Fresh footage has revealed how Russia treats some of its own soldiers, by forcing them to live in a pit for weeks or months at a time.
A video from inside one of these pits was shared by Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine on X/Twitter.
The footage shows dozens of Russian soldiers stuck in a pit with a sliver of light coming down from above and an iron gate at one end.
Mr Gerashchenko says some of the Russian soldiers have been thrown in this pit because they oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine.
The stunning video shows that even as Putin pushes forward, not all of his military personnel are willing to carry out his destructive orders.
Next to the video published on X, Mr Gerashchenko explained: The video shows Russian soldiers being held in a “pit”. Some are punished for alcohol abuse, and some for refusing to go to their positions.
“To leave the “pit”, commanders demand to pay an amount ranging from $1,650 (£1,296.66) to $11,000 (£8644.40) a head. Reportedly, some soldiers have been there for months.
“Only a few get out of there – those who can sell an apartment or a car. The video was filmed by “commanders” of Russian “soldier-slaves” in the Bakhmut direction, Donetsk region.”
This isn’t the first time there have been reports of soldiers trying to leave the Russian armed forces or trying to avoid taking part in the war. Earlier this week hundreds of Russian soldiers agreed to switch sides and fight Putin’s army.
One of these soldiers is Lieutenant Danii Alfyorov, 27, who helped 11 others also defect to Ukraine.
Alongside Mr Aflyorov, thousands of other Russian military personnel have called the Ukrainian military’s ‘I want to live’ phone line since September 2022.
In that time, around 220 Russian soldiers are believed to have defected because of that hotline with around 1,000 cases pending.
The Financial Times reported that Kyiv’s military intelligence unit, the GUR, said that on average three soldiers were surrendering via the number every week.
Spokesperson for the unit, Vitaliy Matvienko told the Guardian: “The first stage is Russian soldiers who are mobilised, partly mobilised, not mobilised yet, call to this hotline to this chatbot and say: ‘I’m going to surrender.’
“After that, he is obligated to leave his personal data. After the soldier reaches Ukrainian territory, it’s obligatory for him to call again and say, ‘I’m going to surrender’ and Ukrainian operators help him to reach a safe place where he meets Ukrainian special forces.”
Earlier this year Mr Matvienko explained that the operators were not ordinary soldiers but specially trained psychologists and analysts. He said: “When an enemy calls you in tears saying that he wants to live, he needs to be calmed down.”
Ukraine hopes that the hotline will continue and take more Russian soldiers off Vladimir Putin’s frontline.
