The following has applied to Russian soldiers since the autumn of 2022: The contracts concluded with the Ministry of Defense are of indefinite duration and the fight will continue until the bitter end. Even those who have suffered serious injuries – and miraculously escaped death – are returned to the front.
“You can only stop now if you have no hands, no feet or simply no head,” says a contract soldier to the “Bereg Cooperative”, an association of independent journalists.
“In our unit they do what they want: recently they waved a piece of paper in front of their faces, supposedly signed by the (Russian, ed.) President, which says that you don’t have to have two arms or two hands to do the job . “However, the document is not distributed so that no one can read it,” says the Russian.
Another contract soldier confirms the terrible conditions in the Russian ranks. The battle would be “with hepatitis, with HIV, without hands, without feet, with splinters in the head. I had a friend whose three fingers on his left hand were torn off. He was sent back – and a week later half his right hand was blown off! It doesn’t matter, he will now be fitted with a prosthetic and sent back to the fight. As long as he doesn’t walk around completely like the Terminator, on prosthetics, he’ll fight!
The Kremlin lures people with a lot of money
There is no shortage of supplies for the front, despite the lack of a new wave of mobilization so far. Because the Kremlin offers high financial incentives. Payments to contract soldiers are constantly increasing. In some regions, one-time payments already amount to several million rubles, and the monthly salary is also significantly higher than the average income in the country.
In August, Andrei was sent to the front lines along with a few other contract soldiers to rescue an injured man. He describes the wounded soldier lying miserably in the trenches. According to him, shrapnel destroyed his spine and pelvis. He just screamed in pain.
“We threw him into the nearest trench and ran there ourselves,” Andrej remembers. But then grenades and Molotov cocktails were used against them. “Everything started to explode, it started to smoke,” Andrej remembers. Everyone ran away and whistled (at the wounded man, mind you) – “everyone there is only looking out for themselves”.
Andrej describes how he had a splinter in his upper arm and could not save the injured man alone. “He asked me to stay with him. I felt so sorry for him that it brought tears to my eyes, but I couldn’t help it. So I ran away – and the ditch completely caught fire.”
Incredible cynicism
The next day the situation calmed down again. Andrei says he returned to the trench and discovered a burned body. Two weeks later the body was recovered and handed over to the unit. “We went to the commander, told him about it – and he just said: that’s fine, let’s add him (the deceased, note) to the missing people,” says Andrei in dismay.
She was forced to confirm this with a signature. ‘Even if the man in front of us burned alive! And it was there in a black bag,” said the shocked Russian. It was then that he first entertained the idea of leaving the army – but soon came to the conclusion that, unfortunately, that was virtually impossible…
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
