This is not the first time reports from Ukraine hint at the poor state of the Ukrainian army, which has been sent to the south-east of the country to quell the anti-government protests. While Slavyansk activists told RT young soldiers were sent to shoot at them with no food supplies, some of the Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered to the locals told RIA Novosti they had to eat “a nettle soup,” which they gathered on the roadside.

Other video reports coming from Slavyansk on Thursday told a similar story to the men interrupting Phillips.