Mobilized Russians, refusing to fight, abandoned at front line then locked in basement – Meduza
Mobilized Russians (Photo:Ministry of Defense of Russia/Telegram)
Russian mobilized soldiers who refused to fight were abandoned at the front line in Luhansk Oblast and then locked in a basement with more than 200 people, independent Russian-language news outlet Meduza reported on Nov. 13.
According to media reports by media Current Time TV and Siren, two mobilized residents of Moscow Oblast, who had not been trained, were abandoned near Svatove in Luhansk Oblast.
They, along with other conscripts, were sent to the front line in Ukraine, where they were ordered to dig trenches.
After a while, artillery shelling began. The men told the media that they stayed at their position for three days without food and water. Their commanders abandoned them, and the mobilized soldiers had nothing but machine guns. As a result, they retreated.
After that relatives publicly protested against the men’s treatment, the conscripts were eventually taken back to Russia on Kamaz trucks.
"As soon as they arrived at a military unit in Belgorod, very strong pressure began,” says the sister of one of the men.
“They were called (cowards), animals... (All the insults) one can think of. This is what the commanders said. All because they retreated. Because they should have returned to the front line as cannon fodder."
When the officers realized that the refuseniks could not be returned to the front line with insults and threats, they took them back to Luhansk Oblast.
"My brother got in touch and said that they were in a basement in Zaitseve,” one of the relatives said.
“They kept them there for a day. They were read an order, and they had to confirm in a video that they refuse to join the ‘(Special Military Operation)’. Now the guys are threatened with this video – that they did not obey this order. As my brother said, there were 250 people in Zaitseve when he was there. This is just captivity. Russian captivity.”
A similar story happened with refuseniks from Kursk Oblast, who were also left on the front line by their commanders. The wife of one of the mobilized men said that for refusing to return to the front line, her husband was taken to the village of Holubivka, Luhansk Oblast, where he was put in a basement. Now there are 38 people in this basement.
"They are asking for help,” the woman said.
“It’s terrible there, there are sick, wounded guys. It’s a real prison.”
Earlier, it was reported that dozens of wives and mothers of mobilized Russians sent to Svatove district of Luhansk Oblast had begun to gather at the border with Ukraine.
The women demanded to return their relatives, as the units in which they serve suffer huge losses, and their commander do not allow them to retreat, under the threat of execution.
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