Complaints of Russian citizens to the military prosecutor’s office of Russia show the real state of affairs in the Russian army, looting and atrocities of soldiers, writes The Insider with a link to the archive of complaints, which was at the disposal of the editors. The publication and Bellingcat were able to confirm the authenticity of the letters.
The appeals say that conscripts are sent to war by deceit and coercion, soldiers are not provided with normal food and medical care, contract soldiers deliberately violate the rules of the charter in order to be removed from service, and parents cannot get information about their children.
Basically, complaints, according to the publication, are sent by relatives of the military or the military themselves, but letters have also begun to come from Russians whose relatives suffered from violence and looting in the occupied territories.
So, in one of the appeals, the author writes that they have been living on the territory of the “DPR” since 2014 together with their parents and are citizens of Russia. On April 9, the Russian military entered the village and began to base not far from their home. During the shelling on April 8, they left for a neighboring village, but when they returned the next day, they saw the “atrocities” of the Russian military.
In my country blocked present tense
“A large tank knocked out our gates, demolished a fence made of a huge slab, demolished huge hangar gates in the garage inside, which later fell on cars that were in the garage,” the letter says. “They stole spare parts and tools for 200 thousand rubles, up to to the point that they stole change from the car and a condom, from the brother of the car, tell me, are these people? stopped, it was the military who sent her in a rude form and said at the end “go back where you came from” … They hide behind our backs, they came to protect us or to rob and kill? have seen.”
In another letter, Yulia Puntus says that after March 8, “a gang of marauders, who introduced themselves as officers and soldiers of the “LPR”, entered the village of Baranikovki and “robbed a school, a kindergarten, a pharmacy, three shops, farmers and, having opened the locks, occupied two houses” “The gang consisted of about 20 people. They lived in my house for two weeks, and then they took out all the property, even toys and worn things. At this time, they robbed the entire area. 15 cars of the loot were taken out in an unknown direction. This gang was with machine guns on a military vehicle “Ural” with the letter V on board and the inscription “FOX”. It was evident that they were professional marauders, because they did not shun anything,” she wrote.
Oleksandr Sergeev’s father wrote that his son, who was called up for military service in October 2021, was misled and sent to war in Ukraine. “According to some parents who contacted their sons, the command refuses to withdraw conscripts, forcing them to conclude contracts, explaining to them -” you won’t be taken out of here anyway. And by signing a contract, you will at least get money,” his letter says. “I believe that the rights of servicemen are being violated by forcing them to enter into contracts fraudulently.” Conscripts who did not succumb to tricks and did not agree to sign a contact were forced to do so by force and threats, journalists learned from letters.
Several dozens of contract officers from different regions and military units, according to the publication, wrote complaints in carbon copy, in which they said that they had long been violating all the terms of the contract, not showing up for service, receiving reprimands, publicly posting information about themselves and their place services in social networks, but they are not fired.
Kirill Feller, commander of a platoon of classified communications equipment, writes in his appeal that he has repeatedly stated his unwillingness to serve in the RF Armed Forces. “I repeatedly wrote explanations for illegal absence from service, and also filed a report for dismissal due to non-compliance with the terms of the contract on my part. On the part of the military unit, I see inaction and complete indifference towards me. Disciplinary practice is very weak, at the moment I have 4 strict reprimand, a warning about incomplete service compliance, an attestation commission is not carried out in relation to me. Please help in resolving this issue – dismissal of me from military service due to non-fulfillment of the terms of the contract on my part. I have no claims against the RF Ministry of Defense, the funds spent on my training, ready to pay,” he said.
Many complaints were related to the fact that the soldiers were abandoned there without any provision and medical care. One of the letters says that a contract soldier of the 137th Guards Airborne Regiment was sent to Belarus on February 24 for exercises, after which he was sent to war in Ukraine.
At the end of March, the military got in touch with his relatives. “We learned that they were not provided with food, water, dry rations (one for 4 per day), water was extracted from the snow while it was. The command told us that they were fed (three meals a day in the field kitchen), there is water, they are taken to the bathhouse, they wash themselves, but in fact there was no question of any washing. People did not wash for weeks, if not the whole month. After talking with the son-in-law, it was found out that he had suffered a – a moderate concussion), and also received frostbite of the limbs, hands and ears. Proper medical care was not provided due to the concussion. The answer was: “Everyone is like that here, move on.” Many soldiers have frostbite and burns. The uniform has become completely unusable, ” the letter says
