"Only luck can save there." The story of an officer who escaped from the front

On September 20, the State Duma adopted a law on criminal liability for voluntary surrender, looting and refusing to participate in hostilities. The next day, Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization. In early September, one of the officers serving near St. Petersburg independently left the war zone in Ukraine and, having appeared in the unit in Belgorod, handed over weapons and refused to fight. Now a criminal case can be instituted against him. The officer who escaped from the front met with the correspondent of the North. Realiy and spoke about the mood in the Russian army, the terrible supply and disregard for the command to the soldiers. For security reasons, we do not publish its real name and surname.

Michael ( the name at his request was changed. - SR ) was born in Kaliningrad, immediately after school he entered the military educational institution, which he graduated in 2018. In the second year, he signed a contract for a period of 10 years - until 2023. He fell to serve in the military unit in the village of Uglovo near St. Petersburg. He is the senior military team, 12 people are under his leadership.

At the end of August 2022, Mikhail was told that he would need to leave the location of the military unit near St. Petersburg and go on a business trip with the detachment in Belgorod. Neither Michael nor his subordinates wanted to go to the border city, but the command of the unit said that it would put pressure on them until they agree to go to Syria, or to Belgorod, or to Ukraine. In case of refusal, they promised to initiate criminal cases against all.

Mikhail and his subordinates agreed to Belgorod, they were sent there by train. Under Belgorod, Mikhail stayed with his detachment for three days. After that, strong shelling began. The military immediately asked the command to transfer them to a safer place, but instead they were all taken to Ukraine.

“In fact, from that moment on, from the ultimatum set in part, we had to contact lawyers, but we never faced such situations in our lives, so we have no experience,” says Svetlana , the girl of Michael. - With such a decision, none of the guys agreed and did not sign any consent to participate in the special operation, although this is provided for the law. And they also did not give consent to go to the war in Ukraine.

Before a business trip to Belgorod, all uniforms had to be bought for her money, recalls Svetlana. When it became clear that the departure could not be avoided, Mikhail told Svetlana that he was sent to Ukraine along with the detachment and something should be done, because he did not want to go there.

- I wrote to the military prosecutor's office and organizations that could help. And Mikhail’s mother and his brother went to Belgorod to somehow agree with the leadership. As a result, mother and brother met with the commander, handed Misha some things, and his commander-his report that he was leaving the army. In parallel, the letter was sent to the Ministry of Defense. At this stage, the command was supposed to do everything to send Misha at the place of deployment of the part. But the command did not want to do this. They pulled time. They said that their car broke, so they could not pick up Misha. But in fact, everything was fine with the car. They thought, probably, what would he show him so as not to send him back to Russia, ”says Svetlana.

Mikhail himself says that immediately after February 24, he realized that sooner or later he would have to go to Ukraine.

-The unit began to “fall” in requests: provide so many people to send to Ukraine. I did not want to go there initially. Yes, and by that time I didn’t really want to serve, to be honest. Already at the school there were several crises, after which I had to break myself. I liked serving on the ship, but the unit is no longer. In fact, in the service I was still disappointed in the school. When he acted, he romanticized her, and then romance passed. There were several crises, when I had to overdo yourself and humble yourself, because there was no other way out.

-Have you had any problems with supply or uniforms when you went to Ukraine?

- There was one problem with the supply - it simply was not there. Is the 1957 helmet supply? The rest was bought at their own expense. People were asked, they searched for some sponsors. Both themselves and part are military. Well, with food ... When we were in Belgorod, we were fed volunteers, and when we left for Ukraine, they already mined food there.

Of the 20 days, during which Mikhail and his subordinates were on a business trip, they spent only three days on the territory of Belgorod. The rest of the time in Ukraine. There, according to him, some of the food shared their own, and the rest had to be extracted independently from the Ukrainian population in exchange for medicines.

Two days after the submission by the relatives of Mikhail, the reaction report from the command was not followed. In conversations with relatives, human rights activists advised Mikhail to get out on their own, having handed over a weapon. But this was not easy to do.

-It was impossible to leave on foot due to shelling. In the next detachment, they said in the end that they were in the same situation at the very beginning, but reached Belgorod, bought some kind of car for a penny. And now they themselves go there for food, the clothes needed and back. Because there the commander also does not provide anything.

- When did you realize that you need to leave there?

- Well, for us in Belgorod they pounded for a long time. The first shelling was generally without loss, but he just shook us. We realized that we got to where little depends on us. Only luck can help. And they realized that the next day, half of us would leave for the "ribbon" ( on Ukrainian territory. - SR ). Since I was the eldest, I talked with the guys and asked: what do you think? I believe that we must leave, because in our business trips it is written "Training of personnel", and instructions only to Belgorod. What training of personnel is incomprehensible, and we generally understand where. Half agreed with me, half did not. More age -old guys did not agree, about 40 years old. They promised them very good ones after a business trip. And they were very held for this business trip. Yes, they had nothing to lose. Someone is without a family, and someone has very large loans. They said they would remain. Well, since the elders decided that they were left, the younger ones said that they would remain too.

- Did you stay in one place while the artillery beat you?

- There several divisions were based, where we were, and after the first shelling, everyone left, except ours. Absolutely everyone left, because you can’t show your place. If you understand ( Ukrainian military. - SR ) that they are sitting here, then we must leave. This is logical. I talked a lot with the authorities that it was necessary to change the position soon. They did not want to listen at all: they answered that I did not understand anything. Well, I’m generally a marine officer, I never dig trenches, to be honest. For about five days in a row, artillery beat in this place, and on one unfortunate day the fighter killed fragments. I was already in Ukraine at this time.

- That is, your team was divided?

- Yes. Part was taken to the task there, to Ukraine. They said that you are driving for two days, then come back, and the other half rides. We left, took food for two days, even less. We thought that we would not be up to food. As a result, we left for 11 days. Nobody changed us and no one brought food. And the cartridges in Belgorod were given only tracer, two horns before sending. If you are not aware, I can say that no one is fighting with such cartridges. They are only for shooting. There was some kind of brigade before us, they simply threw these cartridges, and after them we got the same cartridges. Later, when we went to Ukraine, there we already agreed on the spot and we got normal cartridges.

- How did you get back to Belgorod?

- I realized that they would not take me out, agreed with the guys and found a car. He signaled the authorities in Belgorod that I was leaving. They gave "good" through telegrams. We communicate through telegrams, there is no other connection. I took with me another guy from my own to pick up things and food from Belgorod and bring the guys. Because the authorities simply ignored our requests. But it is still cold. September began, and we are in the Maskhalates alone, that is, generally stripped, they are transparent. The boy eventually loaded things and went back. And I remained in the part, to which I was attached as a business trip. There I made a note that I was leaving the business trip back to my part near St. Petersburg, and handed over weapons to the face, which was indicated to me.

When Mikhail appeared in his military unit near St. Petersburg, the authorities, according to him, was furious, hearing that he was leaving and left Ukraine without permission. One of the commanders immediately went to the military prosecutor’s office to find out what could be presented to the officer. After that, he received a document for acquaintance, which stated that he left the location, threw his soldiers, and handed over the weapons incorrectly. Now there is a military prosecutor’s office to figure out whether in the actions of Mikhail, or not, there will be a military prosecutor's office.

- Maybe they just scare, or maybe not, it is not clear yet. After he appeared in his unit, they immediately sent me to the psychiatrist to find out whether I can trust me with or not. Is everything all right with your head. Now I'm on sick leave. Yesterday I went to the unit and wrote a report on its extension. I was told there that they conduct an internal investigation, the results of which will then be transferred either to the Investigative Committee or to the prosecutor's office, I still did not understand. I read the source ( document. - SR ) that they wrote there. Desertion, a violation of the delivery of weapons that could lead to his possible loss, non -fulfillment of the order - which one, I still did not understand, because I did everything according to orders. And according to the documents, he was not in Ukraine at all. I did everything, as they said, in accordance with orders and orders. They also write that when he was there, he pulled away from the command, from personnel, was demoralized. In general, they are trying to sew something. That's all. Threaten criminal proceedings. Yes, not even what they threaten, but do it, in fact. There are no threats as such. The commander here, in unit, on the contrary, says: I understand you, there are no complaints about you. At the same time, he instructed to conduct an investigation. But to decide whether there is a corpus delicti or not, of course, it will not be.

- How did you feel about the Ukrainian population with whom you contacted in search of food?

- Differently. There were times when they wanted to call the police from Kharkov so that she would deal with us. We went without any aggression, although the machine guns were, of course with us. But here the point is not in aggression, but in the DRG ( sabotage and reconnaissance groups. - SR ), which walk around the rear villages and cause troubles. The local population often thought that we were doctors, paramedics. Because I treated all kinds of grandmothers there. Who broke the rib, who hands. Someone had a stomach ulcer. These villages seem to be under our control, but very rarely someone visited there to provide some help. And no one can really leave there either. And where will the granny go? So they tried to provide any medical care. Someone will give a saucepan in response. There were also hungry evenings, and there were those when they managed to feed the guys.

- How did those soldiers who were there relate to war?

- The attitude from the very beginning was negative and remains so. But the guys have nowhere to go. I myself worry, of course, I am nervous, because according to the new laws they can now plant me for a long time. With the army, I am clear that I am already a ditch.

The officer’s lawyer Sergei Loktev considers the prospects for initiating a criminal case against his client Mikhail are quite real.

- A criminal case can be instituted even without taking into account new amendments. In the editorial office in which the Code of Criminal Procedure acted, it is possible to initiate a case on the unauthorized abandonment of the military unit or desertion. These compositions are quite suitable in this case. But there are nuances. The case can be terminated if the perfect act was the result of a combination of difficult life circumstances. Such a case was already in my recent practice. The case ended with the termination of the contract due to non -fulfillment of the conditions. But there it was just about the contractor, and Michael belongs to the younger officer. And in the conditions of those amendments that the other day were adopted, the probability of his criminal prosecution, of course, is increasing. The leadership of the country actually gave the goat to the Ministry of Defense and the courts. If foreigners are ready to provide citizenship for participating in a special operation, this suggests that the personnel defect is very serious.

According to a number of experts, tightening the Criminal Code and announcing partial mobilization, the Russian authorities thereby admitted that the problem of refusal of military service is massive. Cases of refusal of Russian soldiers to fight in Ukraine have really become massive. The relevant media reports appeared repeatedly. The director of the human rights group “Citizen. Law” Sergei Krivenko, in an interview with the Rain TV channel, called changes in Russian legislation adopted by the State Duma and regarding military service, a serious strengthening of responsibility and explained that even before the adoption of amendments there was no legislative restriction to send conscripts to the combat zone and abroad. The only limiting condition is four months of service before sending and receiving a military accounting specialty.

According to the human rights group "Citizen. Army. Law", several thousand cases of refusal to fight in Ukraine and the requirements have already been recorded to terminate the contract on the basis of anti -war beliefs. And while there was not a single case of criminal prosecution for this. According to Krivenko, they cannot be. “There is no article in the Criminal Code for the fact that a person does not want to be a military personnel: that is, there is a criminal prosecution for failure to fulfill the order, but there is no belief,” he explains.