Russia Soldiers Refused To Fight After Commanders 'Fled Like Rats'

Russian soldiers in Ukraine reportedly refused to fight after their commanders "fled like rats" from the front line.

The Telegram channel of independent Russian-language news outlet Astra reported on Tuesday that its journalists were contacted by Evgeniya, the wife of mobilized soldier Evgeny P, who said his unit's commanders ordered him and his injured comrades into an assault in eastern Ukraine, but abandoned them when they came under heavy Ukrainian shelling.

Evgeny P, reportedly sustained shrapnel injuries in May near the city of Bakhmut while fighting with the 27th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, but wasn't treated after being sent to a hospital. He was sent home for "rehabilitation" for a month, and redeployed to fight in Ukraine.

They soldiers were "taken in the direction of Svatove" in eastern Ukraine and "abandoned in the forest with no means of subsistence."

And when the unit came under fire, the "commanders, senior company officers and everyone who was in charge there just fled like rats, leaving the guys alone to die under shelling."

After refusing to fight, Evgeny P and his fellow soldiers were reportedly rounded up by their commanders and detained in a basement in the village of Zaitsevo in Ukraine's Donbas region.

The Astra Telegram channel, which is a project of independent Russian journalists, previously said 300 mobilized Russians were being held in a basement in Zaitsevo for refusing to return to the front line.

Evgeny P reportedly told his wife about the ordeal on September 18, and after that she lost contact with him.

Newsweek could not independently verify the claims made by Evgeniya and has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.

It is not the first time Russian commanders have been reported to have fled from battle in Ukraine.

In November 2022, another soldier who was conscripted as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization order claimed that Russian military officers were fleeing from battle.

The soldier, Oleksiy Agafonov, who told independent news outlet Verstka that he survived shelling by Ukrainian forces near Makiivka in the Luhansk region, said his unit's commanders abandoned the front line on November 2, 2022, while his entire battalion was ordered to dig trenches and hold defensive positions.

"We were thrown into landings, they told us to dig in, we had three shovels per battalion[...]we dug in as best we could, and in the morning shelling began—artillery, 'grads' (missiles), mortars, 'copters, we were simply shot," he said.

"When it all started, the officers immediately ran away. In between shelling, we tried to dig in, but the 'copters immediately spotted us and simply shot us."

Agafonov said Russian men drafted as part of Putin's September 21, 2022 mobilization decree do not want to fight, and that mobilized soldiers from all over the country were being brought to the front lines to close the gaps in the defense.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.