Russian independent news outlet iStories spoke to three former Russian officers whose consciences would not let them fight in Ukraine. They described why they joined Russia’s Armed Forces and what it took to get out again once they were swept up in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the mobilization that followed. The three former officers spoke on condition of anonymity, though their identities are known to iStories’ editorial staff. Meduza shares an abridged English version of their stories, by agreement with iStories.
This is a serious, sad article, but it contains one extremely funny line.
“I joined the army in 2016. I began to have doubts immediately. The people there are, I’m sorry, mostly idiots.”
It also includes some very poignant ones.
“A month after I escaped, they opened a criminal case against me. But I don’t consider myself a betrayer. How can you be a criminal in the eyes of criminals?”
”In September [after mobilization was announced], the rules of the game changed. We realized that we had to leave by any means necessary. One could leave Ukraine either dead or wounded. When I already had just a few people left, we were sent on another suicide mission. We crippled ourselves. Intentionally.”
This is a serious, sad article, but it contains one extremely funny line.
It also includes some very poignant ones.