Russian soldiers who refuse to fight are being held captive in Luhansk region – media

ROMAN PETRENKO — SUNDAY, 24 JULY 2022, 17:27

Investigative journalists report that professional Russian soldiers who refuse to continue to take part in the war with Ukraine are being held "in custody" in Russian-occupied areas of Luhansk Oblast and being forced to return to the front.

Source: The Insider, citing the father of one of the soldiers

Details: According to the journalists, after three months of service, the professional soldiers were promised leave and the opportunity to refuse to take part in the war, but when they decided to leave Ukraine and wrote refusal letters, they were detained and taken to the city of Brianka in Luhansk Oblast.

They have been held "in custody" there for more than a month.

The soldiers are being held in terrible conditions, and eyewitnesses have mentioned "pits of some kind" and "torture".

According to the father, the Russian military leadership said that it had nothing to do with the detention of "refuseniks", stating that the professional soldiers are being held by "Luhansk militants".

One relative of the soldier currently being held in Brianka told The Insider that the number of refuseniks is considerable.

The military command refuses to let them go home, fearing that the rest of the professional soldiers will follow their example.

Reminder: Professional soldiers from Buryatia who refused to fight in Ukraine described being threatened and pressurised by the command.