Hero names have been changed.
Lack of preparation: "All weeks of drinking and sleeping"
According to open sources, almost 20,000 Russian soldiers died in Ukraine, which is higher than the officially recognized losses among Soviet citizens during the ten years of the war in Afghanistan. And 20 thousand are only those whose names are established, the real number can be twice as much. The Americans tend to estimate 100 thousand people, meaning not only those killed, but also the wounded, captured and missing. Faced with a shortage of experienced military personnel, the Russian command sends to the front line not only those who did military service a few years ago, but also people with completely non-combat specialties who were in the reserve, or did not serve at all.
In most cases, training of those mobilized before being transferred to Ukraine is limited to a couple of shots from a machine gun or is not carried out at all. What this leads to was shown by the assault on the Avdeevsky fortified area by mobilized from the Irkutsk region, after which other military personnel began to declare the order to go into battle without preparation. It could be assumed that the hasty transfer of the unprepared mobilized to hell was caused by the big offensive launched in February, and earlier training was still carried out. But this is not so: the lack of training among recruits has been a common practice of the Russian command since the beginning of the war.
Military expert Pavel Luzin notes that the mobilization in Russia affected people who were unmotivated and, for the most part, untrained:
“They recruited those who did not want to fight (otherwise they would have already volunteered), but at the same time were stupid enough, submissive and intimidated not to be able to avoid it. It is useless to teach such people. The intellectual and moral degradation of the Russian army through the involvement of such personnel is a long-standing course of the Kremlin, which has been going on for at least the past two decades. This is combined with the rejection of the reform of military education in 2011 and the general degradation of Russian school education. In other words, in the ground forces and the airborne forces among officers, sergeants and contract soldiers, the dregs of the school education system, distinguished by their humility, predominate.
According to Luzin, a full-fledged term for preparing a soldier for military operations should be at least six months, but in the Russian army, even official standards allow you to send conscripts to the front earlier:
“The standard training period for a soldier in the Russian army is 4 months. It is insufficient even under the condition of intensive study, but it is established by a regulatory legal act – Regulations on military service , according to which a conscript can be sent to war after 4 months of service. In reality, the normal training period for a soldier is from 6 to 12 months, depending on the specialty and subject to competent junior commanders. Since the mobilized were only formally in the reserve, they lost all the knowledge and skills they had once acquired. These are the same recruits in terms of their level.”
But even these four months provided by the state for preparation turn into complete profanation. Yaroslav, who served on a contract basis in a military unit in Chebarkul, says that the training ground where the mobilized were supposed to be trained was turned into a tent camp, and all the “training” turned into constant drinking:
“In early January, there was a mass shipment from our unit to Ukraine – almost the entire base was cleared. There were eight thousand mobilized, now there is no one left, literally three and a half cripples. Before that, all the mobilized lived in tents at the training ground, not far from the base, and their conscripts played the role of servants – they could pull outfits or tidy up, but there was no question of preparation. When they got 200 thousand on the card, they seemed to have gone crazy. To prevent anyone from trying to leave, they were allowed to raise money and rent a gazelle. Every day they brought the food they wanted on it. From the standard set were booze, cigarettes and meat. Such a "gazelle" was packed to the top every day.
Yaroslav says that in the end, a few months later, the mobilized were sent to Ukraine without preparation:
“For two or three months they only ate and drank, and then they were sent to Ukraine with such “good” training. I have never seen them shoot or do anything. Among the mobilized there were also those who served many years ago, but the situation with them is the same: none of them held a machine gun in their hands and never lived in Spartan conditions. The maximum that they could do in military service was to work as a loader or a janitor.
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Due to the lack of training and working weapons, only a few people survived out of the 500 mobilized two weeks later. Yaroslav says that the survivors are most often re-sent to the front:
“I arrived in Chebarkul, met some of the mobilized, and a few days later they were sent to Ukraine. In total, two groups were sent: one – five hundred people, the other – three hundred. After that, several weeks passed, and I again see them in part. All the drunks are standing outside the store. I went up to ask why they were here, and they said that two weeks after they were sent there, they were all killed, only nine of them remained. Out of five hundred people. They were delivered with rusty machine guns of the 70-80s of release – usually none of the mobilized is allowed to sit down for equipment. In two weeks, everyone was bombed, the commanders threw them away, but they remained, and no one let them leave. After everyone there had already been turned into meat, they ran away and returned to the base in Chebarkul. Usually such people are then taken to some basement and kept there. Apparently, they are waiting for them to come to their senses and agree to go to Ukraine again. Now, unfortunately, you can get a bullet both from your own and from strangers.
At first, the Ministry of Defense tried to compensate for the heavy losses in the ranks of the army with the help of the transfer of military contractors, but later they began to send mobilized ones. According to Yaroslav, their training is similar to the skills of those mobilized in the unit in Chebarkul:
“Before my transfer to Chebarkul, I served in Tajikistan. I went there because they told me that they weren’t sent to Ukraine from there, but it turned out later that everyone was sent. And now something similar is happening with the mobilized there. I called up the guys with whom I became friends in Tajikistan, and they said that about two hundred mobilized people were recently sent there. The base in Tajikistan was always intended for contract soldiers, no one still understands what they are doing there. Tajikistan is still an Islamic state, with its own customs and culture. At the beginning, we were given a whole lecture on how to behave correctly. But this does not concern the mobilized, because they are also brought meat and drink from the city every day.”
All at your own expense: “The whole company was thrown into the UAZ”
The lack of preparation is adjacent to the orders of the command to equip and even repair tanks at their own expense. Reports of a shortage of equipment for the mobilized began to appear after the very first days of the announcement of "partial" mobilization. But in fact, the situation is even worse: in addition to buying equipment, the mobilized are required to chip in for new equipment. According to Anatoly, after being sent to the unit, his training was limited to a few shots from a machine gun, but on the other hand, the whole company was forced to throw in an UAZ – so that there was something to ride after being transferred to Ukraine:
“The police took me at the entrance, they said that I had been wanted for four days. When they brought me to the military registration and enlistment office, they explained that there was no need to sign anything – everyone had already signed for me. Voluntarily, I would never do this. As a result, I was sent to a unit in Penza. There was no special preparation, sometimes we were taken to the range to shoot several times – that's all. I realized that if I was sent to Ukraine, then I would die there. I realized that I don’t need all this – life is more expensive, and there is a family.
A month later, I went to the hospital with back pain – I once had a fracture of the spine. I was given a referral to the military medical commission and hospitalized. During my stay in the hospital, a company commander, directly my commander, called me and asked me to purchase an UAZ and a Niva for the needs of the company. Transport was needed so that our company could move around and transport cartridges and some materials already in Ukraine itself. I was just about to be discharged, and I decided to go shopping during a ten-day rehab. However, everything turned out quite differently. When, after being discharged, I arrived at the artillery school – the point of temporary deployment moved there – the major told me that tomorrow I was going to kill.
As a result, the next day I jumped over the fence and went home to my family. But I thought that it would be better to buy a UAZ, so that there would be no problems in the part. I rented an apartment in Penza and started looking for an UAZ. We threw off the whole company on the car, and the money was transferred to the wife of our commander – this is about 250 thousand rubles.
However, when I returned, they told me that a case had been brought against me for leaving the unit without permission. At the same time, I was absent for a short time and bought a car, as the commander asked me. I left the UAZ there, it was then transported to Voronezh, and from there to Ukraine.
The UAZ is needed so that our company can move around and transport ammunition in Ukraine. We chipped in with the whole company
I was assigned a pre-investigation military medical commission (VVK). There they put me in category A, which, with my sores, is generally incomprehensible to the mind. One employee said that it's okay, my family will cry for two years, and then they will forget. Now I am in a rented apartment, the proceedings are still ongoing, and I am technically seconded to my unit. Recently they called me and said that I should go back there. My lawyer confirmed this and advised me to go to the unit. But we are trying to agree that I do not live there. No one wants to stay in such a place, everything is not good there at all. The guys thump all day, and in the evening they build. The routine is like this. There are no exercises for a long time, because they supposedly have long since passed. Apparently, we are talking about those few times when we were taken to shoot. And when I was there for the last time, a colonel somehow came to us and conducted a drill review, showed that we would be given out when sent to Ukraine. After that, the guys, of course, were given something, but definitely not in the copy that we saw.”
Suicide orders: “Many were shell-shocked, one half of the head was blown off”
The Russian army also suffers losses due to the lack of motivation among military personnel and a lack of understanding of the tasks that they must perform on the territory of Ukraine. Most not only do not want to become expendable, but also cannot and do not want to kill. These sentiments are reinforced when the expectations of many of the recruits are not met: they hope to be picked up by professional soldiers, they think that they will be trained, and they are thrown directly into the front line.
The media have repeatedly cited examples of how the Russian command deliberately sends soldiers into suicidal attacks near Maryinka, Donetsk region, in order to identify the firing positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and then cover the Ukrainians with artillery or mortars. It was in this situation that Ekaterina’s brother found himself when he was sent to the “DPR”. He, along with other mobilized – without any training and instructions – was thrown into battle near Maryinka. After that, the military refused to participate in hostilities:
“My brother called me and said, ‘We were ordered to go. What to do? I have 20 minutes to make a decision. For non-compliance, they threaten with a court." For me it was a surprise. I thought that he did not participate in any battles, but only trained. After all, when he was transferred to Donetsk, I immediately began to write to him so that he would not get involved in anything and would not go anywhere. But my brother said that he was just being taken for a three-month training. I immediately realized that something was wrong here.
Before this call, he was in Lisichansk preparing trenches for other guys. He was told that they would be taken to the third line, but in fact it looked like this: two sides – on one APU, on the other Russians, and in the middle the guys who were brought to dig, and constant shelling. My brother said that they were not even given shovels. They just said to sit and wait for the materials to arrive.
As a result, they were divided into small groups of several people. They found abandoned houses and settled there to wait for the authorities. They did not even have food – no one gave dry rations. They boarded up the windows, cut open the floor and dug a small hole so that there would be somewhere to hide in case of shelling. They had to dig with camping spoons.
A hole to hide in case of shelling was dug with camping spoons
Two days later they took a car, drove to the market and bought food, water, nails and shovels. They came back and lived like that for another one and a half weeks. Then they came for them, gave them five minutes to get ready and took them back to Donetsk, and then to the front line – first to Aleksandrovka, and then to Maryinka.
My brother is a stormtrooper, and his group had to take some position, but in fact they were just trying to survive. Someone was hiding in the forests, many were shell-shocked, one had half his head blown off by a shell. They did not think to refuse participation until they saw everything with their own eyes.
Only two days passed after the first battle, and they were again sent there. On the phone, my brother told me that many had not yet regained consciousness and were disoriented, and no one was providing them with medical assistance. In the end, they refused to go. Then they were ordered to sit and wait for the commander to sort out the situation, they were threatened with a trial and imprisonment in prison.
I understood that it was impossible to stay idle, and began to search for information on the Internet. I tried to figure out how to get him out of there. So I went to the movement of conscientious objectors, where I was immediately told that the case would not go to court, it would simply be closed there. Then the volunteers and I found the guys who arbitrarily left from there in a similar situation and no one put them in prison. They found out all the details and advised the guys to leave from there, but only my brother and his friend decided.
We wanted them to get out through the fields and forests, and then turn to the military police, but in Russia. The commander did not particularly follow the group, so it was not difficult to leave unnoticed. We had a plan according to which they were supposed to land nine kilometers from the checkpoint. However, then I found out that the guys were going to come back. The remaining guys, those who did not go with them, were stripped naked, disarmed and taken away in an unknown direction. They called my brother and said that they were waiting until the evening, otherwise there would be consequences. Thank God, I managed to dissuade them from returning.
Those who did not go with them were stripped naked, disarmed and taken away in an unknown direction.
However, our plan still failed. They went through the forest not for nine kilometers, as planned, but for a maximum of a kilometer from the checkpoint. Naturally, they were noticed and caught already on the territory of the Rostov region. They took away their military cards and called the military police, who told them to be returned back to the “DPR”. In the morning they were taken away, and for three days we did not know where they were or what happened to them. According to the brother, at that time they were doing educational work with them. They were told that they would be released only if they agreed to continue fighting, otherwise they were threatened with a seven-year term. They agreed.
As a result, they were transferred to another company, where the commander is more loyal. I dissuaded them, but they said that they would wait for the holidays. Now they went out on missions two through six and did not climb anywhere – they just sat out in the basements. Sometimes they could say that they went, but in fact they did not go anywhere. Their senior covered. But then the elder was wounded, and there was no one to cover. To get out of there, the brother began to seek leave. In January, he succeeded, but it turned out only for the worse.
He went on vacation and, naturally, did not want to return to the war zone. They began to threaten him with the fact that they would attribute the case of the unauthorized abandonment of the unit and the refusal to carry out orders and transfer it to the investigative committee. They said that no one had ever let him go on any vacation – they don’t sign documents there, so it’s very difficult to prove something.
As a result, on the advice of a lawyer, my brother returned to the unit, but not in the “DPR”, but in Rostov. Spent about three days there. He was persuaded to return back, but he insisted on his own and began to collect documents in order to apply for a military medical commission. In parallel, we sent a report for transfer to an alternative. But they say that he has no right to ask for some kind of transfer, because the presidential decree on mobilization cancels everything that happened before. We think to pull it out at the expense of health. There is no other way, otherwise the truth will be an article.
In addition to my brother, 200 people did not return from vacation. Nobody wants to return there. Even during that first mission, when they were being fired on from all sides, all the guys were only thinking about how to hide, not how to hit someone. The brother still cannot stop looking at what lies under his feet while walking, and tenses up from the sound of the ambulance siren.
The guys who remained to fight reported that the unit commander had come to them and arranged a debriefing. Приставив одному парню пистолет к голове, сказал командиру роты: если еще кто-то у тебя будет отказываться идти в бой, смело стреляем в голову каждому, и ничего за это не будет».
Пренебрежение военной этикой, повсеместный произвол, ошибки в планировании и хаос постоянно сопровождают российское командование. Офицеры отказываются выполнять приказы, а командиры систематически бросают солдат на поле боя, оставляя без связи и дальнейших распоряжений. Айсель, жена одного из мобилизованных, рассказывает, что после переброски мужа в Луганскую область его роту оставили в лесу без связи и еды:
«Спустя месяц после того, как мужа забрали в часть, я потеряла с ним связь и только через жен других мобилизованных узнала, что его отправили в Украину. Однажды муж позвонил мне с незнакомого номера. Я потом посмотрела в интернете код и поняла, что он в Луганске. Сказал, что их высадили в лесу и бросили — они там жевали листья около четырех дней и не понимали, что делать и куда идти. Они так и бродили, пока нужные батальоны их не нашли и не пристроили к себе. Даже когда их забрали, еды и воды у них практически не было, но когда пошло много жалоб, то начала ездить гуманитарная помощь».
Отсутствие мотивации: «Убивать украинцев я не поеду»
В апреле аналитики CIT заявляли , что среди военнослужащих, побывавших в Украине, около 20–40% не возвращаются обратно. В статистику общих потерь вносят свою лепту и те, кто изначально отказывается ехать в зону боевых действий. Именно так сразу же поступил Александр, когда его мобилизовали: несмотря на угрозы и давление, он наотрез отказался подписывать контракт для отправки в Украину и добился, чтобы его положили на лечение в госпиталь.
«20 сентября мне принесли повестку, где о предстоящей мобилизации не было ни слова, — рассказывает Александр. — Там было сказано, что я должен явиться „для уточнения учетных данных”. Знакомые сказали, что нужно просто прийти в назначенное время в военкомат, сказать, что у меня изменилось, и больше ничего. Другого я не предполагал, поэтому 22-го пошел в военкомат. Там у меня сразу забрали военный билет и велели ждать в коридоре военного комиссара, чтобы он ответил на все вопросы. На улицу никого не выпускали. Комиссар зачитал список из 20-25 фамилий, и все из перечисленных должны были сесть в автобус и отправиться в воинскую часть. На наши вопросы никто не отвечал, говорили, что мы должны следовать приказам. Никакой медкомиссии и проверок у нас не было, мобилизационных предписаний на руки не выдавали. Просто посадили в автобус, и все.
У меня с собой были только кошелек, паспорт и военный билет с повесткой. С таким набором я и уехал в воинскую часть — штаб дивизии нашего города, где проходило дальнейшее распределение. Несогласным приказали ждать, тех, кто не противился, отправили подписывать контракты. В конце дня осталось человек десять, и нам стали угрожать — заставляли подписать контракт под угрозой отсидки в тюрьме, говорили, что нам некуда деваться. Кто-то испугался и подписал, но я и еще четыре человека стояли на своем. Потом нас отправили в разные подразделения и отвели к автобусу. Мне стало плохо, и я решил уйти к родственникам через КПП. На удивление, меня выпустили. Я съездил за лекарствами, а когда вернулся, мне сказали, что всех, кто отказался подписать контракт, оставят в военкомате на ночь — со всем должен разбираться военный прокурор.
У меня с собой были только кошелек, паспорт и военный билет с повесткой. С таким набором я и уехал в воинскую часть
Военный прокурор на следующий день так и не приехал. Нам сказали, что можно написать рапорт и отправляться на выходные домой. Однако выяснилось, что я уже числюсь в списках самовольно оставивших часть и должен явиться туда, куда меня распределили. Тогда я поехал в военную прокуратуру, где мне сказали, что в любом случае я должен доехать до своей части. Пока я думал, что делать, мне позвонили и сказали, что я уже числюсь в розыске и, если не явлюсь, заведут уголовное дело.
Уже в части я познакомился с женщиной из отдела кадров, которая обещала мне помочь, согласившись с тем, что к службе я не годен. Я написал рапорт и уехал домой до следующего понедельника. Но ответа все не было. Тогда я написал второй, где обязался звонить им каждый день, но в часть не приезжать.
Так прошло несколько месяцев. В ноябре мне стали звонить из части и угрожать тюрьмой. Мы с супругой начали общаться с прокуратурой. Мы подали иск в суд, заседание назначили молниеносно, спустя два дня. Суд мы проиграли, нам отказали во всех наших ходатайствах, даже в замене военной службы на альтернативную. Тогда же пришло письмо, что, если я не явлюсь в часть, мое дело передадут в СК. Я приехал, и меня больше не выпустили из части.
Тогда я написал рапорт на прохождение ВВК — у меня ухудшилось психологическое состояние. Когда я был у гражданского врача, мне поставили предварительный диагноз тревожно-депрессивного расстройства. Но врач в госпитале сказал, что я просто трус. Однако я не сдавался, и в конце концов он выдал мне рекомендацию, чтобы меня отправили в другой госпиталь, потому что у него был приказ свыше не ставить никому категорию Д. На тот момент из воинской части меня не выпускали даже в магазин, а во все госпитали возили только с сопровождением. Я решил активировать свой рапорт на АГС и постоянно повторял, что не хочу учиться убивать и не буду.
Из воинской части меня не выпускали даже в магазин, а в госпиталь возили только с сопровождением
Спустя какое-то время меня и еще одного мобилизованного вызвали в отдел кадров штаба дивизии и отчитали за то, что мы не выполняем никаких служебных обязанностей. По итогу нас привлекли к бумажной работе в штабе. Потом меня отправили на госпитализацию, но, к моему удивлению, не в Подольск, а туда, куда меня возили изначально. Там уже был другой врач, он предложил мне лечь в госпиталь, и вот я нахожусь здесь. У меня берут анализы, и я жду каких-то решений сверху. В альтернативной службе мне опять отказали, объясняя это тем, что это не предусмотрено федеральными законами и что мы уже проиграли суд. Но в любом случае убивать украинцев я не поеду».
Выход есть: «Многие военные избежали отправки в Украину»
По словам координатора движения «Сознательных отказников» Елены Поповой, сложнее работать с теми, кто успел побывать в зоне боевых действий даже непродолжительное время: большинство вернувшихся находятся в состоянии шока и не понимают, как им действовать дальше, чтобы их не отправили туда вновь.
«После Нового года количество обращений к нам стало меньше. Все уже поняли, что идти куда-то, когда пришла повестка, необязательно. Трудности стали возникать с теми, кто вернулся из Украины и пытается уйти. Таким людям тяжело выстраивать какую-то линию самостоятельно — у всех проблемы, связанные с психологическим состоянием. Подобных случаев сейчас большинство, но, к сожалению, их число не соотносится с тем, сколько людей воюет. По сути, это капля в море. Еще проблематичнее с теми, кто все еще находится там. Я понимаю, что большинство из них травмированы, и, к сожалению, не могу дать им каких-то четких инструкций. Каждый конкретный случай нужно разбирать индивидуально.
Ко мне обратилась женщина, ее мужа отправили в Луганск. Она рассказала, что его бросили туда неподготовленного, но я не занимаюсь вопросами подготовки, мое дело — вытаскивать парней из этой заварухи. Я ей так и сказала, уточнив, хотят ли они, чтобы ее муж перестал участвовать в этом преступлении. Мне начали говорить про какие-то болячки, но для увольнения этого бы не хватило. Спустя время выяснилось, что эта женщина поехала к мужу в Луганск со своим ребенком. В зону боевых действий. Она оправдывала это тем, что они давно не виделись.
Мне кажется, люди до сих пор не понимают, куда они едут. Мы пытались придумать какие-то ходы, чтобы вытащить его оттуда. У него как раз было три дня отпуска, и они с женой сняли номер в гостинице. Я предложила сделать всё, чтобы его отправили в госпиталь в Россию, где уже можно написать рапорт и отказываться от военной службы. Но они все какие-то безвольные, к ним может подойти полиция „ЛНР“ и попросить военный билет, а они им его отдадут. А зачем? Я ей говорю, это даже не военные, а просто полиция „ЛНР“, российские военнослужащие не в их юрисдикции. Но никто не слушает, все чего-то боятся и живут в несуществующей реальности.
Они все какие-то безвольные, к ним может подойти полиция „ЛНР“ и попросить военный билет, а они им его отдадут
Люди, у которых раньше не было опыта в защите своего права, в большинстве своем отступают перед полицией и военными. В самом начале было много случаев насильственного призыва, особенно в Питере и Москве, куда люди приезжают на заработки. К парням могли посреди ночи вломиться в номер в хостеле, потребовать отдать паспорта, а потом увезти в военкомат. Некоторым удавалось дозвониться до волонтеров, но тяжелых историй в период мобилизации было много.
Я всегда задаюсь вопросом: почему нас находят только тогда, когда их мужья или сыновья уже находятся в Украине, что им мешало найти нас до того, как все стало фатально? Все просыпаются только тогда, когда видят безобразные условия, отсутствие подготовки и смерть.
Все просыпаются только тогда, когда видят безобразные условия, отсутствие подготовки и смерть
Но выход есть, и многие из тех военных, кто подали рапорты, избежали отправки в Украину. Мы советуем давить на альтернативную службу, потому что других решений пока не видим. Медицина очень редко срабатывает — только если ногу кому-то оторвало, но тогда и без усилий нашей организации людей увольняют.
Главное понимать, что, когда вы подаете рапорт на альтернативку, его цель не в том, чтобы вас действительно перевели, а в том, чтобы не отправили воевать. В начале войны кого-то еще могли выпускать из части, но сейчас таких случаев уже нет. Все будут сидеть со своими рапортами в частях до конца, и это нужно понимать.
Был случай, когда парня грубо пытались затащить в эшелон и отправить в Украину, а он сказал: сначала рассмотрите мой рапорт. В итоге командир дал приказ насильственно отвезти его на вокзал. Туда пришла мать этого парня и начала снимать все на камеру. Вызвали ФСБ-шников, долго что-то разъясняли, но в итоге парня увезли обратно в часть, где командование написало обращение в гарнизонный суд с сообщением, что мобилизованный совершил дисциплинарный проступок — отказался от исполнения приказа. Мать парня нашла адвоката, состоялось слушание, и дело перевели в военно-следственный отдел, и, хотя ситуация до сих пор не ясна, убивать украинцев без его согласия отправить не смогли».