About 20 Russian conscripts reportedly held in basements in Luhansk ‘people’s republic’ for refusing to go to war in Ukraine with no training

About 20 Russian draftees are being held in basements in the self-proclaimed Luhansk “people’s republic” (“LPR”) for refusing to go to war in Ukraine with no training. A video shot by one of the draftees was published by ASTRA news outlet.

Relatives and friends of several draftees from Russia’s Lipetsk and Bryansk region contacted ASTRA.

“They are civilians who didn’t have any training. They were immediately sent to the front line. The draftees came under mortar fire there, after which they returned to their unit in the Luhansk region and found that all their personal items had disappeared. Then they were ordered to go to the front line again, but they refused, realising that they are being sent there without a clear objective, and without the necessary items for fulfilling these unclear objectives,” a friend of one of the draftees told ASTRA. After the conscripts refused to go to the front line, they had their guns taken away and were sent to a basement with unsuitable living conditions.

ASTRA’s source said that during their time in the basement, their command had abandoned them. They were sent to a military commandant’s office in Rubizhne, a town in the Luhansk region.

“At the military commandant’s office, they were placed in a cell that also had unsuitable living conditions. After they spent 10 days there, they were visited by prosecutors and presented with an ultimatum: either they go to the front line or they face criminal charges and 10 years in prison,” he said.

The wife of another draftee told the news outlet that the men had been transported to a former prison in the Perevalsk district of the Luhansk region. “There are 20 people who refused. They aren’t deserters, they haven’t left their positions. They refused to return to their positions (after they were ordered to retreat) and to come under mortar fire, without their command and without heavy equipment. The command has abandoned them,” she said.

In August, Russian soldiers that were held in the self-proclaimed Luhansk “people’s republic” for refusing to go to war in Ukraine addressed the Investigative Committee. The document said that about 140 soldiers were unlawfully held in various locations in the “LPR”.