More and More Russian Soldiers Reportedly Refusing to Fight in Ukraine

“From the cases we have seen, they are being intimidated with threats of prosecution and being worked over by military prosecutors,” he said. “But so far no one has been prosecuted, according to what we have seen.”

Rights lawyers say the government’s unwillingness to call the invasion of Ukraine a “war” or to declare war or martial law could give dissenting servicemen some protection from the worst consequences of refusing to fight.

“Citizens have the right to refuse to go to a foreign war and kill people,” said Agora lawyer Mikhail Benyash, who is providing legal services to some soldiers who have refused. “And they also have the right not to participate in a ‘special military operation.’ By definition, only special forces troops with training for such operations are sent [on ‘special military operations’]….”

An unknown number of soldiers, however, have been discharged from military service for refusing to fight in Ukraine, wrote rights lawyer Maksim Grebenyuk on Telegram. He said the question of “what are the consequences of refusing to serve in the ‘special military operation,’” as Moscow insists that its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine be euphemistically called, has become “the most frequent query” he has received in the last few weeks.

Grebenyuk also posted a photograph of a stamp that was purportedly placed in the military-service booklet of one soldier who refused to serve in Ukraine, whose name Grebenyuk withheld, but who reportedly served in the 136th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.

“Inclined toward treason, lies, and deception,” the official-looking stamp reads.

“Refused to participate in the special military operation on the territory of the LNR, DNR, and Ukraine,” it continued, using the abbreviations adopted by the Moscow-backed separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine to designate the territory they claim and which Moscow has recognized as sovereign countries.

Grebenyuk said the soldier told him he had served seven months in Syria and had been granted “rest and rehabilitation leave,” which was rescinded when he was ordered to go to Ukraine.

In a post on Twitter, Leonid Volkov, a top aide to imprisoned opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, wrote: “They had a stamp made? That means it is a mass phenomenon. Good.”

Such a stamp in one’s military-service booklet could make it difficult for a serviceman to find a job or enroll in higher education.

The Russian military insists its war in Ukraine is largely proceeding according to plan, but Western intelligence analysts have documented significant lapses in supply, communications, preparation, and other areas that have hampered its operations. Moscow has said 1,351 servicemen have been killed since the war was launched on February 24, but other sources say the real figure is much higher. The Ukrainian military estimates that more than 18,000 Russian troops have been killed.

Agora lawyer Benyash said he believes the number of such refusals to fight will increase as the human costs of the war become clearer in Russia.

“I think that as more zinc coffins come back from Ukraine, the more people there will be in Russia who have no desire to be next,” he said.

“Such a position will become socially acceptable, understood, and accepted,” he added. “The mood in society is changing. Earlier, a soldier had to make such a decision alone, at their own risk. But now there are already examples and people can see the consequences. They aren’t being shot; they don’t face tribunals; they aren’t being sent to prison.”

Robert Coalson is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL, covering Russia, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe. This article, written by Robert Coalson based on reporting by RFE/RL’s North.Realities and Russian Service and Current Time, is reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).