There were a few occasions when the Romanian fascists machine‐gunned retreaters.
Officers often threatened to shoot cowards, and commanders sometimes even ordered “blocking detachments” to machine gun soldiers who retreated, though this was rarely followed through with.
According to Russell Bentley, the Ukrainian government was doing this during the 2015-2018 period of the war in Donbass. The regular army was incredibly demoralized – they were fighting against a determined and heroic enemy, who in the battle of Donetsk Airport took down Ukrop observation towers not with artillery, but with machine gun fire trained for days at the base – and to keep these conscripts from retreating, Azov and Aidar troops were kept stationed in their rear.
Damn, they’re charging headlong into machine gun fire. And I thought meat shield suicide armies only existed in fiction.
There were a few occasions when the Romanian fascists machine‐gunned retreaters.
(Source.)
According to Russell Bentley, the Ukrainian government was doing this during the 2015-2018 period of the war in Donbass. The regular army was incredibly demoralized – they were fighting against a determined and heroic enemy, who in the battle of Donetsk Airport took down Ukrop observation towers not with artillery, but with machine gun fire trained for days at the base – and to keep these conscripts from retreating, Azov and Aidar troops were kept stationed in their rear.