“People died around us. I didn’t believe I was part of it, but I was part of it.. In an exclusive interview with CNN, a Russian officer tells how he was sent to the battlefield overnight to wage war against Ukraine. He recalls the sense of helplessness he felt when his battalion received orders to invade that neighboring country, but also the shame that prevented him from looking Ukrainian civilians in the eye.
“Many didn’t understand what that was for and what we’re doing here”he denounces in an anonymous witness statement. “Some guys flatly refused. They wrote a report and left. I don’t know what happened to them. I stayed. I do not know why “he adds.
This Russian officer is among the troops sent by the Kremlin in the weeks leading up to the invasion of western Russia, according to CNN. On February 22, he was with his battalion in the border town of Krasnodar, not knowing the reasons for such an operation. Soldiers were suddenly asked to hand over their mobile phones. Then, two days later, they received orders to enter Ukraine.
He hid his face ‘out of shame’
In the first days of the conflict was the soldier “in a state of confusion”do not think ” Nothing “ if not can “Live Another Day”. Without giving too many details about his battalion’s positions in order to maintain his anonymity, he explains that he hid his face from the Ukrainians because he did it “shame”.
After a few weeks, he returned to the back of the front line to bring equipment in for repairs. There he understood what was really going on. “We had a radio and could hear the newshe says. There I learned that in Russia shops were closing and the economy was collapsing. I felt guilty about this situation. But I felt even more guilty because we were in Ukraine. »
He submitted his resignation
It couldn’t be long for this officer to take courage in both hands and submit his resignation to his commander. A decision that his superior found difficult to accept.
He initially refused to let him go, telling him that it was impossible to refuse service in the Russian army. “He told me there could be a criminal case. This rejection is a betrayal. But I persevered. He gave me a piece of paper and a pen.remembers the soldier who says to himself ” happy “ return home to his family.
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