Insurrection of Russian Deserters Held in Krasnodar Highlights Large and Growing Problem for Moscow, Rights Activists Say

Paul Goble

    Staunton, Apr. 23 – Leaked Russian defense ministry documents say that more than 50,000 Russian soldiers had deserted during Putin’s war in Ukraine by the end of 2024, a figure several orders of magnitude larger than before that conflict and one that activists say represents about 10 percent of all Russian troops in Ukraine.

    Calling attention to this development was the rising of approximately 100 Russian soldiers being held in a military facility in Krasnodar Kray on suspicion of desertion. Seven managed to escape but four of those were quickly recaptured (kavkazr.com/a/vzbesivshayasya-myasorubka-bunt-voennyh-v-krasnodarskoy-komendature/33392553.html).

    But because the numbers taking part in the rising were so large, activists interested in the fate of Russian soldiers, including those arrested for desertion or going AWOL, have paid more attention to the problem with their reports showing that the Russian military doesn’t know what to do with the growing numbers of those who seek to leave its ranks.

    Many of those have been kept in the Krasnodar facility in horrific conditions for more than six months; and Ivan Chuvilayev of Get Lost, an organization which helps Russian deserters, says that these conditions and the recent rebellion aren’t “an isolated incident but part of a larger systemic problem,” although most such protests rarely get much attention.

    The Russian military doesn’t admit this problem and so “in formal legal terms,” facilities to hold deserters don’t exist, he continues; and as a result, they exist outside of any legal norms with all the horrors that such a placement opens the way to. Those in term are given the choice of returning to the frontlines or remaining in these camps indefinitely.