- At least 60 Russian paratroopers from a unit in Pskov province have refused to fight in Ukraine, a report said.
- The troops have been dismissed and some are threatened with criminal prosecution, a Russian newspaper reported.
- Russian forces have suffered heavy casualties and reports indicate that morale is declining.
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According to the independent Russian newspaper Pskovskaya Gubernia, up to 60 Russian paratroopers from a unit in Pskov province refused to fight in Ukraine.
Troops were dismissed and some were threatened with prosecution for desertion or disobeying an order, the newspaper wrote on its Telegram channel.
Insiders have not been able to independently verify the report.
Pskovskaya Gubernia is a Russian newspaper known for its independent reporting. Amid the country’s crackdown on independent media, authorities last month raided the newspaper’s offices and the homes of senior executives, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Local activist Nikolay Kuzmin, who belongs to the opposition Yabloko party in Russia, appeared to confirm the Telegram report.
Kuzmin said he spoke to a driver who was transporting some of the paratroopers from Belarus back to Pskov, a key Russian Air Force base.
The Russian military’s airborne force, the VDV, has suffered heavy casualties in Ukraine, denting its former “elite” status.
One unit within the VDV, the renowned 331st Guards Parachute Regiment, lost its commander, Colonel Sergei Sukharev, and at least 39 other members.
Russian forces have suffered heavy casualties since the start of their invasion of Ukraine and reports suggest morale is declining.
The Pskov paratroopers are not the only ones who are said to have refused to fight.
At least 11 members of Russia’s Rosgwardia National Guard in the Khakassia region similarly rebelled, Newsweek reported, citing Russian-language news agency New Focus.
Human rights lawyer Pavel Chikhov said on Telegram that Captain Farid Chitav and 11 of his Rosgvardia subordinates refused to invade Ukraine on February 25 because the orders were “illegal,” Newsweek said.
Some captured Russians have said their leaders lied to them about the plan to invade Ukraine, leaving them unprepared for the fierce resistance.
Despite the many advantages of the Russian military, it has not managed to achieve the hoped-for quick victory in Ukraine.
British intelligence chief Jeremy Fleming said Russian President Vladimir Putin “massively misjudged the situation” before the invasion, in part because his advisers were “afraid to tell him the truth”.
NATO estimated last month that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers were killed in action in Ukraine.
In a rare candid admission, a Kremlin spokesman admitted to Sky News on Thursday that Russia had “significant troop casualties and it is a great tragedy for us.”