Russian Soldier Who Refused Ukraine Deployment Labeled A ‘Traitor’; Russia Calls It ‘Fake’

A Russian soldier got stamped "traitor" on his service card after he refused to participate in the invasion of Ukraine, a lawyer alleged.

The unnamed soldier, who had just returned from a seven-month stint in Syria, was expecting to be given a rehabilitation leave, Meduza reported.

However, the military wanted to send him to a "special military operation" in Ukraine, Russia's term for its invasion of the country, added the outlet.

The serviceman reportedly refused to participate and was subsequently dismissed from service due to the non-fulfillment of his contract’s terms.

Following his dismissal, the head of the 136th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, a Russian army unit based in southern Russia's Republic of Dagestan, put a non-regulatory seal on the soldier's service record, a report by The Moscow Times said.

"Prone to betrayal, lies and deceit; He refused to participate in a special military operation on the territory of the LPR (Luhansk People's Republic), DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) and Ukraine," read the stamp, which bore the name of the brigade's head, Captain K. Zharov.

Former military prosecutor Maxim Grebenyuk shared photographs of the supposed document on social media.

"Records such as this are aimed only to insult and humiliate a serviceman," said Grebenyuk, who now consults soldiers rejecting deployments in Ukraine.

"This stamp says nothing other than the command’s powerlessness to punish him otherwise. They can’t do anything else, they can’t open a criminal case, that’s why they did this nasty thing," he added.

In response to the allegations, Russia's Ministry of Defense called photos of the supposed document circulating online "fake" and claimed that, among other things, the seals used on it did not exist in official bodies associated with the country's armed forces.

Grebenyuk defended the authenticity of the card and noted that the military regularly put its soldiers on leave before releasing them.

The former military prosecutor has since taken down his post that featured photos of the supposed document to comply with Russia's new law punishing information that authorities may deem "fake" with jail terms as long as 15 years.

"We had no intention to discredit the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The information was disseminated solely for the purpose of providing legal assistance to a serviceman," Grebenyuk said in another post.

An appeal is reportedly being prepared over the soldier's dismissal.