The Insider* and Bellingcat* have published a joint investigation into the claims filed by the relatives of Russian servicemen, in which they say that soldiers are forcibly being sent to Ukraine and are not provided with sufficient food and medical care, while conscripts are being forced to sign up for contract service. The investigation is published by The Insider.
Relatives of Russian nationals also reported cases of looting and violence on the territories occupied by Russian forces.
“When on 8 April, they started shelling their positions from Grads [multiple rocket launchers], my parents dropped to the floor and waited for the shelling to stop. After that, they fled to the neighbouring farm to wait out the unstable situation. The next day, when my mother came back home in the morning, she saw that our garage was a mess… a big tank knocked down our gate, tore down our huge paved fence, knocked down a large hangar gate in our garage, which fell on the cars that were parked there. <…> Then they stole spare parts and tools to the tune of 200,000 rubles [€3,190]. They even stole spare change from the car and a condom from my brother’s car. Tell me, are they even human?” one of the claims reads.
Many of the claims cited by The Insider say that Russian soldiers were sent to Ukraine under false pretences. “They sign the contracts for them and take them there under false pretences. I would like to add that when they were in Mykhailivka, a tractor came and cleared out a patch of land for them, as they didn’t have any tents, they slept on mattresses right on the ground, in the winter,” the media outlet quotes one of the claims. Contract soldiers were threatened with criminal charges if they refused to take part in the war.
The claims also note that some of the servicemen thought that they were being sent to take part in military exercises, and they only found out they were in Ukraine after they had crossed the border. No one asked for their consent to participate in the war, the article says.
Relatives of Russian soldiers also complained about the living conditions of the servicemen and the low level of medical care. Other claims note that the Russian military did not provide information on the captured and killed soldiers to their families. The army also failed to retrieve the bodies of dead soldiers.
Earlier today, Verstka news outlet reported that a group of Russian citizens in reserve had been sent from St. Petersburg and the St. Petersburg region to Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, for “military training”. Human rights advocates point out that some of the reservists were summoned to conscription offices by phone, while others were handed call-up papers at their place of employment. The men were told that the training would last from 56 to 60 days.
*The Russian government considers The Insider and Bellingcat “undesirable” organisations. Reposting this news article in Russia may lead to a fine. A repeat offence could result in criminal charges.
