My son told me, 'I never thought my own country would treat me this way.' There was no basic hygiene, the soldier said in the testimony, according to the Guardian. A Russian serviceman takes part in military exercises outside the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the Russian Far East on September 4. Why wasn't it done?". 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. What is being given to Ukraine by the UK? Pointing to Russias military laws, Benyash said it would be more difficult for soldiers to refuse to fight if Russia were to declare a full-scale war. Deployed to Ukraine in July, Andrei was placed in detention for refusing to carry out orders. Russian paratroopers. VLADIMIR Putin's demoralised and disillusioned troops are fleeing the war in Ukraine and surrendering without a fight, reports claim. Quote from the General Staff: "Troops from the so-called . "I can see that the war continues, it is not going away," he told the BBC. Russian forces have significantly reduced activity in the Vuhledar area due to the mass refusal of their troops to go on the offensive, spokesperson for the Ukrainian military's Tavriiskyi District forces, Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi, said on Feb. 27. . Russia lacks sufficient ground units with contract soldiers for a sustainable rotation. But from our own side.". For some Russians, refusing to return to the front line may be a moral stand. Moscow's war is unjust, but there's no moral obligation for soldiers to refuse to fight. 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. Their official status is missing in action. Many Russian soldiers would rather be dismissed or transferred than fight in Ukraine. Kononov reportedly had taken part in President Vladimir Putin's so-called special military operation in the Eastern European nation but left his military unit without permission for more than 10 days. 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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. Reports of Russian soldiers refusing to fight in Ukraine are also mounting. But analysts say voluntary recruits and mercenary groups are unlikely to lead to a substantial increase in the number of new soldiers, compared with the numbers that a partial or a full-scale mobilisation would bring. He refused so they beat him over the head several times with a pistol. They made him lie on the ground and told him to count to ten. A senior US defense official said Russian volunteers are refusing to go into . 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. But I was thinking, Im still young; at any moment, a piece of shrapnel, a bullet could fly into my head. They forgot their military oaths, the ceremonial promise, their vows of duty to their Fatherland, the board reads. More than 100 Russian national guardsmen have been fired for refusing to fight in Ukraine, court documents show, in what looks to be the clearest indication yet of dissent among some parts of . Earlier Ukraines General Staff reported that invading Russian forces were seeing mass desertion among its troops amid Ukrainian military successes. As they stopped for the evening in an abandoned farm, their commander said: "Well, as you will have worked out by now, this is not a joke. Human rights activist Sergei Krivenko says he is not aware of any prosecutions of those refusing to return to the front. Troops had been withdrawn from northern Ukraine and appeared to be regrouping for an assault in the east. Russian troops release video as they say they will not fight. 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. We didnt have normal munitions, no flak jackets or helmets. Now, at least four want their superiors punished for the seemingly illegal arrests, according to the newspaper. 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. 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. Troops are saying no to officers, knowing that punishment is light while Russia is not technically at war. It is, first of all, a classic example of military aggression; it is a war without a just cause. And there is no guarantee that more prosecutions might not emerge in the future. "It was a difficult decision for him to take. Almost immediately his unit found itself under attack. Anybody want it? the commander, a lieutenant colonel identified only by his surname Agafonov, can be heard telling the soldiers. 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. Updated at 1:10 p.m. on April 14 to add that the soldier's lawyer has taken down the original photo of the service card. At the beginning of April, Sergey was sent back over the border to a camp on the Russian side. All his bravado has gone. 02:32. 'You're Nobody' Ukrainian . They'd been ordered to advance, but no one knew what lay ahead. Soldiers are refusing to fire artillery on civilians until they clear the area. Russian soldier Ilya Kaminsky says rank-and-file troops have "absolutely no trust" in their higher command. 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. 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. We've changed them to protect their identities. Our commanders didnt even argue with us because we were not the first ones to leave, Bokov said. The soldier, along with several others who decided not to take part in the fight anymore, put his refusal in writing. 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. They were furious. It wouldn't cost much to equip us. Some troops are refusing orders, walking away from military bases or crossing the border into Ukraine and switching sides, media reports show. If a soldier acts according to such procedures, then he cannot be criminally prosecuted for this. A Russian soldier's service card was stamped "traitor" for refusing . Some large government-run companies have received letters urging them to sign up their staff for the army. They began to stir and offer up some alternatives when people started specifically saying no, he said. Leviev says his team estimates a sizeable minority of the Russian contract soldiers sent to Ukraine to fight in the initial invasion refused to go back again. 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. A Russian official this week responded to the Biden administration's refusal to rule out sending depleted uranium anti-tank munitions to Ukraine by warning that deployment of such weaponswhich have been linked to birth defects, miscarriages, and cancerwould be regarded by Moscow as use of "dirty nuclear bombs." According to . All asked that their names be withheld for fear of further punishment or retaliation by commanders. Daughter of Putin ally dies when . In his conversations with Current Time, Kaminsky lamented what he described as commanders callous disregard for the wellbeing of their troops. Russian soldiers are increasingly dying from accidental friendly fire . 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. But his stand changed after the soldier found out he had been sent to fight with "no intelligence gathering, no preparation and no cover". 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. He simply declares that he has anti-war convictions. I told him that he was a zombie. But, after a few months, he made the decision to sign a two-year professional contract which would also give him a salary. Many of the units that are supposed to train conscripts are fighting themselves, Lee said. Im supposed to be ready for any situation; this war, this special operation, one soldier wrote. But after a certain adaptation period, our men fight brilliantly.". Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. In a rare public spat involving the Kremlin, 25 National Guard 'refuseniks' defied their . "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. 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. Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world. 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. More than 26,000 Russian military personnel have been killed in . 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. The range of experience varies. Unit commanders then staged an intervention. Alexander Avilov / Moskva News Agency. Reports from Russia said authorities would call up 300,000 people with "relevant" skills or military experience. His unit moved on through the Ukrainian countryside, but there was a clear lack of strategy, he says. Read about our approach to external linking. He refused. Almost all his comrades were under the age of 25. The private then pushed the officer in the chest. He bombarded military officials, prosecutors and investigators with appeals for help. 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. In particular, conscripts are starting to cancel their contracts. They haven't been seen for five months. "They beat him and then they took him outside as if they were going to . 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. Russia blaming Ukraine for killing of daughter of Putin ally. "In these months [of compulsory military service] that I have left, anything - including the worst - could happen. In October, a new general was appointed to lead Russia's offensive. President Vladimir Putin had on September 21 ordered a mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of Russians to fight in Ukraine, sparking protests and an exodus of eligible men from the country. Reports from Russia said authorities would call up 300,000 people with `` relevant '' or. Continues, it is not aware of any prosecutions of those refusing to return to the.! Away from military bases or crossing the border into Ukraine and appeared to be ready for any ;! Troops release video as they say they will not fight ] that I have left anything... 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