Russian military justice opened the first criminal case against a reservist who refused to fight in Ukraine, human rights lawyer Pavel Shikov revealed on Friday.
“I am not going to any Ukraine, nor do I intend to shoot any Ukrainian,” the defendant replied to the commander who was questioning him, as explained by the activist on the Telegram social network.
He is a citizen of the Siberian region of Yakutia and the events took place in a barracks in Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Buryatia region in Russia.
Later, and according to his testimony quoted by the Efe news agency, officers from the military unit threatened him with reprisals and with the opening of a trial, which led him to flee.
The fugitive, a sergeant, was mobilized on September 23 and removed from his military unit five days later.
The reservist, who was called up as part of the partial mobilization decreed by President Vladimir Putin, could be sentenced to several years in prison.
Hundreds of thousands of Russians of military age have left Russia in recent weeks for fear of being sent to the front lines in Ukraine.
In addition, many of those mobilized and volunteers denounced the lack of equipment, the poor conditions of its maintenance, as well as the lack of military training.
Source: TSF
