They didn't even [try to] dissuade us, because we weren't the first," Sergey told the BBC. "They are keeping people there because they wanted to leave, refused to fight," the father alleged. Each of our interviewees had dealt with dozens of cases and believed those soldiers were also sharing advice with their colleagues. For many Russian soldiers, the war in Ukraine is one they don't want to fight. 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. 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 . One year from the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, a Catholic priest recounted how a Ukrainian soldier was spared from being killed by . He told me his face was covered in blood. While the exact number of soldiers refusing to fight remains unclear, such stories illustrate what military experts and western governments say is one of Russias biggest obstacles in Ukraine: a severe shortage of infantry soldiers. Separately, a military tribunal said it sentenced Kandarov to five years behind bars for evading military service during mobilisation for more than a month. I told him: 'Better to take it. A Russian serviceman takes part in military exercises outside the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the Russian Far East on September 4. The Russian authorities dismiss reports of disillusioned soldiers and detention centres as fake news. 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 . But without conscript battalions, Russia could soon struggle to hold the territory it currently controls in Ukraine, especially as Ukraine receives better equipment from Nato, he said. Why Russian Soldiers Are Refusing To Fight In The War On Ukraine. 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. Russia struggles to replenish its troops in Ukraine. Many Russian soldiers would rather be dismissed or transferred than fight in Ukraine. A Russian court sentenced a 24-year-old professional soldier to five years in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine, officials have said. Argument | Michael Walzer. They just don't care. And this, according to a video on social media app Telegram, has . Homesick. 'I'm Warning You, This Is A Final Offer' 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. Discovery Company. Among them were 12 national guardsmen from Russias southern city of Krasnodar who were fired after refusing to go to Ukraine. "It's a way of making people go back into that bloodbath," says Elena Popova from Russia's Movement of Conscientious Objectors. "The commanders' aim is to keep the soldiers down there. Russia has suffered a series of military setbacks in the Ukraine war that triggered criticism of the army's leadership. I thought a long time about it and came to the decision. Ukrainian service members are seen at the site of fighting with a Russian raiding group in Kyiv on the morning of February 26, 2022, according to Ukrainian service personnel at the scene. According to the head of his military commandant's office, Kononov was found at his place of residence with a friend after a search. Sergey joined the army as a conscript - most Russian men between the ages of 18-27 must complete one year of compulsory military service. He refused. My son told me, 'I never thought my own country would treat me this way.' 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. Nearly all . 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. 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. . 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.". He managed to contact his mother, Oxana, back in Russia to tell her what was going on. The soldier, "not wanting to take part in a special . Also, according to Dmytrashkivskyi, the 136th Brigade, which was formed for the war in Chechnya, has arrived in the Vuhledar area. And that means he cant be prosecuted for desertion or going AWOL. Stas was sent back to Russia. Newsweek was unable to independently verify those claims but reached out to Russia's foreign ministry for comment. 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. Youre just a soldier for them; youre nobody.. In October, a new general was appointed to lead Russia's offensive. 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 . Quote from the General Staff: "Troops from the so-called . He refused so they beat him over the head several times with a pistol. Three days of duty? As Russia has faced a surprisingly effective resistance from Ukraine, there have been reports of low soldier morale and chaos among the commanding ranks. The contract soldier was subsequently sentenced on July 21 to restriction in military service for one year, with a 10 percent deduction from his monetary allowance going to the state. Source: cnnespanol All news articles on 2023-02-28 You may like. Missing In Action: A Russian Soldier's Mother Desperately Seeks Answers, Vox Pop: Muscovites On How Russia's Isolation Affects Daily Life. Stas told his father about one particular battle. 2023 Cable News Network. Now, at least four want their superiors punished for the seemingly illegal arrests, according to the newspaper. 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. 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. "So many people don't . 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. A junior sergeant said he was injured during one of the recent Ukrainian attacks on the Russian border territory where he was stationed. 2d ago. Read about our approach to external linking. He heard of Russian servicemen so inexperienced that they "did not know how to shoot and couldn't tell one end of a mortar from another". CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports on the conflictin Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin touts success, yet some ofhis soldiers refuse to fight. He bombarded military officials, prosecutors and investigators with appeals for help. News/Politics 2022-12-22T11:35:49.577Z. We had no food, no water, he said. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The enemy has somewhat reduced its activity for the fourth day, he said. By Timofei Rozhanskiy. 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. (Reuters Photo) Russian soldiers fighting the war in Ukraine are in disarray and crying as they are asked to "fire at . They were furious. In his conversations with Current Time, Kaminsky lamented what he described as commanders callous disregard for the wellbeing of their troops. The soldier was a serving officer in the Russian army when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. Earlier Ukraines General Staff reported that invading Russian forces were seeing mass desertion among its troops amid Ukrainian military successes. But I was thinking, Im still young; at any moment, a piece of shrapnel, a bullet could fly into my head. Ukrainian media claims a "riot" broke out on the warships, based in nearby Crimea.. At the same time, a number of Russian helicopters and drones were flying over Luzanivka beach, preparing for landing.. So, they beat him over the head several times with a pistol. Born in Russia, he graduated from St. Petersburg State University and also received film and video production training at Bard College in New York. A stamp that was purportedly placed in the military-service booklet of one soldier who refused to serve in Ukraine. 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 . Why Russian Soldiers Are Refusing To Fight In The War On Ukraine. Eventually his efforts paid off. Anyone? If we had moved gradually, if we had checked the roads for mines many losses could have been avoided.". Sergei made several trips to the front line to try to secure his son's release. On 15 February, Ukraines Defence Intelligence reported that Russias losses were the largest since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. A Russian soldier who refused to continue fighting in Ukraine, he was beaten until his face was . By Robert Coalson. 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. It's absurd. And that, unfortunately, life would prove that.". By The Associated Press August 11, 2022. "We do not have any camps or incarceration facilities, or the like [for Russian soldiers]," President Putin insisted earlier this month. Russian troops also lost territory in the southern Kherson region as well as the Lyman transport hub in eastern Ukraine. 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. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. The airline carrier Wizz Air has announced it will . 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 . 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. Rumours abound of some Russian soldiers defying orders and refusing to cross into Ukraine to fight. Refusal then would mean much harsher penalties. At some point, Kaminsky's unit was then transferred to Luhansk, in Ukraines Donbas region. The soldiers testimony said war-weary soldiers were urged by superiors to return to the fight. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 2023 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved. It is, first of all, a classic example of military aggression; it is a war without a just cause. There are reports of mobilised Russian troops locked in cellars and basements for refusing to fight in Ukraine. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. It wouldn't cost much to equip us. Almost immediately his unit found itself under attack. Troops are saying no to officers, knowing that punishment is light while Russia is not technically at war. 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. It's not a war of liberation.' A Russian soldier has been sentenced for refusing to fight in the war in Ukraine. 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. They were continually shelled, he says, both when moving and when parked overnight. Russian soldier Ilya Kaminsky says rank-and-file troops have "absolutely no trust" in their higher command. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook. People in Kyiv are being warned of street fighting and "subversive groups" on the third day of the Russian invasion, with reports of 198 Ukrainians dead nationwide since troops first crossed the . Albert Sakhibgareev was sent near the Ukrainian border in early February for "training exercises," the . The private then pushed the officer in the chest. But the soldier later discussed with his father what would happen if he refused to fight. 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