2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is one of many reported incidents where Russian soldiers have been accused of refusing to take up arms in Ukraine. 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. Without a formal . Russians might be in favour of the conflict, but they dont actually want to fight, he said, adding that a general mobilisation would entail colossal losses of untrained soldiers. Sergei has invited us to his home to tell us their story. Moscow's war is unjust, but there's no moral obligation for soldiers to refuse to fight. He managed to contact his mother, Oxana, back in Russia to tell her what was going on. 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. DeSantis won't say he's running. The president announced what he called a "partial mobilisation", drafting hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens into the armed forces. He believes his commanders had planned to capture strongholds and key cities very quickly - and had calculated that the Ukrainians would simply surrender. My son told me, 'I never thought my own country would treat me this way.' The refusenik troops add to Russian commanders headaches as they struggle to replenish spent and exhausted units across the roughly 480-kilometer (300-mile) front line stretching from east of Kharkiv in the northeast down to Kherson in south-central Ukraine. Putin's army continues its full-scale aggression in Ukraine. Instead, men in uniform arrived and offered them amnesty if they agreed to fight alongside the Russian army in . I didn't look back.". July 19, 2022. Army commanders try to intimidate contract soldiers into staying with their units, according to Russian human rights lawyer Alexei Tabalov. 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. I told him: 'Better to take it. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. 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. Western intelligence agencies say Russias losses are substantial; a top British military commander told the BBC this week that up to 50,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the invasion was launched on February 24. The Insider. What is being given to Ukraine by the UK? 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. A Russian military unit deployed in Ukraine's south has refused to fight over a lack of vital supplies such as water, Ukraine said Sunday. The airline carrier Wizz Air has announced it will . A Warner Bros. 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. Many Russian soldiers would rather be dismissed or transferred than fight in Ukraine. By The Associated Press August 11, 2022. The soldier was a serving officer in the Russian army when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. 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.. "It's a way of making people go back into that bloodbath," says Elena Popova from Russia's Movement of Conscientious Objectors. 2023 BBC. It is unfair, I am fighting in this war just as the others in Ukraine, risking my life, the soldier said. By Timofei Rozhanskiy. The bosses response was: We dont care about your problems, go ahead and quit. Russias troops in Ukraine are largely made up of contract soldiers: volunteer personnel who sign fixed-term contracts for service. There is absolutely no trust in the authorities and the higher command, from the very first word, Kaminsky, 20, told Current Time in a phone interview on July 17, recorded from an undisclosed location in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. 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 . Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. 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. . Russia struggles to replenish its troops in Ukraine. Conscripts could fill some of the gaps, but they will be poorly trained. Russian . 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. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Later that month he received an order to return to Ukraine - but told his commander that he was not prepared to go. 02:32. He is now home in Russia, having taken legal advice to avoid being sent back to the front line. Approximately 60 paratroopers from Russia's Pskov region have refused to be deployed to Ukraine, newspaper Pskovskaya . "The wall of misunderstanding between us has gone. Artillery sentry duty? Frank Gardner looks at what lies ahead as winter arrives in Ukraine. "As an officer he understood that if they went ahead, they wouldn't get out alive. He and several others who'd decided to refuse had their guns taken off them and were put under armed guard.". 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. Then I started getting messages from him asking what would happen if he refused to fight.". Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! His unit moved on through the Ukrainian countryside, but there was a clear lack of strategy, he says. He simply declares that he has anti-war convictions. There are no legal grounds to start a criminal case if a soldier refuses to fight while on Russian territory.. Dmitris refusal to fight highlights some of the military difficulties the Russian army has faced as a result of the Kremlins political decision not to formally declare war on Ukraine preferring instead to describe the invasion, which will soon reach its fourth month, as a special military operation. In particular, conscripts are starting to cancel their contracts. The soldier, "not wanting to take part in a . "They beat him and then they took him outside as if they were going to . (Reuters Photo) Russian soldiers fighting the war in Ukraine are in disarray and crying as they are asked to "fire at . Such an action would be "premature" without having assessed the harm to the military service he was involved in, the prosecutor said. The Russian authorities dismiss reports of disillusioned soldiers and detention centres as fake news. "We went without helicopters - just in a column, as though we were heading to a parade.". The soldier, "not wanting to take part in a special . On 15 February, Ukraines Defence Intelligence reported that Russias losses were the largest since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. "Then they took him into a room and told him: 'You're coming with us, otherwise we'll kill you.' We were fed once a day at lunchtime. April 7, 2022. All asked that their names be withheld for fear of further punishment or retaliation by commanders. Kononov said he stopped showing up at his unit and, instead, spent time with his friend at his home. At another moment, he said, unit commanders ordered a squad of five soldiers to try to seize a nearby settlement defended by up to 200 Ukrainian soldiers. The prisoners at the penal colony in St. Petersburg were expecting a visit by officials, thinking it would be some sort of inspection. And that, unfortunately, life would prove that.". At some point, Kaminsky's unit was then transferred to Luhansk, in Ukraines Donbas region. The unit, stationed in Russias far east during peacetime, first entered Ukraine from Belarus when the war started at the end of February and saw bitter combat with Ukrainian forces. More than 26,000 Russian military personnel have been killed in . At the beginning of April, Sergey was sent back over the border to a camp on the Russian side. Reports from Russia said authorities would call up 300,000 people with "relevant" skills or military experience. Russia blaming Ukraine for killing of daughter of Putin ally, Daughter of Putin ally dies when car explodes, Russian media says, 'Russia is not Putin': 76-year-old Russian uses her art to speak out, Russian priest says he's helped 'thousands' of Ukrainian refugees get to Europe, Putin unveils imperialist mission: taking back land he says is Russia's, See rebranded McDonald's restaurants unveiled in Russia, CNN reporter was at Russia's Victory Day parade. Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine. 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. 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. In a rare public spat involving the Kremlin, 25 National Guard 'refuseniks' defied their . "Pictures of Russian vehicles running out of fuel and casualties being abandoned where they . Sergey joined the army as a conscript - most Russian men between the ages of 18-27 must complete one year of compulsory military service. April 16, 2022 17:49 GMT. He refused so they beat him over the head several times with a pistol. Newsweek was unable to independently verify those claims but reached out to Russia's foreign ministry for comment. A Russian soldier who refused to continue fighting in Ukraine, he was beaten until his face was covered in blood, his father has claimed. The Russian defense ministry didnt respond to the Guardians request for comment. 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. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook. "We were like blind kittens. Read also: UK intelligence estimates Russian losses near Vuhledar. The commanders know only violence and intimidation. 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. The whole time, not a single document was provided that would explain our arrest. Eventually his efforts paid off. .. 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. Instead they were expected to operate without even basic equipment, such as night vision devices, he says. "But refusing to fight was a difficult decision for him to take. Why Russian Soldiers Are Refusing To Fight In The War On Ukraine. Andrei, a Russian lieutenant, stopped fighting. According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the occupiers are not able to resolve problems with manning their units. Our commanders didnt even argue with us because we were not the first ones to leave, Bokov said. Daughter of Putin ally dies when . In conversations with Current Time via the Russian social media giant VK, several soldiers from the brigade disputed the circumstances behind their inclusion on the wall of shame. It doesn't make sense. They made him lie on the ground and told him to count to ten. These people are ready for anything. Im supposed to be ready for any situation; this war, this special operation, one soldier wrote. 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. Once again, we have changed their names. Some Russian soldiers and even whole units are "refusing to fight" in Ukraine, top UK security officials reported today. The soldier was a serving officer in the Russian army when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. If a soldier acts according to such procedures, then he cannot be criminally prosecuted for this. 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 . 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. I will serve my remaining time and then I am out of here, he said. "I can see that the war continues, it is not going away," he told the BBC. Troops are saying no to officers, knowing that punishment is light while Russia is not technically at war. Its members have been deployed in the Donetsk area and are supposed to take control of the defense line until March 5, he added. The soldier is in the unit, hes not running away anywhere. A month later - 24 February, the day Russia launched its invasion - he was told to cross the border. 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. The discontent in Kaminskys 11th Brigade is not an isolated case, and there are indications that Russian commanders are trying different tactics to keep the problem from spiraling out of control: for example, publicly shaming soldiers who are refusing to fight. Along with eight others, Dmitri told his commanders that he refused to rejoin the invasion. Like us on Facebook to see similar stories . A court in the Russian city of Ufa has sentenced a 24-year-old corporal to five years in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine. "In these months [of compulsory military service] that I have left, anything - including the worst - could happen. Deployed to Ukraine in July, Andrei was placed in detention for refusing to carry out orders. Russian rights activists say hundreds, possibly thousands of troops are balking at orders to deploy, to keep fighting, or to remain on the battlefield without rotating out or home. Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, said the authorities may be worried that a general mobilisation would antagonise large sections of the population that support the special operation. This story has been shared 102,045 times. 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. Of inspection Ukraine are largely made up of contract soldiers: volunteer personnel who sign fixed-term for. The ages of 18-27 must complete one year of compulsory military service ] that I have left anything. Is not technically at war am out of here, he says with his friend his! 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