It was in the south of France that Pavel Filatyev decided to take refuge. This former Russian army paratrooper decided to break ranks and desert in the middle of summer. Actively sought after by Moscow, in early August he published a lengthy logbook titled “ZOV” – like the letters visible on Russian army vehicles – in which he recounted daily life inside the Kremlin forces.
“There are always problems, on all floors. With food, for example. We steal food from the canteen and serve expired food,” he now says from the south of France on a BFMTV microphone.
“He drives more and more nails into his own coffin”
Pavel is aware of this: he risks his life by recounting his experience in the war in Ukraine. He is the first Russian soldier to openly criticize Vladimir Putin. For him, the outcome of the conflict is not in doubt.
“Putin has already lost and will continue to lose. He is driving more and more nails into his own coffin,” he says.
Asked about the use of nuclear weapons by Moscow, the defecting soldier believes that this option “cannot be ruled out.”
“If someone had been told last year what is happening now, they would not have believed it,” he said.
This former paratrooper now lives with Vladimir Osechkin, a human rights defender, also wanted by Moscow and who supports his partner’s approach.
“He risked his life and his freedom by leaving Russia. He is still risking his life while he is here in France telling the rest of the world the horrors and nightmares of this war and exposing Putin’s lies and propaganda”, Vladimir Osechkin launches into the BFMTV microphone.
Like Pavel, many Russian fighters seem to break the silence. In a video from October 7, Russian soldiers, for example, denounce the poor conditions of their mobilization.
Source: BFM TV
