Hundreds of Russian troops who refused deployment to Ukraine have been sent to the Kharkiv front after their trials were abruptly cancelled, according to reports.
From: Euromaiden Press BY MARIA TRIL
Russian opposition outlet Verstka reported on 3 June that Russian military authorities began forcibly sending hundreds of Russian servicemembers who refused to take part in Russian combat operations to the front in Ukraine, including to northern Kharkiv Oblast and Donetsk Oblast, in May 2024.
According to the ISW, Verstka stated that the Russian military holds the servicemembers at military unit basepoints in Russia as they await trial for crimes related to their refusal to fight before suddenly canceling their trials and immediately sending them to Ukraine.
Verstka reported that Russian authorities used physical abuse to coerce some soldiers into volunteering to go to Ukraine before forcing others from their holding cells at gunpoint and transporting them to the frontlines.
Verstka reported that Sverdlovsk Oblast Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Merzlyankova claimed on 6 May that she visited a collection point for servicemembers who refused to fight but that management stated that there were no violations of the servicemembers’ civil rights.
However, Verstka reported that “Russian authorities canceled the trials of at least 170 servicemembers who refused to fight and deployed them to Ukraine and that investigators, prosecutors, and lawyers were all unaware of this.”
Voice of Ukraine 