The Pentagon estimates the number of Russian casualties in the Ukraine war at 70,000 to 80,000 dead and wounded. The desperate measures taken by the Kremlin to force its own soldiers to the front also suggest that these figures could be close to reality.
The Russian army is bleeding out in Ukraine. Although the Kremlin has not said a word about the casualties of its armed forces since last March, information is still leaking out that indicates high casualties. In the Russian provinces, freshly dug graves for fallen soldiers line entire streets. In Ukraine, bodies are piled up in train wagons that nobody picks up. While in Russia desperate mothers await the remains of their sons. (Like the mother of Maxim Khanygin, who died in the first days of the war and for whom an empty grave awaits at home.)
But it is above all the actions of the Kremlin itself that bear witness to the disastrous situation in the ranks of the Russian armed forces. In the Russian republic of Chechnya, Putin’s bloodhound Ramzan Kadyrov has men kidnapped into the army. Several human rights organizations report that those affected are being forced into service under threat of torture or imprisonment. In Russian prisons, for weeks, inmates have been recruited. The government tries to lure volunteers to the front by promising large sums of money. Russian state television tells the story of a fallen soldier whose death allowed his family to buy a car. The Russian government promises the survivors of those killed in action up to seven million rubles. Even if this sum is hardly ever paid out, in the minds of Kremlin propaganda, contributions of this kind are supposed to take away the fear of a loss from the relatives of soldiers.
And once you’re in the service of the Russian army, you won’t get away from it that quickly. Cancellations will not be accepted. This was recently reported by the Russian paratrooper Pawel Filatiew, who fought in the Ukraine for two months and has now written a book about this time. Although he submitted the resignation due to his health condition, it will not be accepted, he told the . Now he fears that, according to the stories in his book, he will soon be arrested.
“Objectors” held in cellars by Wagner troops
At the end of July it became known that Russian soldiers who refused to fight in Ukraine were being illegally detained in the town of Bryanka, Luhansk region. Dozens of men are said to be in basements under the supervision of members of the Wagner mercenary group. One of them now told how soldiers who don’t want to go to war are dealt with.
He told the Russian independent what terror he was subjected to after he tried to refuse service. According to the military, he was taken to the city of Bryanka along with other “resisters” where they were given the choice of either going back to the front or being held in custody. “We all opted for pre-trial detention,” the soldier said of the Russian colonel’s ultimatum, whom he identifies as Nechiporenko. “We thought he was trying to scare us. But then we were rounded up, eleven people, and taken away. We asked: where to? To Rostov, they said. In the end we ended up in a cellar.”
“Now you’re really screwed”
They spent six hours there before being put on a van and taken back to the front. “This is the 57th Brigade,” the men were told. When, after talking to the troops’ political officer, they refused to fight again, they were loaded onto the transporter again with an unknown destination.
“When we arrived, we were told: Now you’re really screwed. As a result, five people again agreed to go to the front. The other six were taken to a grove nearby.” Individually, they had to get out of the car to have their hands bandaged and their eyes taped shut. Then it was off again with the transporter to an unknown destination. “We didn’t see where we were being taken, we were blindfolded,” the soldier reported about what happened that night. “When we were dropped off, we were placed against a wall, our shoelaces and belts were removed, and all personal belongings were taken from us.”
“We spent 27 hours there – blindfolded and blindfolded, without water, without a toilet”
“In the end, they put three people each in a room the size of one square meter. We spent 27 hours there – blindfolded and blindfolded, without water, without a toilet.”
Eventually the blindfolds were removed. Masked men simply asked one question: “Are you going to the front or not?” Four of the detained soldiers then agreed to go back to war. He and another man continued to refuse, the soldier reports. “Ten minutes later they dragged us both out, beat us and threatened to shoot us in the knees. After that we agreed.”
According to the military, the men in balaclavas mainly hit the legs and lower back, so no bruises would be seen. “There were three of them, two hit, one loaded a gun,” the soldier said of his tormentors. “Then he released the safety and held the gun to my knee.” At this point he buckled.
The “refuser” came back to the front. Shortly afterwards, however, he was injured and ended up in a hospital in Russia. Now he wants to press charges of torture.
Ministry of Defense denies involvement in “special center” in Ukraine
At least 130 people are said to have been held in the “special center” in Bryanka. While some were being brought back to the front, the next “refusers” would be brought in. “The Insider” published information about 17 victims.
Several military personnel who managed to escape from the “special center” told The Insider that fighters from the Wagner mercenary force and representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry – Colonel Nechiporenko and Lieutenant Colonel Tumanov – were “breaking” people there. The Russian military leadership denied any involvement in what happened in Bryanka and said the contract soldiers were being held by military forces of the self-proclaimed Luhansk Republic.
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Source: Stern
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