Russian Army Accuses Soldiers Of Desertion After Ordering Them To Retreat

The Russian army is now accusing its soldiers fighting its war in Ukraine of desertion after ordering them to retreat from their combat positions, according to a video.

Russian draftees from the Yaroslavl region said their commander ordered them to retreat due to heavy shelling from Ukrainian tanks and artillery. The commander, however, claimed he never gave the order.

"Please look into the situation. We were given an order by our company commander to retreat from our positions because we were taking tank and mortar fire. Command, for their part, didn't cover us or give us any support. We had only machine guns, and all the other weapons were damaged," one of the soldiers said in a video addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as shared by local publication Pro Gorod, per translations via Google Translate.

"Now they want to accuse of us deserting since the commander says he never gave the order. The command doesn't give a shit about us. We're asking you to look into all this, and we're asking for your help."

The soldiers also accused their commanders of attempting to have them distributed to different units to prevent them from collectively asserting their rights, according to the outlet.

The wives and mothers of the soldiers are now planning to appeal to the Investigative Committee, the military prosecutor and Putin.

In September 2022, Putin signed into law a bill that introduced harsher punishments for wartime acts such as desertion. Under the bill, deserters may receive up to 10 years in jail. Conscientious objectors could also be given three years in prison.

The amendments were adopted a day before Putin announced partial mobilization, which called up 300,000 reservists to bolster Moscow's troops in Ukraine. Russian courts began issuing the first sentences based on the desertion law in December.

There have been multiple reports of Russian soldiers deserting the war since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. On Jan. 13, a 31-year-old soldier reportedly fled his military base armed with a rifle and grenades. He was killed by Russian authorities on Wednesday for "unauthorized abandonment of his military unit."

Also on Wednesday, the Kommersant newspaper said eight Russian servicemen fled a training camp in Ukraine's Luhansk region in December. The soldiers were able to return to Russia by taxi. They have since been charged with "armed desertion in wartime."