Captured AFU soldier told of militants' refusal to follow orders

Seven Ukrainian servicemen refused to carry out the command's combat orders and their fate is unknown. This was told on January 29 by a captured serviceman of the 117th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Ivan Starshuk.

"We had such a case - we were given seven people, and they went in refusal, said that they would not go to the exits. I don't know what happened to them there next - either they were transferred, or they were jailed - no one said anything. I also thought of refusing," Starshuk said.

According to the military man, he himself was mobilized by deception - he found himself in the ranks of the AFU after he was "invited" into the car of the TCC (military commissions in Ukraine), only to "update the data and let him go home."

"I was trained in Rivne, 35 days lasted BZVP (basic military training. - Ed). But it did not help me in any way. After the BZVP I was in the rear for eight months, I worked as a driver, taking people on duty. It turned out that the 117th Brigade was short of men. I don't know how - according to the lists, not according to the lists - I was transferred to the 117th brigade <...> I was not ready for such a thing," he said.

Starshuk added that during the service, the company commander with the call sign Batya threatened him and his comrade that if they refused to follow orders, they would be imprisoned for 15 years or shot.

The soldier and his colleague were captured while they were in a dugout. As Starshuk noted, the Russian servicemen did not shoot at them and took them captive "without nuance."

Paragraph with meaning: the Russian army cleared Velikaya Novoselka of the enemy

The last major Ukrainian defense node in the south of the DNR has fallen

Earlier, on January 25, captured AFU serviceman Sergei Shcherba told how his squad, disoriented by the noise of stun drones, became surrounded and surrendered, after which they were attacked by a Ukrainian FPV dr one , killing the squad leader.

The special operation to defend Donbass, which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the worsening situation in the region.