This is not our 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. 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. 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 . Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. appreciated. "But he said he was going. 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. Read also: UK intelligence estimates Russian losses near Vuhledar. The soldier was a serving officer in the Russian army when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. By early July, Kaminsky said, he'd had enough: He refused to fight, one of 78 soldiers from his brigade who have refused orders. They ignore any requests. The commanders know only violence and intimidation. A Russian military unit deployed in Ukraine's south has refused to fight over a lack of vital supplies such as water, Ukraine said Sunday. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports on the conflictin Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin touts success, yet some ofhis soldiers refuse to fight. All Rights Reserved. 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. A Russian soldier has been sentenced for refusing to fight in the war in Ukraine. Artillery sentry duty? "But refusing to fight was a difficult decision for him to take. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. They began to stir and offer up some alternatives when people started specifically saying no, he said. Troops had been withdrawn from northern Ukraine and appeared to be regrouping for an assault in the east. Some large government-run companies have received letters urging them to sign up their staff for the army. It doesn't make sense. Sergei and Stas are not the real names of this father and son. Im warning you, this is a final offer, he is heard telling the soldiers. Law enforcement located the man, Marsel Kandarov, in September, the statement added. By Timofei Rozhanskiy. The range of experience varies. Russian troops release video as they say they will not fight. 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 . But I was thinking, Im still young; at any moment, a piece of shrapnel, a bullet could fly into my head. 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. But he stresses that Russian military law does include clauses which allow soldiers to refuse to fight if they don't want to. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. It's not a war of liberation'," the man told the BBC. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! A Russian soldier has been sentenced for refusing to fight in the war in Ukraine. Soldiers with the 127th Regiment of the 1st Army Corps rioted, according to the operational command. My contract ends in June. 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 . Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world. 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. Reinforcements failed to arrive and soldiers were poorly equipped for the task of taking a large city. If we had moved gradually, if we had checked the roads for mines many losses could have been avoided.". Albert Sakhibgareev was sent near the Ukrainian border in early February for "training exercises," the . "Another reason is the foul way they're being treated. His unit moved on through the Ukrainian countryside, but there was a clear lack of strategy, he says. "It was blown up from a grenade launcher or something else. Other units include troops from private military companies like Vagner, or specialized, semiautonomous units overseen by Chechnyas strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. Why wasn't it done?". "So off he went to Ukraine. 03:25. At some point, Kaminsky's unit was then transferred to Luhansk, in Ukraines Donbas region. They forgot their military oaths, the ceremonial promise, their vows of duty to their Fatherland, the board reads. Feb. 27 2023, Published 8:05 a.m. The announcement triggered an exodus of men from Russia, with many fleeing to neighbouring countries including Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Among them were 12 national guardsmen from Russias southern city of Krasnodar who were fired after refusing to go to Ukraine. Im tired. Kaminsky said discontent had been building in the unit for weeks, if not months. 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. 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. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, When disinfo specialists lie, Gray Ladys DeSantis frustration and other commentary, Putins former spin doctor-turned-critic dead, Ukraines northeastern front could decide new battle lines, Biden needs to step up military aid for Ukraine fast. 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. 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. 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. 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. . The soldier, along with several others who decided not to take part in the fight anymore, put his refusal in writing. ", Stas was a serving officer when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. So, they beat him over the head several times with a pistol. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! He and several others who'd decided to refuse had their guns taken off them and were put under armed guard.". Stas told his father about one particular battle. 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". 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters Photo) Russian soldiers fighting the war in Ukraine are in disarray and crying as they are asked to "fire at . Russias troops in Ukraine are largely made up of contract soldiers: volunteer personnel who sign fixed-term contracts for service. Russian soldier Ilya Kaminsky says rank-and-file troops have "absolutely no trust . ET. Argument | Michael Walzer. ", "We do not have any problems with soldiers leaving combat positions," the Kremlin leader continued. He told me his face was covered in blood. But his stand changed after the soldier found out he had been sent to fight with "no intelligence gathering, no preparation and no cover". This is not our war. CNN in Russia 10 videos. 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. Many of the units that are supposed to train conscripts are fighting themselves, Lee said. Sergey is just one of hundreds of Russian soldiers understood to have been seeking such advice. "I can see that the war continues, it is not going away," he told the BBC. If no ones willing to take the offers from the brigade commanders, I wont detain you. He believes his commanders had planned to capture strongholds and key cities very quickly - and had calculated that the Ukrainians would simply surrender. A Russian court sentenced a 24-year-old professional soldier to five years in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine, officials have said. Poland sent the German-made tanks to help Ukraine repel Russian troops and send a "clear and measurable signal of further support", said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who was visiting Kyiv . 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. Honestly, we had to supply ourselves with food. 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. 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. Hundreds of Russian soldiers have refused to fight or fled their posts since the war in Ukraine began, according to report published Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal. There are reports of mobilised Russian troops locked in cellars and basements for refusing to fight in Ukraine. In . It is unfair, I am fighting in this war just as the others in Ukraine, risking my life, the soldier said. That is not to say that prosecutions are not being attempted. In particular, conscripts are starting to cancel their contracts. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports on the conflict in Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin boasts of success, though some of his soldiers refuse to 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. Just refuse," Sergei recalls telling Stas, who was already an army officer. "Later I was told that the building they were in had been shelled and that all five men were missing. And that means he cant be prosecuted for desertion or going AWOL. 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