A Russian soldier captured by Ukrainians says in a newly released video that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military enlisted officers are “encouraging” people to fight in the war by threatening them with false accusations.
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Ukraine has previously released videos of Russian prisoners of war talking to their Ukrainian jailers.
Watch video: Putin breaks his silence
Ultimatum
The videos usually paint a negative picture of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, such as a clip from June shared by Ukraine’s security service, in which two Russian soldiers describe how military forces from their country shoot their own troops as they retreat, writes Newsweek.
The video of the Russian soldier describing the enlisted officers’ threats has not been independently verified, posted on Monday on Telegram by Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, head of Ukraine’s ground forces.
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The Ukrainian media Ukrinform has translated the soldier’s words into English.
According to Ukrinform, the prisoner said he was given an ultimatum: either serve in the Russian armed forces to fight in Ukraine, or be imprisoned for drugs that would be planted on him.
The soldier is said to have said that such threats from enlisted officers are common in Russia.
Enlisted
The soldier is described as a 32-year-old man from the Kalmykia region of Russia. Before his time as a private in the military, he served a sentence in a penal colony.
When he was released, he was ordered to report to the federal prison system for supervision, and that’s where he allegedly met the military enlistment officers.
On July 13, he avoided the threat of false drug charges by signing a contract to enlist in the armed forces. He says that he was promised that his criminal record would be erased, and that he would receive 200,000 rubles (over NOK 22,336).
He says he has instead only been paid 27,500 rubles (just over NOK 3,000).
2023-08-29 20:16:15
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