Anyone who disobeys Putin’s orders will be imprisoned. Many Russian soldiers who do not want to go to war have already experienced this. This also applied to the contract soldiers Aleksandr A.* and Andrey V.*, the reservist Mikhail N.* and the relatives of three other mobilized men. For two weeks, the army forcibly detained the men in a basement in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic.
As the “Nowaya Gazeta” reports, the deserters have reported abuse of office, kidnapping and illegal detention. This has been announced by the Russian human rights organization Agora. Like countless Russian soldiers before them, the soldiers had deserted due to “insufficient medical and material support” at the front.
As a result, Putin’s henchmen put the deserters in a cellar along with 280 mobilized men. “We got nothing to eat for the first three days. We received three expired rations for nine people, which we ate for three days,” reservist Mikhail N. said in a statement.
Iron bucket and plastic bottles as a toilet
The head of the human rights organization, Pavel Chikov (44), also speaks of “inhumane conditions”. In addition, they were psychologically pressured and threatened by the Russian commanders and the military prosecutor’s office.
According to the report, Russian soldiers who had been imprisoned in Luhansk for conscientious objection filed a complaint with the Commission of Inquiry as early as August. According to the document, about 140 soldiers were illegally detained at various locations in Luhansk.
Not only was there a lack of food, but also toilets. Iron buckets and plastic bottles should be enough to do their business, the statement said.
Deserters still imprisoned
The Russian soldiers, who have now initiated a criminal case with the help of the human rights organization, would only have been fired after their military contract had expired. Reservist Mikhail N., who is not a contract soldier, was also released on November 13. The Russian, apparently sent into battle “without medical examination and without proper combat training”, was suffering from health problems.
According to human rights activist Chikov, some of the deserters have been released, but mobilized men must remain in the basement. (dzc)
* Names known