Russian conscript tortured and killed for refusing to fight in Ukraine

A 19-year-old Russian conscript has been killed in Russia’s far eastern Primorsky region for refusing to be deployed to the country’s Kursk region, where a Ukrainian incursion is ongoing, independent news outlet IStories reported on Friday.

Artyom Antonov, a conscript from the Volga region republic of Tatarstan who had been performing his mandatory one-year military service in Russia’s Far East since July, was killed during training at the Ilyinsky firing range near the border with China on 21 October, when his commanding officer fired an assault rifle into a line of soldiers, shooting Antonov in the head, according to a police document cited by IStories.

The document also said that Antonov had been sent to the firing range to train for his deployment to the “border area” in Russia’s Kursk region, part of which is currently controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

A relative of Antonov who declined to be named told IStories that he had likely been shot for refusing to sign a contract with the Russian Defence Ministry to fight in Ukraine, adding that Antonov had told his friends he was being pressured by his commanding officers to sign it.

The relative also said that Antonov had spoken of being tortured by his unit’s commanders, who apparently beat him with iron rods on his arms and neck and refused to provide him with medical care. Antonov’s family was notified of his death only two days after the shooting, which the relative suggested had given the officers time to “cover their tracks”.

When Antonov’s family received his body, they discovered a bullet wound in the head and bruises all over his body. The family claims to know the name of the commanding officer they believe shot Antonov, but declined to share it with IStories for safety reasons.

It is not known whether the commanding officer who shot Antonov is in police custody.

While the Kremlin has repeatedly assured Russians that inexperienced soldiers would not be required to take part in combat operations in Ukraine, there have been numerous reports of conscripts being deployed to Russia’s southwestern Kursk region to tackle the AFU’s ongoing military incursion there.