Russian military personnel who refused to fight are held in prison colony in Luhansk region – Russian media

Ukrainska Pravda — Tuesday, 26 July 2022, 22:48

Russian media have revealed the names of 17 Russian soldiers who, after refusing to participate in the war against Ukraine, were imprisoned by the aggressors in a colony located in the village of Krasnyi Luch, Luhansk Oblast.

Source: Independent Russian media outlet The Insider; Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza

Quote: "There are at least 17 people who are either actually imprisoned, under forced labour or [thrown] under fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. These are only those whose names have been found out. The oldest person is 33 years old, the majority are 20-26 years old.

A total of 133 people may be held there. Their parents are trying to free them: they have come to Luhansk Oblast to demand their release and explanations as to the grounds on which the refuseniks have been detained."

Details: Meduza [Latvia-based Russian media outlet - ed.], citing Verstka, states that the parents of some of those soldiers who refused to take part in the hostilities say that their children have been moved away from the town of Bryanka.

Parents state that both psychological and physical violence is used against the refuseniks. They fear that HIMARS may have struck the canteen where the detained soldiers are fed.

At the same time, they claim that the Russian Ministry of Defence denies all of this.

Background: According to the Radio Liberty North.Realities project , over 100 families of Russian soldiers who are missing in action during the war of aggression in Ukraine have appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to find their relatives, while at the same time not demanding that the war be stopped.