Russian contract soldiers who were held in a Donbas basement demand an investigation

Russian service members, who were held in basements for two weeks after they refused to fight in Ukraine, have demanded that the Russian Investigative Committee open a criminal case concerning unlawful imprisonment, kidnapping, and abuse of power, reports Pavel Chikov, head of the human rights group Agora.

Contract soldiers Alexander Afonin, from Moscow, and Andrey Vasilyev, from Pskov, who were sent in August to fight in the self-proclaimed “LNR,” made a statement to investigating authorities. As Chikov writes, the soldiers “were confronted with insufficient medical and material support, and they decided to refuse to participate in hostilities.”

As a result, Afonin and Vasilyev, along with around 280 conscripted Russian citizens, were put in a basement in the town of Zaitseve. They were held there for two weeks “without adequate food in inhumane conditions.” Senior commanders threatened them and used psychological pressure, say the soldiers.

In another, similar case, writes Chikov, a mobilized resident of Primorye, Mikhail Nosov, was held in a basement in the village of Zavitne-Bazhannya, in the self-proclaimed “DNR.” 17 other service members, who also refused to fight, were kept in the same quarters. Within approximiately two weeks, Nosov was sent to the Rostov region. He was not admitted to the hospital, and he filed a statement with the Investigative Committee about crimes committed against him.

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