1/ Another account of chaos among Russia's mobilised men near Svatove in Luhansk oblast has been published by independent Russian channel TV Rain. A group of mobiks was abandoned by their commander as soon as fighting started and they were accused of desertion when they fled. ⬇️
2/ TV Rain tells the story of Anton (name changed), a resident of Voronezh, who was sent to a mobilisation camp near Boguchar in Voronezh oblast on 23 September, the day after he was mobilised. His wife Tatiana says he received virtually no training, like many other mobiks.
3/ "Three times they dug trenches and three times they practiced shooting: twice lying down and once standing up," says Tatiana.
4/ On 10 October, the mobilised men were taken to Valuyki near Belgorod, and the next day they were transferred to Luhansk oblast, where they were taken to the Svatove-Kreminna area, where heavy fighting is taking place. Their SIM cards were confiscated to prevent phone calls.
5/ Anton managed to get in touch with his wife Tatyana on 22 October. He said they had come under heavy bombardment from the Ukrainians. Unlike some other mobiks, this group appears to have fought back, but it made little difference, as TV Rain reports:
6/ The platoon commander, according to Anton, fled the battlefield at once. The mobilised men shot back at first, but soon began to retreat, and there were many dead among them. The first night, Tatyana tells us, the soldiers crawled through the forest floor.
7/ On the second day they tried to sit in the trenches, but they were bombed again. Finally they reached the town of Makiivka in Luhansk oblast, where the Russian army headquarters was located, and asked for help.
8/ However, at the headquarters, according to Tatiana, they were told: "You are deserters, you are not needed here." The soldiers had nowhere else to go, and according to Tatyana, they camped next to the headquarters "to show that they are not deserters".
9/ She herself at that time went to all the authorities in Voronezh. The military unit did not tell her anything, while the military prosecutor advised the mobilised men to go in the direction of Russia to the next headquarters.
10/ However, as Tatyana recounts, when some of the mobilised men who left for Russia reached Valuyki, they were accused of desertion.
By that time, mobilised men from other parts of the front had also started streaming into Makiivka.
By that time, mobilised men from other parts of the front had also started streaming into Makiivka.
11/ Viktoria, whose husband was called up on 22 September, says he was taken to Valuyki immediately, without training, and on the 26th, four days later, they left there in the direction of Ukraine.
12/ He was only able to call once, two weeks later, and then got in touch on 24 October and also said that he was near Makiivka.
13/ "They can't go to their own people, they can't go back either, because they would be deserters, no one needs them in the hospital, and the Boguchar unit told me that they should get to their own [unit], refill their ammunition and continue fighting," says Viktoria.
14/ According to Tatyana, there are about 100 mobilized men in the vicinity of Makiivka. Most of them remain there – without food, without command and without any assistance.
15/ Her husband was assigned to another brigade on 29 October and, as far as she knows, he went to the frontline again. Tatiana hopes he will be home around the New Year.
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