A group of Russian soldiers are suing the army after they were fired for refusing to fight in Ukraine. 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 . 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. 'You're Nobody' 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. Eventually his efforts paid off. 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. The soldier was a serving officer in the Russian army when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. 2023 BBC. A Russian court sentenced Marsel Kandarov to five years in prison for refusing to take part in the special military operation. "In these months [of compulsory military service] that I have left, anything - including the worst - could happen. "Later I was told that the building they were in had been shelled and that all five men were missing. Honestly, we had to supply ourselves with food. Law enforcement located the man, Marsel Kandarov, in September, the statement added. I told him: 'Better to take it. 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 latest as of 7.15 a.m. Russia blaming Ukraine for killing of daughter of Putin ally, Daughter of Putin ally dies when car explodes, Russian media says, 'Russia is not Putin': 76-year-old Russian uses her art to speak out, Russian priest says he's helped 'thousands' of Ukrainian refugees get to Europe, Putin unveils imperialist mission: taking back land he says is Russia's, See rebranded McDonald's restaurants unveiled in Russia, CNN reporter was at Russia's Victory Day parade. In particular, conscripts are starting to cancel their contracts. 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. I still havent seen her. Instead, men in uniform arrived and offered them amnesty if they agreed to fight alongside the Russian army in . 27-year-old Chinese man struggles to find job because he l King Charles to evict Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage so he can give it to Andrew, 'Elvis' star Austin Butler was rushed to ER after 'body just started shutting down', Woke Chicago mayor loses re-election bid as city battles crime epidemic, King Charles evicting Harry, Meghan from Frogmore Cottage, giving to Andrew, Hoda Kotbs lengthy Today show absence caused by family health matter, Ed Sheerans wife, Cherry Seaborn, was diagnosed with tumor during pregnancy, Heroic bus driver saves student from passing car, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of Today After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry have first night out since bombshell 'Spare' released. I want to return to my family and not in a casket.. The soldier, identified by the alias Vladimir, testified he was held in the town of Bryansk with about 80 soldiers guarded by the shadowy organization Wagner Group. It is, first of all, a classic example of military aggression; it is a war without a just cause. 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. The prisoners at the penal colony in St. Petersburg were expecting a visit by officials, thinking it would be some sort of inspection. "We rushed forward with short overnight stays, without trenches, without reconnaissance. Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine. ", Stas was a serving officer when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. Read about our approach to external linking. It said that the troops lacked support, while personnel in advanced positions didn't have water. And that means he cant be prosecuted for desertion or going AWOL. All asked that their names be withheld for fear of further punishment or retaliation by commanders. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. The way my son was treated wasn't only illegal, it was inhuman.". 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. 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. Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world. A Russian soldier's service card was stamped "traitor" for refusing . Servicemen fire a 120mm mortar towards Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut, Ukraine. 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. - Ukraine's President . The soldier was a serving officer in the Russian army when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. 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 . But, he had been sufficiently worried about his unit's reaction to his refusal that he decided to seek legal advice. A Russian court has sentenced a 24-year-old professional soldier to five years in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine, officials said Thursday. Russian resistance is growing against Putin's war. 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 soldiers testimony said war-weary soldiers were urged by superiors to return to the fight. Alexander Avilov / Moskva News Agency. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Reinforcements failed to arrive and soldiers were poorly equipped for the task of taking a large city. 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. .. 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. Of the 78 soldiers from Kaminskys unit who have disobeyed orders, some have been ordered held in a makeshift brig for days, he said. Russia announced the mobilisation of 300,000 men in late September after suffering battlefield defeats at the hands of Ukrainian forces. They don't care about the life of a soldier; whats more important is his position and rank, Kaminsky said. But there's a more common explanation. The men, who belonged to the key headquarters of the Pskov . 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 . 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. 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. The range of experience varies. 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 . 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. The soldier, "not wanting to take part in a special . 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.. 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 . Russia has also turned to mercenaries to bolster its war efforts, deploying fighters from the shadowy Kremlin-linked Wagner group. My contract ends in June. The enemy has somewhat reduced its activity for the fourth day, he said. 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. 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. More than 550,000 soldiers from Putin's failing army have been killed or injured so badly in Ukraine that they are no longer able to fight, according to Minusrus. The arrests of the soldiers, whose . 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. . They were furious. Homesick. Putin's army continues its full-scale aggression in Ukraine. 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. Argument | Michael Walzer. Feb. 27 2023, Published 8:05 a.m. Frank Gardner looks at what lies ahead as winter arrives in Ukraine. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Back in his living room, Sergei tells me that what happened to Stas in Ukraine has brought them closer together. 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. And there is no guarantee that more prosecutions might not emerge in the future. At the beginning of April, Sergey was sent back over the border to a camp on the Russian side. The soldier, along with several others who decided not to take part in the fight anymore, put his refusal in writing. They made him lie on the ground and told him to count to ten. They didn't even [try to] dissuade us, because we weren't the first," Sergey told the BBC. Almost immediately his unit found itself under attack. Sergei and Stas are not the real names of this father and son. What's he waiting for? War-weary Russian soldiers have been thrown in jail by their commanders after they refused to fight in Ukraine over the invasions total disregard for human life, a new report claims. The president announced what he called a "partial mobilisation", drafting hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens into the armed forces. He gets it now. Sergey says he is traumatised by his experience in Ukraine. He refused. . Troops are saying no to officers, knowing that punishment is light while Russia is not technically at war. The unit, stationed in Russias far east during peacetime, first entered Ukraine from Belarus when the war started at the end of February and saw bitter combat with Ukrainian forces. Russia has suffered a series of military setbacks in the Ukraine war that triggered criticism of the army's leadership. The BBC has been speaking to one such soldier. Many of us simply did not want to go back, said Dmitri, a member of the unit who asked not to be identified with his real name. He told me his face was covered in blood. What is being given to Ukraine by the UK? 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I will serve my remaining time and then I am out of here, he said. 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. Sergei made several trips to the front line to try to secure his son's release. After that, I wont look at any new offers.. Once again, we have changed their names. Dmytrashkivskyi added the Russians had carried out 15 assaults over the past day, while the same number stood at 60 assaults per day a month ago. The whole time, not a single document was provided that would explain our arrest. 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. If a soldier acts according to such procedures, then he cannot be criminally prosecuted for this. 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