According to a new report, several contract soldiers in Russia have been sent against their will to fight in Ukraine and have been told they could be prosecuted if they try to quit.
Relatives of contract soldiers told Meduza, an independent Russian news agency operating out of Latvia, that it was almost impossible for them to give up military service. According to the news agency, Russians can enlist as contract soldiers instead of doing military service if they have received college or professional training.
Newsweek has not been able to independently verify these claims and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
The report comes as Russia has entered the 12th week of fighting in Ukraine, where some 100,000 troops have been deployed to conduct what Moscow is calling a “special military operation”. The fighting has so far resulted in significant casualties for the Russian military, with Ukrainian officials estimating over 20,000 soldiers have been killed. At least a dozen of Russia’s top military generals were also killed in the fighting, Newsweek previously reported.
Russian contract soldiers were reportedly sent to Ukraine against their will and faced criminal charges if they stopped. Here, a Russian tank is seen during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images
According to the new report, several soldiers had contracts with the Russian military before the war in Ukraine began. Two mothers who spoke to Meduza said their sons entered service in November 2021, months before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to invade the neighboring country. In late February, they were suddenly sent to fight in Ukraine without being told exactly what was going on or how long they might be gone.
“We have no idea who we are fighting or who we are fighting for or how we are doing it,” one soldier said to his mother, identified as Svetlana A. in the report.
Svetlana A. told the outlet that several soldiers tried to submit applications to terminate their contracts and transfer to military service. According to the news agency, it is currently believed that Russian conscripts are in a better position than contract soldiers.
“More and more people joined. In the end there were about 250 people from two battalions. Then an FSB officer and a prosecutor paid them a visit. They told the boys they were facing criminal charges [for refusing to follow orders and to continue serving as contract soldiers]said Svetlana A. to Meduza.
After these threats, each of the soldiers filled out new papers and agreed to go back to war. Another mother told the outlet that her son was questioned for hours by prosecutors when he expressed interest in leaving Ukraine.
“I can’t imagine how much pressure that was. All the guys signed their consent under pressure. we [their parents] everyone was in shock,” added the second mother, identified only as Svetlana B.
In general, the news agency noted that terminating a military contract in Russia requires several lengthy steps and requires the service to determine that there is “reasonable cause” for the termination.
“Signing a contract with the Russian army is easy, but terminating one is a big problem. There were cases when soldiers stopped showing up for duty, charges were brought against them, but their contracts were not terminated,” Oksana Paramonova, head of the human rights organization Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg told Meduza.
The latest report also comes as Russian soldiers are believed to be growing increasingly fed up with the ongoing war. Last week, a Ukrainian military administration reported that Russian soldiers have even started sabotaging their own vehicles to avoid getting to the front lines.
A senior US Defense Department official recently told Newsweek that it had received similar reports of poor morale among soldiers and reports that Russian military officers were disobeying orders.