Russian claims on Ukraine involvement undermined by former soldiers



Russian claims on Ukraine involvement undermined by former soldiers

MOSCOW, Russia - Some Russian soldiers have quit the armed forces due to the conflict in Ukraine, according to reports by Reuters, which spoke to several former soldiers, contradicting Moscow's official position on the separatist conflict.

Moscow claims that any Russian solider fighting alongside rebels in eastern Ukraine are volunteers, but the soldiers that spoke to Reuters said that they had been ordered to fight in the country at the risk of prison time if they refused.

Evidence of Russians fighting in Ukraine, such as Russian army equipment found in the country, testimony from soldiers' families and from Ukrainians who were captured by Russian paratroopers, has emerged in ever greater amounts in recent months.

Boris Nemtsov, a leading Kremlin critic who was gunned down in the capital Moscow in February, was planning to publish a dossier of such evidence before he was killed. His colleagues have indicated that they will soon publish a report on his behalf, containing new evidence of the Russian military's involvement in Ukraine.

Five soldiers who recently quit, including two who said they left rather than serve in Ukraine, have allegedly told Reuters that they were sent into the country to fight alongside rebels.

"After we crossed the border, a lieutenant colonel said we could be sent to jail if we didn't fulfil orders. Some soldiers refused to stay there," said one soldier, who served with the elite Russian Kantemirovskaya tank division.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied that Moscow has deployed military forces in eastern Ukraine to help rebels fighting the central government in Kiev.

NATO, Western governments and Kiev have all put forth evidence of direct Russian support for the rebels, who want to establish a pro-Russian state in the Donetsk region, but a spokesperson for the government has repeatedly derided such evidence as fabricated.

Russian claims on Ukraine involvement undermined by former soldiers

Russian claims on Ukraine involvement undermined by former soldiers

Big News Network.com
11th May 2015, 05:08 GMT+10

MOSCOW, Russia - Some Russian soldiers have quit the armed forces due to the conflict in Ukraine, according to reports by Reuters, which spoke to several former soldiers, contradicting Moscow's official position on the separatist conflict.

Moscow claims that any Russian solider fighting alongside rebels in eastern Ukraine are volunteers, but the soldiers that spoke to Reuters said that they had been ordered to fight in the country at the risk of prison time if they refused.

Evidence of Russians fighting in Ukraine, such as Russian army equipment found in the country, testimony from soldiers' families and from Ukrainians who were captured by Russian paratroopers, has emerged in ever greater amounts in recent months.

Boris Nemtsov, a leading Kremlin critic who was gunned down in the capital Moscow in February, was planning to publish a dossier of such evidence before he was killed. His colleagues have indicated that they will soon publish a report on his behalf, containing new evidence of the Russian military's involvement in Ukraine.

Five soldiers who recently quit, including two who said they left rather than serve in Ukraine, have allegedly told Reuters that they were sent into the country to fight alongside rebels.

"After we crossed the border, a lieutenant colonel said we could be sent to jail if we didn't fulfil orders. Some soldiers refused to stay there," said one soldier, who served with the elite Russian Kantemirovskaya tank division.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied that Moscow has deployed military forces in eastern Ukraine to help rebels fighting the central government in Kiev.

NATO, Western governments and Kiev have all put forth evidence of direct Russian support for the rebels, who want to establish a pro-Russian state in the Donetsk region, but a spokesperson for the government has repeatedly derided such evidence as fabricated.