Tuva governor promises to help indigenous draftees who claimed abuses by military in Donbas

Tuva Governor Vladislav Khovalyg writes on Telegram that Russia’s Defense Ministry has agreed to move a group of indigenous Tyvan draftees to a different formation of the Russian army, after they complained of being abandoned without command, and later intimidated by members of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” militia.

Earlier, a group of mobilized soldiers from the Siberian region of Tuva recorded a video in the indigenous Tyvan language, describing the “DNR” militia’s violent attempt to make them fight in its ranks.

The Defense Ministry, writes Khovalyg, “responded positively to the idea of moving the draftees to the 55th motorized rifle brigade.” According to the Tuva governor, most mobilized Tyvans are serving in that particular formation, sometimes called “Black Leopard.” The brigade was established in Tuva in 2015. At the time, local government was actively promoting it as a way of boosting employment in the region.

Last summer, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General said it suspected nine members of the brigade of perpetrating war crimes in Yahidne, a village in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, where more than 300 locals were kept in a school basement for several weeks.

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2 years ago