Russia acknowledged on Tuesday that there were hundreds of Russian soldiers who were doing compulsory military service and were sent to Ukraine to participate in the Russian military campaign in that country. The military prosecutor’s office announced that twelve officers have been prosecuted for these acts.
Military prosecutor Artur Yeguiev assured that disciplinary measures have been taken against those who have been found guilty of breaking the rules. “Around 600 recruits were involved in the special military operation. Everyone came back as soon as possible,” Yegiev told a Federation Council (Senate) meeting.
The Prosecutor’s Office carried out an investigation by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, after the presence of recruits in Ukraine became known in March.
Shortly after sending the army to Ukraine, Putin emphasized that only professional military personnel were involved in the campaign. However, a few days later, the Ministry of Defense announced that it had discovered “the presence of soldiers of compulsory military service” in units of the armed forces that participated in the fighting in Ukraine. His spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, added that almost all the recruits had returned to Russia, but some had been captured.
So Putin ordered prosecutors to check and find those responsible. His spokeswoman, Dimitri Peskov, emphasized that before the start of the special operation, all unit commanders had been ordered not to include these soldiers.
On the war front, fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops continued yesterday street by street in the ruins of Severodonetsk. According to Moscow, its army expelled Ukrainian forces from the residential area, who barricaded themselves in the Azot plant and the city’s airport.
“The residential areas of Severodonetsk have been completely liberated,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced yesterday during a televised briefing. He added that “the takeover of its industrial zone and neighboring towns continues.” And he claimed that Moscow forces had “liberated” 97% of Luhansk province.
The fight for this small industrial city has become a pivotal battle in eastern Ukraine. Russia focuses its offensive power there in the hope of achieving one of its stated objectives: capturing the entire eastern part of Donbass, made up of the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, self-proclaimed people’s republics in 2014 by pro-Russian separatists.
After withdrawing from most of the city, the Ukrainians mounted a surprise counterattack last week, driving the Russians out of a swath of downtown. Since then, the two armies have fought on the boulevards of Severodonetsk. Both claim to have inflicted heavy casualties.
The head of the Ukrainian provincial administration of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, claimed that they were expelling the Russians from the city. But, according to Reuters, he later acknowledged that Ukraine only controls the Azot industrial sector and that the situation had deteriorated “significantly”.
“Our heroes hold their positions in Severodonetsk. Fierce street fighting continues in the city. Lisichansk, Sloviansk, Bakhmut, Sviatohirya, Avdiivka, Kurakhove and other directions of Russian attacks are the hottest points of confrontation today,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his early morning speech.
