It is, first of all, a classic example of military aggression; it is a war without a just cause. We were illegally jailed.. But, he had been sufficiently worried about his unit's reaction to his refusal that he decided to seek legal advice. Russian state media aired footage of blitzed buildings and abandoned streets in Bakhmut , the eastern city where Ukrainian forces have been . Ukrainians have been asked to avoid going near windows or on balconies and be . Despite speculation beforehand, Putin did not formally declare war on Ukraine during his Victory Day speech on 9 May. The man narrated the ordeal his son suffered to the BBC, saying that he had begged his son not to go. Three days of duty? "I can see that the war continues, it is not going away," he told the BBC. The soldiers testimony said war-weary soldiers were urged by superiors to return to the fight. 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.. It's not just Ukrainians resisting Vladimir . But significant damage has been done to that army, which has confronted logistical problems, poor morale and an underestimated Ukrainian resistance. A Russian soldier's service card was stamped "traitor" for refusing . 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. Its members have been deployed in the Donetsk area and are supposed to take control of the defense line until March 5, he added. 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 . 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. 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. Discovery Company. 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. Not only are they clueless, but they're simply refusing to fight, Scherba, who is currently in western Ukraine, tells co-host Molly-Jong-Fast. 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. They would be looking at time in prison.. A lawyer told Sergey and two like-minded colleagues to return their arms and go back to their unit's headquarters - where they should file a letter explaining that they were "morally and psychologically exhausted" and could not continue fighting in Ukraine. If no ones willing to take the offers from the brigade commanders, I wont detain you. The official warned that the next phase of the war was likely to be an "attritional conflict" which could last . This is one of many reported incidents where Russian soldiers have been accused of refusing to take up arms in 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. But by September that had all changed. Quote from the General Staff: "Troops from the so-called . "It was a difficult decision for him to take. He had helped oversee fighting in eastern Ukraine. We drove around it and on, firing as we went. 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. I dont regret it one bit. "Those refusing to fight are doing so because they've had more than their fair share of front line action," explains Elena Popova. My daughter was born three months ago. Emilio Morenatti. 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. 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 . 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. Law enforcement located the man, Marsel Kandarov, in September, the statement added. Troops had been withdrawn from northern Ukraine and appeared to be regrouping for an assault in the east. 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. 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. A Russian soldier has been sentenced for refusing to fight in the war in Ukraine. DeSantis won't say he's running. 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. Without a formal . Read about our approach to external linking. Other units include troops from private military companies like Vagner, or specialized, semiautonomous units overseen by Chechnyas strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. "We rushed forward with short overnight stays, without trenches, without reconnaissance. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. 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. We didn't leave anyone in the rear, so if someone decided to come in from behind and hit us there was no protection. The Ukrainian military on Friday reported significant fighting near Ivankiv, about 40 miles north west of Kyiv, as Russian forces apparently tried to advance on the capital from the north. The soldier was a serving officer in the Russian army when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. Like us on Facebook to see similar stories . He told me his face was covered in blood," the father said while speaking to the outlet. Sergey says he is traumatised by his experience in Ukraine. He said he would put his refusal in writing. 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. Heavy street fighting against Russian troops was underway in Kyiv as officials urged locals to take immediate shelter. "He said it was my choice. About 140 Russian soldiers have reportedly been jailed so far. At the beginning of April, Sergey was sent back over the border to a camp on the Russian side. 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. Commanders try to threaten their soldiers with prison time if they dissent, but we tell the soldiers that they can simply say no, Benyash said, adding that he was not aware of any criminal cases against soldiers who refused to fight. He believes his commanders had planned to capture strongholds and key cities very quickly - and had calculated that the Ukrainians would simply surrender. A group of Russian soldiers are suing the army after they were fired for refusing to 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. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. Initially he "believed it was right" despite his dad trying to convince him not to go to war, the BBC report said. "I think that [so many of] our guys died largely because of this. The Insider. There are reports of mobilised Russian troops locked in cellars and basements for refusing to fight in Ukraine. "It's a way of making people go back into that bloodbath," says Elena Popova from Russia's Movement of Conscientious Objectors. They made him lie on the ground and told him to count to ten. The range of experience varies. There are no legal grounds to start a criminal case if a soldier refuses to fight while on Russian territory.. Russia announced the mobilisation of 300,000 men in late September after suffering battlefield defeats at the hands of Ukrainian forces. ", "People here don't understand how much danger we're in. He refused. He refused so they beat him over the head several times with a pistol. "Then they took him into a room and told him: 'You're coming with us, otherwise we'll kill you.' A senior US defense official said Russian volunteers are refusing to go into . 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. Russian troops also lost territory in the southern Kherson region as well as the Lyman transport hub in eastern Ukraine. Video, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story, Ed Sheeran says wife developed tumour in pregnancy, Survivors describe 'nightmarish seconds' as trains crashed, Bieber cancels remaining Justice world tour dates, Daily walk prevents one in 10 early deaths - study, Trump lashes out at Murdoch over vote fraud case, Uranium particles enriched to 83.7% found in Iran, Why the lab-leak theory is being taken seriously, Finland starts construction of Russia border fence. By The Associated Press August 11, 2022. 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. We were fed once a day at lunchtime. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Unit commanders then staged an intervention. Anybody want it? the commander, a lieutenant colonel identified only by his surname Agafonov, can be heard telling the soldiers. When his son was sent to fight in Ukraine, Sergei begged him not to go. 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. They didn't even [try to] dissuade us, because we weren't the first," Sergey told the BBC. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has supported its eastern neighbour in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.Before the start of the offensive, Belarus allowed the Russian Armed Forces to perform weeks-long military drills on its territory; however, the Russian troops did not exit the country after they were supposed to finish. Ilya Kononov, a contract soldier from the city of Pskov in western Russia, was charged with "unauthorized . A Russian court sentenced Marsel Kandarov to five years in prison for refusing to take part in the special military operation. Reinforcements failed to arrive and soldiers were poorly equipped for the task of taking a large city. The soldier, "not wanting to take part in a . I still havent seen her. 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. They forgot their military oaths, the ceremonial promise, their vows of duty to their Fatherland, the board reads. A stamp that was purportedly placed in the military-service booklet of one soldier who refused to serve in Ukraine. Did you encounter any technical issues? 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. Reports from Russia said authorities would call up 300,000 people with "relevant" skills or military experience. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Russias troops in Ukraine are largely made up of contract soldiers: volunteer personnel who sign fixed-term contracts for service. 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.". 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. 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