Russian soldiers say leaders threw them into 'incomprehensible battle' where they lost 300 men and half their equipment

• Russian soldiers say hundreds of men died in "incomprehensible battle" in eastern Ukraine.
• In a letter to a regional governor, survivors blamed military leaders who were hiding casualties figures.
• Russia's defense ministry has acknowledged losses, but downplayed their extent.

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Russian soldiers said they were sent into an "incomprehensible battle," describing a Ukrainian attack that left hundreds of their fellow fighters dead, wounded or missing.

The Russian Telegram channel Grey Zone published what it said was an open letter from members of the 155th marine brigade of Russia's Pacific Fleet, Reuters reported.

It was addressed to the governor of the far eastern Primorye region.

"As a result of the 'carefully' planned offensive by the 'great commanders' we lost about 300 men, dead and wounded, with some MIA over the past 4 days," the letter said, according to CNN's translation.

"We lost 50% of our equipment. That's our brigade alone," it added. 

The letter also accused Russian officials of "hiding these facts and skewing the official casualty statistics for fear of being held accountable."

Ukraine's attack took place near Makiivka, in the eastern Luhansk region, on November 2, according to Russian news outlet Verstka.

Russian reservist Aleksei Agafonov told The Guardian that 440 of the 570 mobilized draftees in his unit were killed.

"I saw men being ripped apart in front of me, most of our unit is gone, destroyed. It was hell," he said.

A second soldier told The Guardian that "hundreds" of Russian reservists had died in the battle. "We were completely exposed, we had no idea what to do. Hundreds of us died."

Accusations of heavy Russian losses prompted a rare response from Moscow.

Russia's defense ministry commented Monday on Russian losses after the letter was shared, saying that deaths had not exceeded 1% of combat strength, and that no more than 7% of troops had been wounded, Russian media reported.

The Washington Post noted that it was the first time Russia's defense ministry had responded to reports of heavy casualties since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February.

Oleg Kozhemyako, the Primorye region governor the letter was addressed to, said in a video statement on his Telegram channel that there were losses, but not as many as the letter said, according to Reuters.

"Yes there are losses, there's heavy fighting, but they are far from what is written in this appeal," he said.

That statement came after he had earlier dismissed the letter as fake, The Washington Post reported.