A Russian court sentenced Marsel Kandarov to five years in prison for refusing to take part in the special military operation. Russia announced the mobilisation of 300,000 men in late September after suffering battlefield defeats at the hands of Ukrainian forces. .. 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. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. 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. The men, who belonged to the key headquarters of the Pskov . Russias troops in Ukraine are largely made up of contract soldiers: volunteer personnel who sign fixed-term contracts for service. 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 . 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. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Conscripts could fill some of the gaps, but they will be poorly trained. 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. Command post guard duty? Russia launched the attack on Ukraine from three sides on February 24. But his stand changed after the soldier found out he had been sent to fight with "no intelligence gathering, no preparation and no cover". While speaking, he blew cigarette smoke into an officers face, who responded by pushing him away. The servicemen were reportedly removed from their unit as punishment. It's not just Ukrainians resisting Vladimir . 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. Reports of Russian soldiers refusing to fight in Ukraine are also mounting. Im supposed to be ready for any situation; this war, this special operation, one soldier wrote. The soldier was a serving officer in the Russian army when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. But even before that, there are many reports from our intelligence officers, who work quite successfully, about what is going at the enemy both in the rear and on the front line there are very frequent refusals to participate in hostilities., Read also: Russians pushing for breakthrough near Vuhledar, but unlikely to succeed, says UK intelligence. The man narrated the ordeal his son suffered to the BBC, saying that he had begged his son not to go. This story has been shared 102,045 times. A junior sergeant said he was injured during one of the recent Ukrainian attacks on the Russian border territory where he was stationed. Newsweek was unable to independently verify those claims but reached out to Russia's foreign ministry for comment. The official warned that the next phase of the war was likely to be an "attritional conflict" which could last . After that, I wont look at any new offers.. 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. The young Russian was among those men who enlisted. As of July 20, the fate of the detained soldiers was unknown. The beach, just north of Odessa in southern Ukraine, was defended with mines and anti-tank hedgehogs. 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.". 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. For that they sent my son to a detention centre. 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. By early July, Kaminsky said, he'd had enough: He refused to fight, one of 78 soldiers from his brigade who have refused orders. The latest as of 7.15 a.m. Among them were 12 national guardsmen from Russias southern city of Krasnodar who were fired after refusing to go to Ukraine. Read about our approach to external linking. His unit moved on through the Ukrainian countryside, but there was a clear lack of strategy, he says. I thought a long time about it and came to the decision. But you have until 6 p.m. today. 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 . April 16, 2022 17:49 GMT. Now, at least four want their superiors punished for the seemingly illegal arrests, according to the newspaper. "Those refusing to fight are doing so because they've had more than their fair share of front line action," explains Elena Popova. ET. He told me his face was covered in blood. 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. In his unit of 50 people, 10 were killed and 10 others wounded. Why Russian Soldiers Are Refusing To Fight In The War On Ukraine. 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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 . It's absurd. Many of the units that are supposed to train conscripts are fighting themselves, Lee said. But that means that - while his letter of refusal to fight was accepted - there are no guarantees he won't be sent back to Ukraine during his service period. Moscow's war is unjust, but there's no moral obligation for soldiers to refuse to fight. Here's what he saw, CNN reporter returns to Russia for first time since January, Kremlin to showcase its military power in May 9th parade. ", "People here don't understand how much danger we're in. 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. Russia Ukraine War One Year Anniversary Ukrainian troops and their UK military instructors, commemorate lives lost in the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a sunrise commemorative service, at . Because they ignore everything. A video of the incident that circulated online showed the soldier complaining of poor training, using obscenities, and calling the drills an imitation. - Ukraine's President . 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 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. It wouldn't cost much to equip us. Instead they were expected to operate without even basic equipment, such as night vision devices, he says. I didn't look back.". Read about our approach to external linking. Emilio Morenatti. The enemy has somewhat reduced its activity for the fourth day, he said. Argument | Michael Walzer. "They beat him and then they took him outside as if they were going to . 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. 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. 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 . We've received your submission. Theyre making everything so easy for you, guys. Eventually his efforts paid off. Discovery Company. Russian troops also lost territory in the southern Kherson region as well as the Lyman transport hub in eastern Ukraine. ", "My first thoughts were 'Is this really happening to me?'". 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. The URL has been copied to your clipboard. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Almost all his comrades were under the age of 25. "I had thought that we were the Russian army, the most super-duper in the world," says the young man bitterly. Sergei made several trips to the front line to try to secure his son's release. It is unfair, I am fighting in this war just as the others in Ukraine, risking my life, the soldier said. Fewer and fewer Russian servicemen want to fight for the Kremlin's invading plans. Three days of duty? Troops had been withdrawn from northern Ukraine and appeared to be regrouping for an assault in the east. Id rather bury you on the front line, on the line of defense, than give up my position, he said, describing the sentiments of his commanders. Daughter of Putin ally dies when . Putin needs to make a decision regarding mobilisation in the coming weeks, said Rob Lee, a military analyst. As Russia has faced a surprisingly effective resistance from Ukraine, there have been reports of low soldier morale and chaos among the commanding ranks. 'You're Nobody' And this, according to a video on social media app Telegram, has . Russian troops release video as they say they will not fight. On 15 February, Ukraines Defence Intelligence reported that Russias losses were the largest since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. 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. Their official status is missing in action. 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