", "We do not have any problems with soldiers leaving combat positions," the Kremlin leader continued. Russian soldiers are increasingly dying from accidental friendly fire . Just refuse," Sergei recalls telling Stas, who was already an army officer. The Institute for the Study of War said on 14 February that the deployment of conscripted servicemen by Russian troops is unlikely to create sufficient offensive potential for a large-scale and rapid mechanised offensive. Emilio Morenatti. ", "My first thoughts were 'Is this really happening to me?'". I told him that he was a zombie. We arent officially in a state of war, so they could not force me to go.. I still havent seen her. A month later - 24 February, the day Russia launched its invasion - he was told to cross the border. What's he waiting for? There are reports of mobilised Russian troops locked in cellars and basements for refusing to fight in Ukraine. The beach, just north of Odessa in southern Ukraine, was defended with mines and anti-tank hedgehogs. The arrests of the soldiers, whose . He believes his commanders had planned to capture strongholds and key cities very quickly - and had calculated that the Ukrainians would simply surrender. Russias troops in Ukraine are largely made up of contract soldiers: volunteer personnel who sign fixed-term contracts for service. He revealed to his father what had happened to him in detention: how a "different group" of Russian soldiers had tried to force him to fight. .. 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. Some Russian soldiers and even whole units are "refusing to fight" in Ukraine, top UK security officials reported today. The private then pushed the officer in the chest. "Then they took him into a room and told him: 'You're coming with us, otherwise we'll kill you.' I'm shocked by our army. Kaminsky said discontent had been building in the unit for weeks, if not months. Brigade commanders ask who wants to guard the second gunners unit. The airline carrier Wizz Air has announced it will . Daughter of Putin ally dies when . I didn't look back.". 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. Second, the conduct of the war by Russian forces violates the most . "Inclined toward treason, lies . Anyone? In his unit of 50 people, 10 were killed and 10 others wounded. Albert Sakhibgareev was sent near the Ukrainian border in early February for "training exercises," the . After that, I wont look at any new offers.. I signed a contract. A Russian court sentenced Marsel Kandarov to five years in prison for refusing to take part in the special military operation. A stamp that was purportedly placed in the military-service booklet of one soldier who refused to serve in Ukraine. The official warned that the next phase of the war was likely to be an "attritional conflict" which could last . Russia announced the mobilisation of 300,000 men in late September after suffering battlefield defeats at the hands of Ukrainian forces. Frank Gardner looks at what lies ahead as winter arrives in Ukraine. All Rights Reserved. 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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. April 16, 2022 17:49 GMT. A group of desperate Russian soldiers have issued an open letter by way of video to despotic President Vladimir Putin. Without a formal . "As an officer he understood that if they went ahead, they wouldn't get out alive. Approximately 60 paratroopers from Russia's Pskov region have refused to be deployed to Ukraine, newspaper Pskovskaya . 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. We drove around it and on, firing as we went. Some soldiers, under the threat of violence, were simply driven out to unknown destinations, they have not been seen since, said Vladimir, according to the Guardian. "I'm morally exhausted. 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.". 'I'd rather go to jail than fight in Ukraine', Surgeons operate on baby in Kyiv blackout, Station master arrested after dozens killed in Greece train crash, Covid origin likely China lab incident - FBI chief, Ukraine war casts shadow over India's G20 ambitions, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip, India anti-corruption crusader fighting to clear his name, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Russia has also turned to mercenaries to bolster its war efforts, deploying fighters from the shadowy Kremlin-linked Wagner group. Servicemen fire a 120mm mortar towards Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut, Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin promised that only professional soldiers would take part in his "special military operation.". Soldiers from Ukraines Special Operations Forces and the 72nd Separate Mechanised Brigade destroyed pieces of Russian equipment and captured two Russian servicemen near Vuhledar on 23 February. Many Russian soldiers would rather be dismissed or transferred than fight in Ukraine. Stas was sent back to Russia. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports on the conflictin Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin touts success, yet some ofhis soldiers refuse to fight. Troops are saying no to officers, knowing that punishment is light while Russia is not technically at war. 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 . My contract ends in June. Journalists fight on their own frontline. These people are ready for anything. 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. The contract soldier was subsequently sentenced on July 21 to restriction in military service for one year, with a 10 percent deduction from his monetary allowance going to the state. The soldier is in the unit, hes not running away anywhere. Deployed to Ukraine in July, Andrei was placed in detention for refusing to carry out orders. TASS said the soldier expressed his dissatisfaction with the training of mobilised servicemen outside Moscow. They began to stir and offer up some alternatives when people started specifically saying no, he said. 02:32. 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. Each of our interviewees had dealt with dozens of cases and believed those soldiers were also sharing advice with their colleagues. In Buryatia, where the 11th Brigade is based, dozens of personnel have sought legal assistance from local activists, seeking to break their contracts and get out of service in Ukraine, for various reasons. If no ones willing to take the offers from the brigade commanders, I wont detain you. And that means he cant be prosecuted for desertion or going AWOL. The BBC has been speaking to one such soldier. It soon became clear that not everyone was onboard with it. Read about our approach to external linking. Such an action would be "premature" without having assessed the harm to the military service he was involved in, the prosecutor said. 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. Rumours abound of some Russian soldiers defying orders and refusing to cross into Ukraine to fight. 'You're Nobody' Not from the opposing side. 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. Hes not refusing to carry out orders, so the article on insubordination or disobeying orders isnt relevant either, because hes not refusing to do so, he said. He and several others who'd decided to refuse had their guns taken off them and were put under armed guard.". It's not just Ukrainians resisting Vladimir . Other units include troops from private military companies like Vagner, or specialized, semiautonomous units overseen by Chechnyas strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. Did you encounter any technical issues? "This is all nonsense and fake claims and there is nothing to back them up with. "I don't want to go [back to Ukraine] to kill and be killed," says Sergey - not his real name - who spent five weeks fighting in Ukraine earlier this year. 2023 BBC. Why Russian Soldiers Are Refusing To Fight In The War On Ukraine. Russia lacks sufficient ground units with contract soldiers for a sustainable rotation. Troops had been withdrawn from northern Ukraine and appeared to be regrouping for an assault in the east. AP. Back in his living room, Sergei tells me that what happened to Stas in Ukraine has brought them closer together. Moscow's war is unjust, but there's no moral obligation for soldiers to refuse to fight. Jan 27, 2023. But from our own side.". That's what people who have come from there say.". He is now home in Russia, having taken legal advice to avoid being sent back to the front line. "We're on the same wavelength now," Sergei tells me. Reports of Russian soldiers refusing to fight in Ukraine are also mounting. Russian resistance is growing against Putin's war. Why wasn't it done?". I understand everything, of course. The head of Britain's GCHQ spy service said on Wednesday that new intelligence showed some Russian soldiers in Ukraine had refused to carry out orders, sabotaged their own equipment and . 2023 Cable News Network. But, after a few months, he made the decision to sign a two-year professional contract which would also give him a salary. A Russian fleet was said to be preparing to shell port city Odessa and land troops. "Pictures of Russian vehicles running out of fuel and casualties being abandoned where they . The Russian defense ministry didnt respond to the Guardians request for comment. We've changed them to protect their identities. "So many people don't . As Russia has faced a surprisingly effective resistance from Ukraine, there have been reports of low soldier morale and chaos among the commanding ranks. It's not a war of liberation.' Under Russian military rules, troops who refuse to fight in Ukraine can face dismissal but cannot be prosecuted, said Mikhail Benyash, a lawyer who has been advising soldiers who choose that option. We were illegally jailed.. For four and a half months, Corporal Ilya Kaminsky and his fellow soldiers from the 11th Separate Air Assault Brigade have waged war as part of the grinding Russian military offensive that has slowly pushed Ukrainian troops back in eastern Ukraine. 2. Russians across the country rallied against the orderbut police have attempted to disperse anti-war protests as they detained hundreds, including some children. I thought a long time about it and came to the decision. Their official status is missing in action. Putin needs to make a decision regarding mobilisation in the coming weeks, said Rob Lee, a military analyst. The Russian authorities dismiss reports of disillusioned soldiers and detention centres as fake news. Sergei has invited us to his home to tell us their story. I told him: 'Better to take it. Army commanders try to intimidate contract soldiers into staying with their units, according to Russian human rights lawyer Alexei Tabalov. 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. "They beat him and then they took him outside as if they were going to . Instead they were expected to operate without even basic equipment, such as night vision devices, he says. "You've got relatives there. Soldiers are refusing to fire artillery on civilians until they clear the area. Feb. 27 2023, Published 8:05 a.m. Im supposed to be ready for any situation; this war, this special operation, one soldier wrote. They forgot their military oaths, the ceremonial promise, their vows of duty to their Fatherland, the board reads. About 60 Russian paratroopers mutinied and refused to fight in Ukraine, according to Russian press reports related to Putin's government. A group of Russian soldiers are suing the army after they were fired for refusing to fight in Ukraine. When the soldiers of an elite Russian army brigade were told in early April to prepare for a second deployment to Ukraine, fear broke out among the ranks. Ilya Kononov, a contract soldier from the city of Pskov in western Russia, was charged with "unauthorized abandonment of the unit" in July, court records show. They haven't been seen for five months. 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. He gets it now. Conscripts could fill some of the gaps, but they will be poorly trained. Initially he "believed it was right" despite his dad trying to convince him not to go to war, the BBC report said. His superiors argued that he should not be given the monetary compensation of up to 2,500 that wounded Russians are entitled to by law because his injury took place on Russian soil meaning it did not fall under the rules of Russias special military operation. Russian servicemen near Kherson, Ukraine - 20 May 2022, By Olesya Gerasimenko and Kateryna Khinkulova, A convoy of Russian military vehicles heading towards the Donbas region - 23 February 2022, Local residents by a destroyed Russian tank in Sloboda, Chernihiv, Ukraine - 8 May 2022, Banner with the letters Z and V, in support of the Russian military, on a building in Moscow - 19 May 2022, Russian service personnel rehearse for the Victory Day Parade in Moscow - 7 May 2022, President Vladimir Putin visits soldiers wounded during the conflict in Ukraine - 25 May 2022, Pinned down by Russian fire in key front line village. He said he himself had written some 20 complaints and demands for reassignment, but his superior officers had rejected them -- or even tore the papers up completely. 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 way my son was treated wasn't only illegal, it was inhuman.". "The wall of misunderstanding between us has gone. Hundreds were discharged after refusing to take part in the invasion, the Guardian previously reported. Andrei, a Russian lieutenant, stopped fighting. "It's a way of making people go back into that bloodbath," says Elena Popova from Russia's Movement of Conscientious Objectors. Russia blaming Ukraine for killing of daughter of Putin ally. Brigade has suffered "extremely high casualties" while fighting in Ukraine. Because there are no criminal articles for requesting the termination of a contract based on anti-war beliefs, Krivenko told Current Time. Some troops are refusing orders, walking away from military bases or crossing the border into Ukraine and switching sides, media reports show. Reports from Russia said authorities would call up 300,000 people with "relevant" skills or military experience. "But refusing to fight was a difficult decision for him to take. "I had thought that we were the Russian army, the most super-duper in the world," says the young man bitterly. 2023 BBC. As a result of what I believe were tactical and strategic mistakes made by my commanders and their total disregard for human life I made the decision not to continue in the military operation, one soldier jailed for over a week said in written testimony to prosecutors, which was observed by the Guardian. 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.. Russian paratroopers. RUSSIAN soldiers are suffering from low morale with some reportedly refusing to fight the war in Ukraine, according to a member of an elite Russian army unit on the ground. People in Kyiv are being warned of street fighting and "subversive groups" on the third day of the Russian invasion, with reports of 198 Ukrainians dead nationwide since troops first crossed the . "So off he went to Ukraine. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. 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. 17 Russian soldiers were reportedly detained, Russian military unit deployed in the south would not figh, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Ukrainians have been asked to avoid going near windows or on balconies and be . 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. 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. Human rights activist Sergei Krivenko says he is not aware of any prosecutions of those refusing to return to the front. Sergei made several trips to the front line to try to secure his son's release. Within the dense smoke caused by the propaganda of one side or the other, the truth is that there does seem to be a good number of Russian soldiers who have refused to fight in Ukraine. The human rights activist said Kononov may be sent to serve in Ukraine again, explaining that the punishment means it will be even more difficult for him to achieve early dismissal. Airline carrier Wizz Air has announced it will of 50 people, 10 killed. Private military companies like Vagner, or specialized, semiautonomous units overseen by Chechnyas leader. 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