Dozens of soldiers were imprisoned in the city of Luhansk, where they were guarded by Wagner Group mercenaries. "They told us that mines had been placed outside the military base and that whoever tried to flee would be considered an enemy and shot on the spot."
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Soldiers’ wives appeal: husbands returned to Ukraine after contract termination
30/ The wives of the soldiers recorded a video appeal saying their husbands had not been brought home despite terminating their contracts. 150 were put on a bus home, but were sent back to Ukraine while the FSB 'spoke with' the wives.
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Soldiers escape locked trucks heading to Ukraine
27/ "And [command] took them towards Ukraine in locked KAMAZ [trucks]. [The soldiers] figured it out on the way, starting jumping out of the vehicles. … They figured out something was wrong and started jumping out and shooting in the air.
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FSB officers try to return Izium soldiers to frontline knowing of slaughter
18/ In early May, Federal Security Service (FSB) officers arrived at Izium to try a different approach with Shyaga. "They tried very politely to return us to the frontline. I said that we are basically thrown into a senseless slaughter. The Lieutenant said they knew of all this.
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Spetsnaz also refused to assault Dovhen’ke
"I said it wasn’t just us who refused to assault Dovhen'ke, the spetsnaz [special forces] also refused to assault this village." He answered that ‘They know and they are working on it as well.’ He said ‘We do not judge any of you (who refused).’"
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Soldier’s rage against political officers: threats of violence in a hangar
15/ "We told them collectively – “go fuck yourself!”. Flesov flipped out, nearly smashed the brigade zampolit’s face. He was running away from him… I nearly flipped out, I thought if these zampolit faggots come once again, I’ll fucking shoot these scumbags, here in the hangar."
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Russian deserters nicknamed ‘500s’ by Moscow
Refusers, dubbed "500s" by the Russians ("200s" are dead, "300s" are wounded), span a wide range of personnel. Officers or foot soldiers, experienced or inexperienced, even special forces and mercenaries – all have quit. The Russian army has responded in a variety of ways.
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Political officer fires rifle near refusers, disarms potential dissenters in Izium.
11/ Shyaga says that "our 752nd regiment’s zampolit [political officer] in Izium was firing from an assault rifle near the feet of those who refused to join assaults. By that time they had around 30 people like that. He preemptively took away weapons from those who had them."
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Around 150 refusers in a battalion tactical group of 600-800
9/ Another said: "We have a fuckton of refusers!" Out of a likely battalion tactical group (600–800 men and officers), "around 150 people [are] refusers. All who come back from there, no one even has a right to judge them. Who would want to go to this hell a second time?"
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Russian soldiers quitting due to horrific battlefield experiences, intercepted calls reveal
8/ Intercepted calls published by Ukraine show many Russian soldiers quitting because of their appalling battlefield experiences. One said, "No one is returning. Everyone’s quitting. Everyone’s fucking off. Why is nothing shown on the TV, I don’t know, it’s a real massacre here."