Women in Russian Urals attempt to stop bus returning soldiers to Ukraine

A group of women in Russia's Sverdlovsk region attempted to stop a bus carrying soldiers who had left their units without permission from returning them to the front, journalist Dmitry Kolezev reported.

The confrontation took place in the town of Verkhnyaya Pyshma. Footage of the incident shows around six women forming a line across a narrow road to block the bus's path. According to Kolezev, the video was filmed on 21 June outside a facility where the servicemen were being held.

In the footage, the women can be heard shouting: “Don't go anywhere, get off!”; “Let them out!”; and “Nobody wants to go!”

After the bus stops, a military van pulls up alongside it. One woman presses her hands against the vehicle's hood, blocking it. A serviceman steps out, and the women crowd around him, some pleading with him to let them pass belongings to the men on the bus, and others demanding that all the men be released outright.

At one point, several of the women are allowed to approach the bus. However, the driver uses the opportunity to pull away. The women, crying, run after the bus, pounding on its sides. One is heard pleading, “Let me hug my son!”

According to Kolezev, around 30 men were taken from the facility that day. They were first flown to Rostov and then sent back to the combat zone in Ukraine.

All of the soldiers had reportedly been awaiting formal charges and trial for leaving their units without authorisation. Rather than facing court, they were returned to the front with no chance to refuse. Among them, according to witnesses, were men with severe wounds and serious medical conditions.