Russia’s human rights ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova said on Monday that Russia’s Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov should investigate reports that men mobilized from Tatarstan were sent to fight in Ukraine “virtually without weapons”. requested to
The social network said that about 20 men in camouflage uniforms arrived in Ukraine, were divided into various units and transferred to the command of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and deployed to the army. It follows the video published in Missions without equipment or support.
“We have been handed over to the DPR leadership. Local leaders don’t care about us. We are considered expendable here. Their motto is fight to the last soldier.” After that, new soldiers will be sent.” said one of the mobilized men in a video shared on social media. “When we arrived here, we were divided into different units. They took all our equipment and humanitarian aid from us. It has been issued.”
“I have sent an appeal to General Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, with a request to investigate the information that appeared on the network of soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” Moskalkova said in a statement on Monday. Soldiers mobilized from the Republic of Tatarstan were sent to carry out combat missions as part of a special virtually unarmed military operation.”
The Russian Human Rights Council, which serves under Russian President Vladimir Putin, also reported it would investigate another case involving a man mobilized from Smolensk who turned to the council with complaints about the actions of the military command.
“I received such a complaint and managed to carry it out through the HRC channel. Get in touch, at least we will help someone, ”said Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.
According to Merkacheva, soldiers mobilized from Smolensk were immediately sent to the front line, where they stayed for three months. They were then briefly sent to the rear and returned to the front lines. They were not allowed “physical or mental rest.”
In a statement, the Human Rights Council said it was “monitoring this dire situation of mobilization.”
In the words of a former Wagner fighter: Two former combatants from the Russian private military company Wagner told CNN how they had terrifying experiences on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine and how those who were shaken were soon shot by their commanders.
The two fighters were captured by Ukrainian forces late last year. CNN has not disclosed their identities for their own safety. They were both married, had children, and were drafted while in prison. One was convicted of manslaughter and he was serving a 20-year sentence.
CNN’s Tim Lister and Frederik Pleitgen contributed reporting for this post.
