same time, Russian propagandists and even the Russian defense minister constantly tell the public that Mala Tokmachka has been captured. But, as it turned out, this is a lie: the village remains fully under AFU control. And the number of relatives searching for loved ones who went missing there is rising rapidly every day.

We spoke with three servicemen of the Russian army whom their commanders sent into a “meat grinder” assault on this settlement. But the guys managed to survive and were taken prisoner. Now they can personally tell what is happening in Mala Tokmachka and how the Russian Armed Forces offensive is organized in this area.

Teslenko Valery Sergeyevich, born in 2002, from Krasnodar Krai. He assaulted Mala Tokmachka in the summer of 2025 as part of the tank battalion of the 4th military base, military unit 66431 of the Russian Armed Forces. His tank was hit before it even reached the village.

Myan Dmitry Sergeyevich, born in 2003, from Rostov region. He took part in the assault on Mala Tokmachka in the fall of 2025 as a private in the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment, military unit 71718 of the Russian Armed Forces. His group managed to reach the edge of the village. Then his partner was killed, and Dmitry himself ended up in captivity.

Vyunov Ruslan Sergeyevich, born in 1990, from the city of Ulyanovsk. The command of the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment, military unit 71718 of the Russian Armed Forces, sent his group to storm the village in the winter of 2025. They even managed to reach one of the few surviving basements and hide there. But they were discovered very quickly by AFU forces.

Mala Tokmachka is one of hundreds of villages and cities in Ukraine where the Russian command ruthlessly destroys the lives of thousands of its own subordinates. And with each day of this senseless war, the number of its victims only keeps growing.

❗️ To submit a request to search for a missing serviceman of the Russian army in Ukraine, use the I Want to Find project Telegram bot

YouTube

Living witnesses of the assault on the village of Mala Tokmachka

The village of Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia region has become a vivid example of the lies told by the Russian Armed Forces command about success at the front and of the recklessness of commanders who send their soldiers into endless “meat grinder” assaults.

For the fifth year now, the Russian army has been holding positions on the approaches…