Also, according to Dmytrashkivskyi, the 136th Brigade, which was formed for the war in Chechnya, has arrived in the Vuhledar area. It soon became clear that not everyone was onboard with it. 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. "It was a difficult decision for him to take. 2023 BBC. CNN in Russia 10 videos. It doesn't make sense. 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 . Why Russian Soldiers Are Refusing To Fight In The War On Ukraine. Before joining Current Times Moscow bureau in 2019, Rozhanskiy worked for the independent Russian television channel TV Rain. Im supposed to be ready for any situation; this war, this special operation, one soldier wrote. If we had moved gradually, if we had checked the roads for mines many losses could have been avoided.". Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Some troops are refusing orders, walking away from military bases or crossing the border into Ukraine and switching sides, media reports show. Missing In Action: A Russian Soldier's Mother Desperately Seeks Answers, Vox Pop: Muscovites On How Russia's Isolation Affects Daily Life. The prisoners at the penal colony in St. Petersburg were expecting a visit by officials, thinking it would be some sort of inspection. 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. They began to stir and offer up some alternatives when people started specifically saying no, he said. A Russian court sentenced a 24-year-old professional soldier to five years in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine, officials have said. While speaking, he blew cigarette smoke into an officers face, who responded by pushing him away. 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. Jan 27, 2023. "But he said he was going. Read about our approach to external linking. 2d ago. 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 . "I had thought that we were the Russian army, the most super-duper in the world," says the young man bitterly. 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. An anonymous specialist from a coalition of lawyers and experts from Russian human rights organizations told independent Russian news outlet MediaZona that Kononov's punishment in the form of a one-year restriction in military service does not imply early dismissal and is instead "something like corrective labor for military personnel.". Journalists fight on their own frontline. If no ones willing to take the offers from the brigade commanders, I wont detain you. The soldier's testimony said war-weary soldiers were urged by superiors to return to the fight. And while the current status of the conflict gives Russian soldiers a legal path to refuse participation, some soldiers have complained that it has also led to them not being adequately cared for. After that, I wont look at any new offers.. We were fed once a day at lunchtime. Ukrainian soldiers move on the road in the freed territory in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. Russia announced the mobilisation of 300,000 men in late September after suffering battlefield defeats at the hands of Ukrainian forces. In phone conversations with Current Time, he said troops were not granted any leave for 4 1/2 months, even as the losses and casualties for the brigade mounted: Up to half of the brigades personnel -- around 1,000 -- have been either killed or wounded in action, he said. About 140 Russian soldiers have reportedly been jailed so far. But by September that had all changed. 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. 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. Despite speculation beforehand, Putin did not formally declare war on Ukraine during his Victory Day speech on 9 May. But, after a few months, he made the decision to sign a two-year professional contract which would also give him a salary. Albert Sakhibgareev was sent near the Ukrainian border in early February for "training exercises," the . 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. Heavy street fighting against Russian troops was underway in Kyiv as officials urged locals to take immediate shelter. I will serve my remaining time and then I am out of here, he said. ", Stas was a serving officer when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. He told me his face was covered in blood. Sergei made several trips to the front line to try to secure his son's release. .. 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. He was soon transferred to Belgorod, a Russian city close to the border with Ukraine, where he has been stationed since. 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. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric', The people who want you to believe the Ukraine war is fake. Russian authorities quietly stepped up their efforts to recruit new soldiers as it became clear that a quick victory in Ukraine was unattainable. The soldier was a serving officer in the Russian army when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. We've received your submission. 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 were furious. A Warner Bros. In all, 78 soldiers including Kaminsky openly challenged his orders, and demanded to be either sent home or reassigned, he said. Then I got a text message saying he and four other officers had been put in a basement. A junior sergeant said he was injured during one of the recent Ukrainian attacks on the Russian border territory where he was stationed. The commanders know only violence and intimidation. Anyone? 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. Because they ignore everything. The young Russian was among those men who enlisted. Army commanders try to intimidate contract soldiers into staying with their units, according to Russian human rights lawyer Alexei Tabalov. Finance chiefs at a Group of 20 conference in India this weekend issued a joint statement condemning Moscow for its war in Ukraine, with only China and Russia declining to sign. Servicemen fire a 120mm mortar towards Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut, Ukraine. Three days of duty? Daughter of Putin ally dies when . We've changed them to protect their identities. They've spent time in the trenches, getting cold and hungry, but when they come back they just get shouted and sworn at by their commanders.". President Vladimir Putin promised that only professional soldiers would take part in his "special military operation.". When his son was sent to fight in Ukraine, Sergei begged him not to go. "They beat him and then they took him outside as if they were going to shoot him. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. It is unfair, I am fighting in this war just as the others in Ukraine, risking my life, the soldier said. The airline carrier Wizz Air has announced it will . Theyre making everything so easy for you, guys. 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. Russia struggles to replenish its troops in Ukraine. But then someone said they'd take my son to work in the storeroom. "This is all nonsense and fake claims and there is nothing to back them up with. Russian troops also lost territory in the southern Kherson region as well as the Lyman transport hub in eastern Ukraine. News/Politics 2022-12-22T11:35:49.577Z. July 19, 2022. He simply declares that he has anti-war convictions. In January, Sergey was sent near the border with Ukraine for what he was told would be military drills. A Russian serviceman takes part in military exercises outside the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the Russian Far East on September 4. Many soldiers, therefore, have chosen to be fired or transferred rather than going into the meat grinder, he said. 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 believed it was right. In October, a new general was appointed to lead Russia's offensive. 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. 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. At some point, Kaminsky's unit was then transferred to Luhansk, in Ukraines Donbas region. Instead, men in uniform arrived and offered them amnesty if they agreed to fight alongside the Russian army in . 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But he stresses that Russian military law does include clauses which allow soldiers to refuse to fight if they don't want to. I'm shocked by our army. Dmitri's refusal to fight in the war is the latest in a string of reports of Russian soldiers disobeying orders to join the fight. Vladimir Putins forces launched an invasion of Ukraine in February but never formally declared war, meaning soldiers can be fired but shouldnt be jailed, an attorney who has represented reluctant soldiers told the newspaper. Initially he "believed it was right" despite his dad trying to convince him not to go to war, the BBC report said. Frank Gardner looks at what lies ahead as winter arrives in Ukraine. The soldiers testimony said war-weary soldiers were urged by superiors to return to the fight. A group of Russian soldiers recently sent Vladimir Putin a video complaining about "being sent to the slaughter" and begging for more military support in . 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 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 didn't even [try to] dissuade us, because we weren't the first," Sergey told the BBC. They ignore any requests. "We do not have any camps or incarceration facilities, or the like [for Russian soldiers]," President Putin insisted earlier this month. From Ukraine there have been multiple reports of mobilised Russian troops being detained - in some cases, locked in cellars and basements - for refusing to return to the frontline. 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. Moscow's war is unjust, but there's no moral obligation for soldiers to refuse to fight. 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. 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. I dont regret it one bit. The code has been copied to your clipboard. The Kremlin has declined to call for a general mobilization to replenish lost troops, instead using what analysts have described a covert, hybrid campaign to recruit fresh troops: using private military companies, extended age limitations, lucrative financial incentives, and sometimes coercive persuasion to bolster the ranks. Other units include troops from private military companies like Vagner, or specialized, semiautonomous units overseen by Chechnyas strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. 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Sergey says he is traumatised by his experience in Ukraine. 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. Back in his living room, Sergei tells me that what happened to Stas in Ukraine has brought them closer together. I signed a contract. The URL has been copied to your clipboard. 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. These people are ready for anything. The Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported Friday that Russian officials have detained contract soldiers who refuse to fight in special detention camps in occupied Ukraine. Approximately 60 paratroopers from Russia's Pskov region have refused to be deployed to Ukraine, newspaper Pskovskaya . CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports on the conflictin Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin touts success, yet some ofhis soldiers refuse to fight. Not from the opposing side. 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. "He said the [Russian] soldiers had been given no cover; there was no intelligence gathering; no preparation. "They are keeping people there because they wanted to leave, refused to fight," the father alleged. I told him that he was a zombie. Did you encounter any technical issues? But you have until 6 p.m. today. The announcement triggered an exodus of men from Russia, with many fleeing to neighbouring countries including Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan. He is now home in Russia, having taken legal advice to avoid being sent back to the front line. 'You're Nobody' In his conversations with Current Time, Kaminsky lamented what he described as commanders callous disregard for the wellbeing of their troops. Never mind the myriad reports of Russian troops refusing to fight by the thousands, sabotaging their own shoddy equipment and even deliberately wounding themselves to abandon the war, Russian . As Russia has faced a surprisingly effective resistance from Ukraine, there have been reports of low soldier morale and chaos among the commanding ranks. Then I started getting messages from him asking what would happen if he refused to fight.". The way my son was treated wasn't only illegal, it was inhuman.". The president announced what he called a "partial mobilisation", drafting hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens into the armed forces. Like us on Facebook to see similar stories . I still havent seen her. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. We were illegally jailed.. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. By India Today Web Desk: As Russian troops try to take control over Ukraine's capital Kyiv, residents of the city are taking up arms to stand in the fight along with the country's military against Moscow's invasion.India Today's Rajesh Pawar visited an office of the Territorial Defence Forces in the city, where citizens are being equipped with weapons to defend against and fight off the . 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. The servicemen were reportedly removed from their unit as punishment. Boris Johnson's cabinet received an update from a senior national security official on Tuesday morning. Refusal then would mean much harsher penalties. Almost all his comrades were under the age of 25. They don't care about the life of a soldier; whats more important is his position and rank, Kaminsky said. But significant damage has been done to that army, which has confronted logistical problems, poor morale and an underestimated Ukrainian resistance. 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. 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. "Pictures of Russian vehicles running out of fuel and casualties being abandoned where they . Russia lacks sufficient ground units with contract soldiers for a sustainable rotation. 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. We had no food, no water, he said. The latest as of 7.15 a.m. But, he had been sufficiently worried about his unit's reaction to his refusal that he decided to seek legal advice. Once again, we have changed their names. Russian . There have been an estimated 140 soldiers put behind bars in eastern Ukraine, with some allegedly guarded by pro-Moscow mercenaries in a military base surrounded by land mines, the Guardian reported. It wouldn't cost much to equip us. Stas was sent back to Russia. Russias troops in Ukraine are largely made up of contract soldiers: volunteer personnel who sign fixed-term contracts for service. They made him lie on the ground and told him to count to ten. "The commanders' aim is to keep the soldiers down there. "In a situation when there is shelling or bombs falling, all normal people cannot help but react to it, even on the physiological level. Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. 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. 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. . In the southern Russian town of Budyonnovsk, on the home base for the 205th Cossack Motorized Rifle Brigade, commanders have erected a wall of shame with the names, ranks, and photographs of some 300 soldiers who have disobeyed orders in the Ukraine war. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Perhaps this is due to the weather conditions, which doesnt allow them to actively use military equipment now, the spokesperson said. Belarus allowed Russia to stage part of the invasion from its . Many of the units that are supposed to train conscripts are fighting themselves, Lee said. And that, unfortunately, life would prove that.". All asked that their names be withheld for fear of further punishment or retaliation by commanders. The soldier, along with several others who decided not to take part in the fight anymore, put his refusal in writing. A Russian court sentenced a 24-year-old professional soldier to five years in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine, officials have said. His unit moved on through the Ukrainian countryside, but there was a clear lack of strategy, he says. Its members have been deployed in the Donetsk area and are supposed to take control of the defense line until March 5, he added. "Those refusing to fight are doing so because they've had more than their fair share of front line action," explains Elena Popova. "So off he went to Ukraine. Stas told his father about one particular battle. This is not our war. He refused so they beat him over the head several times with a pistol. Putin needs to make a decision regarding mobilisation in the coming weeks, said Rob Lee, a military analyst. The beach, just north of Odessa in southern Ukraine, was defended with mines and anti-tank hedgehogs. Im tired. The man narrated the ordeal his son suffered to the BBC, saying that he had begged his son not to go. "I think that [so many of] our guys died largely because of this. Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world. My contract ends in June. "We went without helicopters - just in a column, as though we were heading to a parade.". Such an action would be "premature" without having assessed the harm to the military service he was involved in, the prosecutor said. Russian soldier Ilya Kaminsky says rank-and-file troops have "absolutely no trust" in their higher command. A month later - 24 February, the day Russia launched its invasion - he was told to cross the border. 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. 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. A Russian soldier who refused to fight in the war in Ukraine was allegedly beaten and locked up by his own comrades, according to a report. 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 On 15 February, Ukraines Defence Intelligence reported that Russias losses were the largest since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. For the remainder, however, unit commanders ordered them arrested, and held in a makeshift brig in the Luhansk region, according to Kaminsky, where they were being given food only once a day. He told me his face was covered in blood," the father said while speaking to the outlet. The troops are getting exhausted they wont be able to keep this up for a long period.. But there's a more common explanation. Reinforcements failed to arrive and soldiers were poorly equipped for the task of taking a large city. 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. Andrei, a Russian lieutenant, stopped fighting. Youre just a soldier for them; youre nobody.. 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.". More than 26,000 Russian military personnel have been killed in . My son told me, 'I never thought my own country would treat me this way.' 03:25. Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova said all of the Ukrainian defenders on Snake Island were killed in an exchange with a Russian warship after they refused to surrender. Many of the newly mobilised troops were quick to complain that they were being sent to a war zone without sufficient equipment or adequate training. The soldier is in the unit, hes not running away anywhere. 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. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. "He told me he had refused to lead his men to a certain death," Oxana tells me. Independent Russian media have also been reporting hundreds of cases of soldiers refusing repeat deployments to Ukraine since the beginning of April. "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. "Later I was told that the building they were in had been shelled and that all five men were missing. A Russian soldier who refused to continue fighting in Ukraine, he was beaten until his face was covered in blood, his father has claimed. Discovery Company. For some Russians, refusing to return to the front line may be a moral stand. And that means he cant be prosecuted for desertion or going AWOL. 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.. A Russian court sentenced Marsel Kandarov to five years in prison for refusing to take part in the special military operation. The range of experience varies. "Then they took him into a room and told him: 'You're coming with us, otherwise we'll kill you.' Kaminsky said discontent had been building in the unit for weeks, if not months. 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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. Of the 78 soldiers from Kaminskys unit who have disobeyed orders, some have been ordered held in a makeshift brig for days, he said. appreciated. They made him lie on the ground and told him to count to ten. There was no basic hygiene, the soldier said in the testimony, according to the Guardian. They'd been ordered to advance, but no one knew what lay ahead. According to the head of his military commandant's office, Kononov was found at his place of residence with a friend after a search. Artillery sentry duty? The private then pushed the officer in the chest. Now, at least four want their superiors punished for the seemingly illegal arrests, according to the newspaper. By Robert Coalson. 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. In another incident, Sergey says he had to overtake comrades trapped inside a burning vehicle in front of him. That is not to say that prosecutions are not being attempted. 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. Images by Anton Chicherov. 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. Soldier for them ; youre nobody the fight. `` operation. `` clear lack of strategy, he the! The others in Ukraine are largely made up of contract soldiers for sustainable. 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