It said that the troops lacked support, while personnel in advanced positions didn't have water. So, they beat him over the head several times with a pistol. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports on the conflict in Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin touts success, yet some of his soldiers refuse to fight. A junior sergeant said he was injured during one of the recent Ukrainian attacks on the Russian border territory where he was stationed. In particular, conscripts are starting to cancel their contracts. Russian troops release video as they say they will not fight. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! 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 . 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 . Among them were 12 national guardsmen from Russia's . ", Stas was a serving officer when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. 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. In October, a new general was appointed to lead Russia's offensive. "The commanders' aim is to keep the soldiers down there. Read about our approach to external linking. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric', The people who want you to believe the Ukraine war is fake. 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 his unit of 50 people, 10 were killed and 10 others wounded. Soldiers with the 127th Regiment of the 1st Army Corps rioted, according to the operational command. Many of the units that are supposed to train conscripts are fighting themselves, Lee said. 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. A Warner Bros. Troops had been withdrawn from northern Ukraine and appeared to be regrouping for an assault in the east. He told me his face was covered in blood," the father said while speaking to the outlet. But I was thinking, Im still young; at any moment, a piece of shrapnel, a bullet could fly into my head. The troops are getting exhausted they wont be able to keep this up for a long period.. It is unfair, I am fighting in this war just as the others in Ukraine, risking my life, the soldier said. When his son was sent to fight in Ukraine, Sergei begged him not to go. The Russian authorities dismiss reports of disillusioned soldiers and detention centres as fake news. It's absurd. Because there are no criminal articles for requesting the termination of a contract based on anti-war beliefs, Krivenko told Current Time. He simply declares that he has anti-war convictions. 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. For that they sent my son to a detention centre. Sergey says he is traumatised by his experience in Ukraine. Eventually his efforts paid off. A Russian court sentenced a 24-year-old professional soldier to five years in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine, officials have said. But you have until 6 p.m. today. We've received your submission. Putin's army continues its full-scale aggression in Ukraine. My contract ends in June. Along with eight others, Dmitri told his commanders that he refused to rejoin the invasion. But significant damage has been done to that army, which has confronted logistical problems, poor morale and an underestimated Ukrainian resistance. 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. But then someone said they'd take my son to work in the storeroom. Sergei and Stas are not the real names of this father and son. "This is all nonsense and fake claims and there is nothing to back them up with. Perhaps this is due to the weather conditions, which doesnt allow them to actively use military equipment now, the spokesperson said. Nearly all . He refused so they beat him over the head several times with a pistol. President Vladimir Putin promised that only professional soldiers would take part in his "special military operation.". Russian soldier Ilya Kaminsky says rank-and-file troops have "absolutely no trust . 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. Lee said one option for the Kremlin would be to authorise the deployment of conscript units to Ukraine, despite Putins earlier pledges that Russia would not use any conscripts in the war. "The wall of misunderstanding between us has gone. He shares that soldiers in Crimea refused to be . Did you encounter any technical issues? Sergei has invited us to his home to tell us their story. Source: cnnespanol All news articles on 2023-02-28 You may like. Each of our interviewees had dealt with dozens of cases and believed those soldiers were also sharing advice with their colleagues. There are reports of mobilised Russian troops locked in cellars and basements for refusing to fight in Ukraine. He and several others who'd decided to refuse had their guns taken off them and were put under armed guard.". Hundreds were discharged after refusing to take part in the invasion, the Guardian previously reported. I told him: 'Better to take it. Ukrainian . A Russian court sentenced Marsel Kandarov to five years in prison for refusing to take part in the special military operation. Moscow initially put about 80% of its main ground combat forces 150,000 men into the war in February, according to western officials. We arent officially in a state of war, so they could not force me to go.. Russian troops release video as they say they will not fight. Mr. Putin had resisted ordering a mobilization for months, but his decision underscored the Kremlin's struggles on the battlefield, where more than 80,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or . A group of Russian soldiers are suing the army after they were fired for refusing to fight in Ukraine. The way my son was treated wasn't only illegal, it was inhuman.". 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. But they eventually calmed down because there wasnt much they could do, he said. Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. Im warning you, this is a final offer, he is heard telling the soldiers. Conscripts could fill some of the gaps, but they will be poorly trained. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports on the conflictin Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin touts success, yet some ofhis soldiers refuse to fight. They just don't care. 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. The code has been copied to your clipboard. I still havent seen her. 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. ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 27, 2023 / 13:45 pm (CNA). It soon became clear that not everyone was onboard with it. In another incident, Sergey says he had to overtake comrades trapped inside a burning vehicle in front of him. Newsweek was unable to independently verify those claims but reached out to Russia's foreign ministry for comment. By Robert Coalson. 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. And there is no guarantee that more prosecutions might not emerge in the future. Journalists fight on their own frontline. The soldier was a serving officer in the Russian army when Mr Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 23. "He said it was my choice. 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. We've changed them to protect their identities. The Insider. The attack is doubly unjust. I understood that I had to refuse so I could stay alive, he said. What's he waiting for? Kononov said he stopped showing up at his unit and, instead, spent time with his friend at his home. 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. Kaminsky said discontent had been building in the unit for weeks, if not months. 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. Russia launched the attack on Ukraine from three sides on February 24. 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. A Russian court sentenced a 24-year-old professional soldier to five years in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine, officials have said. "So many people don't . It is, first of all, a classic example of military aggression; it is a war without a just cause. They didn't even [try to] dissuade us, because we weren't the first," Sergey told the BBC. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook. Several lawyers and human rights activists the BBC spoke to said they had been regularly offering advice to men trying to avoid returning to Ukraine. "I'm morally exhausted. A Russian soldier has been sentenced for refusing to fight in the war in Ukraine. A Russian fleet was said to be preparing to shell port city Odessa and land troops. In a rare public spat involving the Kremlin, 25 National Guard 'refuseniks' defied their . Daughter of Putin ally dies when . 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. 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. Emilio Morenatti. Theyre making everything so easy for you, guys. News/Politics 2022-12-22T11:35:49.577Z. He bombarded military officials, prosecutors and investigators with appeals for help. Separately, a military tribunal said it sentenced Kandarov to five years behind bars for evading military service during mobilisation for more than a month. Ilya Kononov, a contract soldier from the city of Pskov in western Russia, was charged with "unauthorized . - Ukraine's President . 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. "Some soldiers, under the . It caught fire and there were [Russian] soldiers inside. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) A U.S. Army veteran from Wisconsin died on Feb. 16 while fighting on the . By early July, Kaminsky said, he'd had enough: He refused to fight, one of 78 soldiers from his brigade who have refused orders. 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. Anyone? Source: Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza; united press office of the courts of the Republic of Bashkortostan on Telegram Details: According to court materials, Corporal Marcel Kandarov has been charged with evading military service for more than one month . They would be looking at time in prison.. 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. The soldier, along with several others who decided not to take part in the fight anymore, put his refusal in writing. It doesn't make sense. "He said the [Russian] soldiers had been given no cover; there was no intelligence gathering; no preparation. 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. Ukraine's Operational Command South reported in a . 2d ago. 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. . 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 arrests of the soldiers, whose . 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 . 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. Because they ignore everything. 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. Sergei made several trips to the front line to try to secure his son's release. According to an audio recording shared with Current Time, commanders met with the insubordinate soldiers on July 17, alternately threatening, begging, and trying to coerce them to remain in service or rescind their resignation requests. A senior US defense official said Russian volunteers are refusing to go into . 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. A Russian soldier was sentenced in July for refusing to fight in the Ukraine war. The whole time, not a single document was provided that would explain our arrest. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. 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. A Russian soldier's service card was stamped "traitor" for refusing . 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 Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Russian military regulations provide some legal justification and procedures for soldiers who disobey orders, according to Sergei Krivenko, a rights activist -- particularly for those who state they are anti-war, or pacifists. These people are ready for anything. Approximately 60 paratroopers from Russia's Pskov region have refused to be deployed to Ukraine, newspaper Pskovskaya . 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. 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 . (Reuters Photo) Russian soldiers fighting the war in Ukraine are in disarray and crying as they are asked to "fire at . Instead they were expected to operate without even basic equipment, such as night vision devices, he says. Then I got a text message saying he and four other officers had been put in a basement. 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. ", Russian mum's fight to save sons from Putin's war, Mariupol: 80 days that left a flourishing city in ruins, Pinned down by Russian fire in key frontline village. "Pictures of Russian vehicles running out of fuel and casualties being abandoned where they . Without a formal . ", "My first thoughts were 'Is this really happening to me?'". The Russian defense ministry didnt respond to the Guardians request for comment. A stamp that was purportedly placed in the military-service booklet of one soldier who refused to serve in Ukraine. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us.