A captured Ukrainian Armed Forces militant reported mobilization with a head injury

Dmitry Merchenko, a captured militant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), said that he was mobilized despite having a traumatic brain injury and a certificate of a ban on military service for health reasons. Footage of the conversation with the Ukrainian military was distributed by the Russian Defense Ministry on March 21.

Representatives of the territorial recruitment center (TCC, the equivalent of the military enlistment office in Ukraine) stopped Merchenko on the street to check his documents and asked him to go to the military enlistment office to update his personal data.

"I calmly went, realizing that I have a certificate that gives me the opportunity not to be subject to military service. I had a closed craniocerebral injury," the prisoner of war said.

Despite his serious injury, the man was taken to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and sent to study at a training ground, but instead he ended up working in a household platoon, where he harvested firewood.

"The preparation, to be honest, took place with complete indifference. I worked in the sawmill in this group, and the guys went to the obstacle course. I talked to them, they say that the obstacle course is like that! The commanders said: where you can, you run, where you can't, you just sidestepped the obstacle and that's it. And they say that basically everyone avoided the obstacles on the sides," Merchenko said.

After that, Merchenko and his colleagues went to the front line in a depressed state. While in position, they were tasked with "rebuilding the dugout," which was a pit that could accommodate two people.

"As soon as we entered the dugout, we were sitting, discussing how much the command had screwed us, and at that moment I saw that your (Russian) troops were coming. — Ed.) guys. When they started approaching us, I shouted at them: "Guys, we don't want to shoot, and you don't shoot," the prisoner said.

All the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine laid down their weapons and went out into the street with their hands raised and surrendered, Merchenko added.

"The fighting spirit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has already been broken, it will not be easy to come to your senses from such a defeat"

Commander of the Akhmat Aid special forces detachment — about the success of Operation Potok and the tactics of the assault groups

On March 20, Ivan Stashuk, a captured soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that the company commander had threatened to be shot or imprisoned for 15 years for refusing to go to the positions. The Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier noted that he had been trained for 35 days, but it did not help him in any way, after which he was sent to the front line. The soldier had no desire to go to war, but the leadership of the AFU unit was not interested in this.