Remnants of Russian platoon refuse to fight after ‘bulls–t’ mobilization to Donbas

A Russian officer fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine released a defiant video saying that he and whatever was left of his decimated platoon were refusing to follow orders after being forced to attack settlements without any training.

The recording, which spread on Telegram channels this week, shed light on the purported chaos within the ranks of Vladimir Putin’s draftees mobilized in Ukraine.

In the brief video, a man in a baseball cap who introduces himself as a senior lieutenant stands in front of a group of about 10 soldiers assembled in a bare room with a single light bulb hanging overhead and reads a statement from a sheet of paper.

“We were herded to attack villages absolutely without any training,” he says, adding that conscripts in their 40s were forced to fight “without reconnaissance, without communications, without scouting, without anything.”

The Post could not independently verify the video’s authenticity, and it’s unclear when or where it was recorded.

According to the senior lieutenant, his platoon does not have any ties to the area in eastern Ukraine or maps to help the soldiers find their way.

“Generally speaking, it’s some complete bull—t,” the man says in frustration. “Personnel is dying. This is all that’s left of my platoon, of the entire company.”

The serviceman acting as the group’s spokesman explained that he had been mobilized for the territorial defense brigade in the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border.

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“I refuse to carry out set objectives due to the fact that the platoon’s personnel took losses within three days because the personnel was not properly trained and was sent to the front line,” he proclaims.  

The officer took issue with the fact that upon their arrival in Dontesk last week, without warning they were ordered to join an assault brigade in the militia of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.

“We were transferred here at night, driven for 14 hours without any orders, explanations…or reconnaissance expected for the officers,” he says. “Nothing was done with us.”

According to the serviceman, the platoon members’ documents and military identification were seized by “god knows who, half-civilians, half-military” likely belonging to DPR’s militia.

The officer stressed that he and his men are willing to carry out objectives “only as part of the Russian armed forces” and not the militia of the recently annexed territory.

Several independent Russian news outlets have reported on the video, which has racked up hundreds of thousands of views as of Wednesday.

Later, Belgorod Governor Viachesalv Gladkov commented on the recording on his Telegram page, saying that the soldiers in the footage had been drafted in the fall as part of Putin’s partial mobilization effort and had undergone training in the city of Kursk, reported the Russian newspaper Kommersant.

Gladkov said that he and other top officials from the region have met with the soldiers’ concerned family members to try to “reassure them.” The governor also said he has made inquiries with the Defense Ministry and the military prosecutor’s office about the platoon’s status.

“I will be sending my representative to our guys [in Donetsk] today,” Gladkov vowed.