Russian Refuseniks Continue to Rebel: Hundreds Jailed for Defying Orders

A growing number of Russian men mobilized to fight in Ukraine are rebelling, with hundreds reportedly detained in recent weeks for defying orders from their military commanders.

Citing local independent media outlets, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank, said in its daily update on Russia's war in Ukraine on Sunday that Russian mobilized soldiers are reportedly continuing to challenge the defense ministry's control over its forces.

The think tank noted that ASTRA, an independent Russian news outlet, had interviewed a mobilized soldier held in a basement alongside other Russian soldiers who refused to fight in Zavtine Bazhannia, in the Donetsk Oblast.

According to the publication, at least 12 Russian soldiers remain in the basement.

In his interview, the Russian soldier demanded that Russian authorities free the other soldiers and prosecute the commanders for holding them.

The ISW said it has previously reported on similar informal detention centers on the front lines containing hundreds of other unwilling Russian troops.

The soldier interviewed by ASTRA, Mikhail Nosov, said he was mobilized on September 23, two days after President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of the population.

Nosov said that he was deployed to the front line in Ukraine without receiving a medical examination or adequate combat training.

"As a result of tactical and strategic miscalculations by the higher command, constant lies to my own subordinates, insufficient medical and material support, my confidence in the commanders was shaken," he said in a statement to Russia's Investigative Committee.

Nosov said he was detained on October 16 in a basement alongside other Russian men who refused to fight. They were reportedly held there for two days, and were subsequently forced to dig trenches.

The men were asked two weeks later if they had changed their minds about participating in the war, and when they said they hadn't, they were taken to another basement in the Donbas region, where they remained for another two weeks.

According to ASTRA, they were given food once a day and weren't allowed to wash themselves.

Nosov said he was released on November 13, as he began to experience health issues.

The think tank also noted that on December 2, Russian Telegram channel CTD published a video that purported to show "a rebellion of the mobilized" in Kazan, in the Republic of Tatarstan. It appears to show a large group of Russian solders pushing through a gate and leaving en masse because "they are not allowed to go to their relatives and are not given leave."

Newsweek has been unable to verify when or where the footage was filmed.

Refusing to Fight

The ISW said it has reported on three other instances of mobilized soldiers in Kazan rioting, disobeying orders, and demonstrating disruptive behavior in November alone.

In July, a Russian soldier was sentenced for refusing to fight in the war in Ukraine, according to court records.

Ilya Kononov, a contract soldier from the city of Pskov in western Russia, was charged with "unauthorized abandonment of the unit" after he left without permission for more than 10 days.

The contract soldier was subsequently sentenced on July 21 to restriction in military service for one year, with a 10 percent deduction from his monetary allowance going to the state.

It comes as Putin's war faces a string of military setbacks against the backdrop of a series of successful counteroffensives by Kyiv to retake its territory in the south and northeast of the country.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry for comment.

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