Prison camp for Russian draftees refusing to go to war previously located in Luhansk region reportedly moved to another location

The prison camp previously located in the basements in the self-proclaimed Luhansk “people’s republic” (“LPR”) that held 20 Russian draftees who refused to go to war in Ukraine with no training, was moved to another location, ASTRA news outlet reports, citing sources in the Luhansk region, as well as relatives of the draftees held there.

“The majority of the men unlawfully held there were transported to a new camp basement for those refusing to take part in combat activity. They used lies, threats and torture to get them there. Its exact location is unknown so far. <…> It seems that there are several basements of this kind for the men refusing to go to war,” the publication reads.

“We’ll shoot you and throw you in a pit, and then tell your relatives that you went MIA,”

— this is what the commanders are saying to the prisoners, according to their relatives who spoke to ASTRA.

“This is how they’re trying to get the draftees who wrote reports refusing to take part in the special military operation back to the front line. When they understood that convincing them doesn’t work, the commanders started threatening them. The surnames and rank of the commanders is not known, they did not introduce themselves. The prisoners contacted us a few days ago and told us they hadn’t been fed for several days,” their relatives told ASTRA.

What is more, the families of the draftees said that about 80 men held at one of such basements had been forced to undress completely, so that the officers could confiscate their phones. “They were beaten. They feed them very poorly. They are forcing them to go to the front line as cannon fodder, but the guys are refusing to do that. Everyone wrote reports [refusing to take part in combat],” they said.

Earlier, ASTRA published a video with draftees held in a basement in the Luhansk region. ASTRA’s source said that the draftees’ commanders had abandoned them.

In August, Russian servicemen who were imprisoned in the “LPR” for refusing to go to war in Ukraine addressed the Russian Investigative Committee, saying that about 140 soldiers were unlawfully held in various places around the “LPR”.