These people are ready for anything. It said that the troops lacked support, while personnel in advanced positions didn't have water. Did you encounter any technical issues? Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, Quote from the General Staff: "Troops from the so-called volunteer Cossack Detachment, attached to the 155th Marine Brigade of the Russian Pacific Fleet, are refusing to continue to take part in offensive operations due to the failure of the offensive and significant personnel losses near Vuhledar.". Another soldier from the 205th Brigade also said commanders gave no preparation to soldiers before the war, and when the units deployed, they were told they were going on exercises. Independent Russian media have also been reporting hundreds of cases of soldiers refusing repeat deployments to Ukraine since the beginning of April. A stamp that was purportedly placed in the military-service booklet of one soldier who refused to serve in Ukraine. "He said the [Russian] soldiers had been given no cover; there was no intelligence gathering; no preparation. ET. For that they sent my son to a detention centre. I told him: 'Better to take it. They made him lie on the ground and told him to count to ten. Just refuse," Sergei recalls telling Stas, who was already an army officer. Human rights activist Sergei Krivenko says he is not aware of any prosecutions of those refusing to return to the front. Soldiers like Sergey - reluctant to return to the front line - are not unusual, according to Ruslan Leviev, the editor of Conflict Intelligence Team, a media project investigating the experiences of the Russian military in Ukraine through confidential interviews and open source material. RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, When disinfo specialists lie, Gray Ladys DeSantis frustration and other commentary, Putins former spin doctor-turned-critic dead, Ukraines northeastern front could decide new battle lines, Biden needs to step up military aid for Ukraine fast. I have served for five years in the army. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. The soldier's testimony said war-weary soldiers were urged by superiors to return to the fight. Lee said one option for the Kremlin would be to authorise the deployment of conscript units to Ukraine, despite Putins earlier pledges that Russia would not use any conscripts in the war. Belarus allowed Russia to stage part of the invasion from its . "I had thought that we were the Russian army, the most super-duper in the world," says the young man bitterly. .. Advertisement .. Russian Soldier Brutally Thrashed For Refusing To Fight In Ukraine War: Report, Arrested AAP Ministers Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain Quit Delhi Cabinet, Nithyananda's 'Republic Of Kailasa' At UN Meet. The whole time, not a single document was provided that would explain our arrest. An investigation by the BBCs Russian service showed that Russias defence ministry filled employment websites with vacancies, offering people with no combat experience opportunities to join the army on lucrative short-term contracts. Russian soldier Ilya Kaminsky says rank-and-file troops have "absolutely no trust . Hundreds were discharged after refusing to take part in the invasion, the Guardian previously reported. Russian forces were driven out of much of the northeastern Kharkiv region in early September by a Ukrainian counter-offensive that allowed Kyiv to retake thousands of square kilometres of territory. Nearly five months into the largest war in Europe since World War II, a growing number of Russian soldiers like Kaminsky are refusing to fight, demanding to return home, or outright not going to Ukraine in the first place. As Russia's forces run out of food and fuel, some h My contract ends in June. Russian troops release video as they say they will not fight. The Insider. The arrests of the soldiers, whose . 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He bombarded military officials, prosecutors and investigators with appeals for help. The airline carrier Wizz Air has announced it will . Without a formal . Troops from the Russian so-called Cossack Detachment are refusing to take part in offensive operations due to Russian forces heavy losses near Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast. My son told me, 'I never thought my own country would treat me this way.' He gets it now. Paratroopers from the 11th Separate Air Assault Brigade, based outside Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Buryatia region in eastern Siberia, arrived in Ukraines Kherson region on February 24, shortly after Russias invasion began. Their identities have been protected by the BBC. Why Russian Soldiers Are Refusing To Fight In The War On Ukraine. The way my son was treated wasn't only illegal, it was inhuman.". Russian soldier Ilya Kaminsky says rank-and-file troops have "absolutely no trust" in their higher command. In Kononov's case, court documents say that he pleaded guilty to evading military service and that he testified he wanted to take a temporary break from fighting in Ukraine. R ussian troops have destroyed a concrete dam built in Ukraine's Kherson Region in 2014 to cut off water to Crimea, the RIA news agency quoted the governor of Russian-annexed Crimea Sergei . The soldier said he broke his contract and resigned from the brigade before the February 24 invasion, once he realized it was in fact going forward. He is now home in Russia, having taken legal advice to avoid being sent back to the front line. Born in Russia, he graduated from St. Petersburg State University and also received film and video production training at Bard College in New York. The soldier, "not wanting to take part in a . For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports on the conflictin Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin touts success, yet some ofhis soldiers refuse to fight. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! A Russian court has sentenced a 24-year-old professional soldier to five years in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine, officials said Thursday. It's not a war of liberation'," the man told the BBC. "So many people don't . Many of us simply did not want to go back, said Dmitri, a member of the unit who asked not to be identified with his real name. Now, at least four want their superiors punished for the seemingly illegal arrests, according to the newspaper. They said no remains had been found. Honestly, we had to supply ourselves with food. "We're on the same wavelength now," Sergei tells me. DeSantis won't say he's running. But after a certain adaptation period, our men fight brilliantly.". 'I Had To Refuse So I Could Stay Alive' He says his convoy - travelling through northern Ukraine - broke up after just four days when a bridge they were about to cross exploded, killing comrades ahead of them. He heard of Russian servicemen so inexperienced that they "did not know how to shoot and couldn't tell one end of a mortar from another". Benyash said "hundreds and hundreds" of soldiers had been in touch with his team for advice on how they could avoid being sent to fight. Sergei (not his real name) says his son was beaten with a pistol for refusing to go back to the frontlines, There are reports of mobilised Russian troops locked in cellars and basements for refusing to fight in Ukraine, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. If no ones willing to take the offers from the brigade commanders, I wont detain you. They made him lie on the ground and told him to count to ten. Russian troops release video as they say they will not fight. It is, first of all, a classic example of military aggression; it is a war without a just cause. What is being given to Ukraine by the UK? In another incident where Russian soldiers have been accused of refusing to fight in Ukraine, the country's Operational Command South said Sunday in a Facebook post that a Russian military unit deployed in the south would not fight because of a lack of vital supplies such as water. 2d ago. The prisoners at the penal colony in St. Petersburg were expecting a visit by officials, thinking it would be some sort of inspection. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Emilio Morenatti. More than 550,000 soldiers from Putin's failing army have been killed or injured so badly in Ukraine that they are no longer able to fight, according to Minusrus. "In these months [of compulsory military service] that I have left, anything - including the worst - could happen. By Robert Coalson. But, after a few months, he made the decision to sign a two-year professional contract which would also give him a salary. Among them were 12 national guardsmen from Russias southern city of Krasnodar who were fired after refusing to go to Ukraine. They'd been ordered to advance, but no one knew what lay ahead. Andrei, a Russian lieutenant, stopped fighting. Separately, a military tribunal said it sentenced Kandarov to five years behind bars for evading military service during mobilisation for more than a month. Conscripts could fill some of the gaps, but they will be poorly trained. A similar account to Dmitris was given to the BBCs Russian service by Sergey Bokov, a 23-year-old soldier who at the end of April decided to leave the army after fighting in Ukraine. Russian troops sabotaging their own equipment and refusing orders in Ukraine, UK spy chief says Published Thu, Mar 31 2022 7:30 AM EDT Updated Thu, Mar 31 2022 4:40 PM EDT Chloe Taylor @ChloeTaylor141 Sergey joined the army as a conscript - most Russian men between the ages of 18-27 must complete one year of compulsory military service. He had helped oversee fighting in eastern Ukraine. And that, unfortunately, life would prove that.". Some Russian troops are refusing to return to fight in Ukraine because of their experiences on the front line at the start of the invasion, according to Russian human rights lawyers and activists. The soldier, not wanting to take part in a special military operation, did not report for duty in May 2022, said the press service on Thursday for courts in the region of Bashkortostan in the southern Urals. Kononov said he stopped showing up at his unit and, instead, spent time with his friend at his home. More than 26,000 Russian military personnel have been killed in . A Russian soldier was sentenced in July for refusing to fight in the Ukraine war. The latest as of 7.15 a.m. In July, the father of a Russian soldier told The Insider that troops were being detained or moved to a detention center in the occupied Luhansk region if they attempted to leave their posts. I have nothing to be ashamed of. As Russia has faced a surprisingly effective resistance from Ukraine, there have been reports of low soldier morale and chaos among the commanding ranks. 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"They are keeping people there because they wanted to leave, refused to fight," the father alleged. According to Kaminsky, the pressure ended up working in part: As of July 16, 50 of the 78 soldiers who had demanded to return to their home base had relented. The soldier, along with several others who decided not to take part in the fight anymore, put his refusal in writing. As casualties have mounted, so have Ukrainian officials' efforts to appeal directly to the Russian people, saying they are being lied to about a war Moscow still calls a "special operation . Members of Wagner told the captive soldiers that mines surrounded the military base where they were being held and threatened to shoot anyone trying to escape, the soldier wrote. By early July, Kaminsky said, he'd had enough: He refused to fight, one of 78 soldiers from his brigade who have refused orders. 27-year-old Chinese man struggles to find job because he l King Charles to evict Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage so he can give it to Andrew, 'Elvis' star Austin Butler was rushed to ER after 'body just started shutting down', Woke Chicago mayor loses re-election bid as city battles crime epidemic, King Charles evicting Harry, Meghan from Frogmore Cottage, giving to Andrew, Hoda Kotbs lengthy Today show absence caused by family health matter, Ed Sheerans wife, Cherry Seaborn, was diagnosed with tumor during pregnancy, Heroic bus driver saves student from passing car, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of Today After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry have first night out since bombshell 'Spare' released. Sergey's complaints about lack of equipment have also emerged in phone conversations alleged to be between Russian soldiers and their families, intercepted and posted online by the Ukrainian security services. Almost immediately his unit found itself under attack. In all, 78 soldiers including Kaminsky openly challenged his orders, and demanded to be either sent home or reassigned, he said. The code has been copied to your clipboard. Initially he "believed it was right" despite his dad trying to convince him not to go to war, the BBC report said. "The wall of misunderstanding between us has gone. The soldier is in the unit, hes not running away anywhere. Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine. Separately, a military tribunal in Moscow sentenced a soldier to five years and six months in a penal colony for beating an officer during an argument, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday. There was no basic hygiene, the soldier said in the testimony, according to the Guardian. Also, according to Dmytrashkivskyi, the 136th Brigade, which was formed for the war in Chechnya, has arrived in the Vuhledar area. That's what people who have come from there say.". Refusal then would mean much harsher penalties. The man narrated the ordeal his son suffered to the BBC, saying that he had begged his son not to go. We didnt have normal munitions, no flak jackets or helmets. Sergey was told that returning to the unit was important because simply leaving could be interpreted as desertion, which can result in a two-year sentence in a disciplinary battalion. It doesn't make sense. Ukraine's leader pledged Friday to push for victory in 2023 as he and other Ukrainians marked the somber anniversary of the Russian invasion that upended their lives and Europe's security. But significant damage has been done to that army, which has confronted logistical problems, poor morale and an underestimated Ukrainian resistance. Poland sent the German-made tanks to help Ukraine repel Russian troops and send a "clear and measurable signal of further support", said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who was visiting Kyiv . Then I started getting messages from him asking what would happen if he refused to fight.". ", Stas was a serving officer when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. Jan 27, 2023. Instead, men in uniform arrived and offered them amnesty if they agreed to fight alongside the Russian army in . Some Russian troops are refusing to return to fight in Ukraine because of their experiences on the front line at the start of the invasion, according to Russian human rights lawyers and activists. He said he would put his refusal in writing. He refused. Some Russian soldiers and even whole units are "refusing to fight" in Ukraine, top UK security officials reported today. "The commanders' aim is to keep the soldiers down there. Russian resistance is growing against Putin's war. The world mourned a year of death and conflict this week as Friday February 24 marked the first anniversary of Vladimir Putin's order for his aggressive Russian Armed Forces to invade Ukraine.. I didnt think I would quit, but it happened because of my wifes difficult pregnancy, when I asked for a delay until after she gave birth, a third soldier told Current Time in a VK message. In July, for example, 17 Russian soldiers were reportedly detained in the country's eastern Luhansk region after they said they would not continue fighting in the war and tried to end their short-term contracts. appreciated. One consequence of the Kremlin refusing to declare war on Kyiv - the regime insists that its invasion is a "special military operation", a distinct legal status - is that its options for forcing servicemen to the front are more limited. My daughter was born three months ago. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has supported its eastern neighbour in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.Before the start of the offensive, Belarus allowed the Russian Armed Forces to perform weeks-long military drills on its territory; however, the Russian troops did not exit the country after they were supposed to finish. They just don't care. ET Saturday: A curfew in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has been extended from 5 pm until 8 am every day At least 198 Ukrainians, including three children, have been . By The Associated Press August 11, 2022. Ukrainian . July 19, 2022. He and several others who'd decided to refuse had their guns taken off them and were put under armed guard.". A Russian soldier has been sentenced for refusing to fight in the war in Ukraine. Images by Anton Chicherov. But you have until 6 p.m. today. Although Sergey does not want to return to the front line, he does want to complete his outstanding military service in Russia to avoid any unforeseen consequences. "Inclined toward treason, lies . The Ukrainian military on Friday reported significant fighting near Ivankiv, about 40 miles north west of Kyiv, as Russian forces apparently tried to advance on the capital from the north. A senior US defense official said Russian volunteers are refusing to go into . Some Russian troops are refusing to return to fight in Ukraine because of their experiences on the front line at the start of the invasion, according to Russian human rights lawyers and activists. If a soldier acts according to such procedures, then he cannot be criminally prosecuted for this. VLADIMIR Putin's demoralised and disillusioned troops are fleeing the war in Ukraine and surrendering without a fight, reports claim. ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 27, 2023 / 13:45 pm (CNA). If I dont get the compensation that I am entitled to soon, I will go public and make a major issue of it., Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Hundreds of Russian soldiers have refused to fight or fled their posts since the war in Ukraine began, according to report published Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal. We've changed them to protect their identities. Some Russian troops are refusing to return to fight in Ukraine because of their experiences on the front line at the start of the invasion, according to Russian human rights lawyers and activists. A lawyer told Sergey and two like-minded colleagues to return their arms and go back to their unit's headquarters - where they should file a letter explaining that they were "morally and psychologically exhausted" and could not continue fighting in Ukraine. During wartime, rules are totally different. There are no legal grounds to start a criminal case if a soldier refuses to fight while on Russian territory.. War-weary Russian soldiers have been thrown in jail by their commanders after they refused to fight in Ukraine over the invasions total disregard for human life, a new report claims. Sergei has invited us to his home to tell us their story. I'm shocked by our army. "Then they took him into a room and told him: 'You're coming with us, otherwise we'll kill you.' 2023 BBC. A Russian soldier who refused to continue fighting in Ukraine, he was beaten until his face was . "Later I was told that the building they were in had been shelled and that all five men were missing. Russian paratroopers. Deployed to Ukraine in July, Andrei was placed in detention for refusing to carry out orders. This story has been shared 102,045 times. Reports of Russian soldiers refusing to fight in Ukraine are also mounting. One commander in northern Russia requested a criminal case be brought against his subordinate who would not return to Ukraine, but a military prosecutor refused to proceed, according to documents seen by the BBC. A video showing two Russian soldiers being arrested after they refused to follow orders to fight in Ukraine has circulated on social media platform Telegram. But the soldier later discussed with his father what would happen if he refused to fight. Putin's army continues its full-scale aggression in Ukraine. That is not to say that prosecutions are not being attempted. Homesick. They were continually shelled, he says, both when moving and when parked overnight. Sergei made several trips to the front line to try to secure his son's release. 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