Maxim Grebeniuk, a lawyer who runs the Moscow-based defense organization Military Ombudsman, said at least four Russian soldiers had submitted written complaints to the investigative commission, demanding punishment for the superiors who oversaw their detention. “We already have a list of 70 Russian soldiers who were held as prisoners. In total, about 140 soldiers were detained,” added Grebeniuk, who represented the soldiers. In a written statement sent to Russian prosecutors on August 1 and reviewed by the Guardian, one soldier described how, after refusing to return to the battlefield, he was imprisoned for more than a week in different cells in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region. “As a result of what I believe were tactical and strategic mistakes made by my commanders … and their complete disregard for human life … I have made the decision not to continue in the military operation,” said Vladimir, a soldier whose name was changed at his request. Vladimir said he was captured on July 19 and placed in a room with barred windows where he was kept without food along with 25 other soldiers from his unit who also refused to fight. Shortly thereafter, Vladimir said he was taken to the town of Bryansk in Luhansk, where he was held in a former school that had been turned into a military base with about 80 other soldiers from different units who had similarly refused to continue participating in the invasion. He said he was guarded there by members of the private military company Wagner, a notorious organization that has been accused of committing human rights abuses while fighting alongside the Russian military in Ukraine. “They [Wagner soldiers] he told us that mines had been planted outside the military base and that anyone trying to escape would be considered an enemy and shot on the spot,” the soldier wrote. “We were fed once a day at noon. There was no basic hygiene. “All the while, not a single document was provided to explain our arrest. We imprisoned illegally,” Vladimir wrote, asking prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into two Russian colonels and a major who he said were responsible for his imprisonment. Russia’s defense ministry did not respond to Guardian inquiries for this article. Vladimir said he was eventually able to leave the facility after a military doctor recommended he be treated for injuries he sustained earlier in the war. It was not immediately clear if other Russian soldiers were still being held in Luhansk. The soldiers’ jailing, first reported last week by the independent investigative outlet Insider, adds to growing evidence that some Russian units in Ukraine continue to be plagued by low morale and infighting. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Some Russian court documents previously revealed that hundreds of soldiers have been fired for refusing to take part in the invasion. But the written complaints are the first official testaments to shed light on the harshest punishments faced by those who refuse to fight in Ukraine. The Kremlin has not officially declared war, meaning that contract soldiers who choose not to fight can face dismissal but cannot be prosecuted or jailed, said Michael Benias, a lawyer who has previously represented soldiers who refused orders to they go to Ukraine. Pointing to this fact, Vladimir wrote: “Military personnel can be deprived of their freedom only in cases strictly defined in Russian law, that is, when they are believed to have committed a crime.” The soldier’s imprisonment also shows Russia’s growing problems with troop availability as the war approaches its sixth month. Vladimir said that during his imprisonment, commanders repeatedly put pressure on soldiers, urging them to change their minds and return to the battlefield. “Some soldiers, under threat of violence, were simply driven out to unknown destinations, not seen since,” he wrote. Western intelligence agencies have argued that Russia will soon exhaust its combat capabilities and be forced to halt its offensive in Ukraine. Russia, which has decided not to declare a general mobilization, has stepped up its efforts to recruit new soldiers. But despite this recruitment drive, Richard Moore, the head of the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), said last week that Moscow was “ready to run out of steam” in Ukraine. “I think our assessment is that the Russians will find it increasingly difficult to procure manpower in the coming weeks,” he said.
